Sports roundup: swim team wins in Butte, wrestlers fifth in Thompson Falls

The Valkyries swim team came away with a win at the Mining City Invitational in Butte over the weekend while the Vikings wrestling squad took fifth at the Ted Kato Memorial Meet in Thompson Falls. District play continued for the basketball teams as the Vikings won two close games while the shorthanded Valkyries downed Eureka, but fell to Mission.

SWIMMING

The Valkyries had 18 top-10 finishers in Butte Saturday as Bigfork edged out Columbia Falls and Missoula Big Sky/Loyola to win the Mining City Invitational.

Senior Sophi Logue had a pair of third-place finishes to lead the way for Bigfork, finishing the 200 freestyle in 2:12.22 and the 500 freestyle in 6:03.14.

Lilia Kuzyk was third in the 100 freestyle with a time of 1:06.78 and was also fifth in the 200 individual medley while the 400 freestyle relay team of Logue, Sydney Slawter, Mahali Kuzyk and Lilia Kuzyk was third at 4:23.10.

The Valkyries dominated the other relay races, taking sixth and seventh in the 200 medley relay and fourth, fifth, eighth and ninth in the 200 freestyle relay.

The team will be in action Saturday in Missoula.

WRESTLING

Traic Fainter and Vaughn Pendlay won their weight classes, Ryder Nollan took second and Json Merringer and Ian Wolfe each took fourth as the Vikings finished fifth at the Ted Kato Memorial Tournament in Thompson Falls over the weekend.

After receiving a bye in the opening round of the 103-pound division, Fainter pinned Polson’s Braedon Iliff in 1:41 in the quarterfinal and needed just 39 seconds to pin Priest River’s Colm McLaimtaig in the semifinal.

Fainter earned a 9-6 decision over Polson’s Ryley Knutson in the final to win the weight class.

Pendlay pinned his first two opponents as well, Sanpoints’s Jorden Tyler in 1:17 and Priest River’s Bradley Bennet in 3:24, before defeating Sandpoint’s Christian Troumbley-Karkoski in the 160-pound final via 7-5 decision.

Nollan pinned Big Sky’s Tanner Davis in 1:01 in the 138-pound quarterfinal before earning a 3-0 decision over Fairfield’s Sean Ward in the semi-final. Nollan was pinned by Plains/Hot Springs wrestler David Schulze in the final in 1:25.

Merringer went 2-2 to take fourth in the 113-pound division while Wolfe went 3-2 to take fourth in the 152-pound weight class.

The Vikings were 19-15 overall at the tournament.

Bigfork’s wrestlers will be at home Friday as they celebrate Senior Night with a home mixer beginning at 5 p.m.

VIKINGS BASKETBALL

A 27-19 rebounding advantage and 22 free throws helped the Vikings earn a one-point victory in Eureka Thursday as Bigfork defeated the Lions, 55-54.

Eureka made six more shots from the field in the contest, but Bigfork made 22 of its 38 free throws and got 25 points from its bench to earn the win.

Isak Epperly led the way for the Vikings with 14 points, eight rebounds, four steals and two assists while Nick Walker had nine points and eight rebounds. Wyatt Johnson and Bryce Gilliard each contributed seven points and three steals.

Bigfork 16 13 17 9 - 55

Eureka 15 13 14 12 - 54

BIGFORK: Isak Epperly 14, Nick Walker 9, Wyatt Johnson 7, Bryce Gilliard 7, Cole Knopik 6, Levi Taylor 4, Colin Wade 3, George Brown 3, Eli Thorness 2.

EUREKA: Gavin Bates 22, Tristan Butts 10, Joey Kindel 8, Dan Dunn 6, Caleb Utter 2, Braesen Casazza 2, Trent Truman 2.

The Vikings got 15 points and seven rebounds from Gilliard and 11 points, nine rebounds and seven assists from Epperly Saturday as they got past Mission, 57-54.

Bigfork led 38-36 after three quarters and held off the Bulldogs down the stretch to earn the win, once again winning the rebounding battle (31-22). Free throws were again a big difference for the Bulldogs in the win as Bigfork was 19-29 from the foul line while Mission was just 4-9.

Mission 9 10 17 18 - 54

Bigfork 14 11 13 19 - 57

BIGFORK: Bryce Gilliard 15, Isak Epperly 11, Colin Wade 11, Nick Walker 7, Wyatt Johnson 5, Levi Taylor 2, Eli Thorness 2, Cole Knopik 1.

MISSION: Zoram LaFrombois 23, Ross McPherson 11, Cedrick McDonald 8, Kellen McClure 8, Michael Wheeler 2, Erich Morigeau 2.

VALKYRIES BASKETBALL

The Valkyries opened the week with a home win over Eureka Thursday, downing the Lady Lions 63-36.

Playing without senior guard Emma Berreth, who suffered a concussion against Florence-Carlton, the Valkyries blew it open in the middle two quarters when they outscored the Lions 26-8. The Vals were led by Freshman Braeden Gunlock's 22 points while Ava Davey popped in 13 and Scout Nadeau added 11 for the Vals. The visiting Lions were led by Jadyn Pluid’s 8 points.

Eureka - 16 4 4 12 – 36

Bigfork - 18 15 11 19 – 63

BIGFORK – Ellie Jordt 3, Madison Chappuis 4, Ava Davey 13, Braeden Gunlock 22, Scout Nadeau 11, Callie Gembala 4, Callie Martinz 6.

EUREKA – Dylan Sharp 7, Reena Truman 6, Jimena Sanchez 2, Ixone Cotiron 7, Jadyn Pluid 8, Remmi Stanger 6.

The Mission Lady Bulldogs tripped up the Valkyries for Bigfork’s first loss of the season Saturday, 44-52. Mission was led by the Page sisters as Kason hit for 19 and Kooper chipped in 17 as the Bulldogs put in 10 three-pointers in the contest.

The Valkyries were led by Gunlock’s 12 points while Maddison Chappius and Nadeau both had 7 points as Berreth missed her second straight game.

Bigfork 10 13 12 9 - 44

Mission 9 17 16 10 - 52

BIGFORK – Ellie Jordt 2, Madison Chappuis 7, Ava Davey 5, Braeden Gunlock 12, Scout Nadeau 7, Callie Gembala 6, Callie Martinz 5.

MISSION – Kason Page 19, Kooper Page 17, Izzy Evans 8, Madison Currie 8.