Vikes wrestlers take 9th and 11th at Western Montana Duals

Diego Rodriguez went undefeated for the weekend to help lead the Vikings’ wrestlers in Ronan as the team was in action at the Western Montana Duals.

Rodriguez dominated the 103-pound division, winning two matches during duals action on Friday before going 3-0 to win the weight class in individual competition Saturday.

Felix Zambergs also won all three of his matches during the duals before going 2-1 to earn second in the 205-pound division Saturday.

Bigfork took 11th as a team during duals action Friday, falling to Ronan 54-12 in their opening dual before bouncing back to take down Glacier 39-21 in their second behind wins from Zambergs, Lyrik Fainter, Wyatt Elwell, Evan Tidwell and Holland Jantzen.

The Vikes fell just short against Missoula Sentinel in their third dual, falling to the Spartans, 36-33 despite wins by Michael McCarty, Elwell, Tidwell and Rodriguez.

The Vikes took down Polson in the 11th-place match, 42-30, behind wins from McCarty, Elwell, Tidwell, Zambergs and Fainter.

Rodriguez opened action Saturday by pinning Corvallis wrestler Chase Davis in 1:31 and Libby’s Riley Osborn in 1:18 in the semifinal.

Rodriguez needed only 104 seconds to pin Ronan’s Ian Dillard in the final, handing Dillard his first loss of the season.

Zambergs had no trouble with Three Forks/Ennis’s Randy Pyfer in the quarterfinals of the 205-pound division and pinned Ronan’s Cole Dalke in 3:13 in the semifinal.

Libby’s Jace DeShazer proved to be too much for Zambergs in the final, pinning him in 32 seconds.

Tidwell fell to Ronan’s Tristan Fisher in the opening round of the 182-pound division before battling his way back for a third-place finish.

Tidwell pinned his next two opponents and earned a 7-5 decision over Frenchtown’s Nathan Hansen in the consolation semifinal before pinning Colton Snyder of Corvallis in 4:32 to earn third.

Fainter was the only other Viking to place at the meet, going 1-3.

The Valkyries had two wrestlers place in their divisions Saturday as Ella Tidwell went 2-2 to take fifth in the 138-pound division while Ava Larsen went 1-3 to earn sixth in the 100-pound weight class.

Ella Tidwell opened the competition by pinning Polson’s Innocent Arnold in just 36 second, but was pinned herself in her next two matches.

She bounced back by pinning Arnold again in 37 seconds to take fifth.

The teams were in action at a home mixer after deadline Tuesday and will travel to Corvallis Thursday.