Mat Cats runner-up at Little Guy State Wrestling Championships
Jacob Scott tries to turn Mat Cat teammate Colton Gove during a middle division match. (Joe Sova photo)
Seven Columbia Falls athletes captured individual state titles, leading the Mat Cats to second place in the large team division of the Western Montana Little Guy Wrestling Championships on Saturday in the CFHS gym.
Three Mat Cats are champions after competition in the Beginners Tournament of Champions held Friday evening at CFHS. They were Colton McPhee (70 pounds), Jake Freeman (95) and Darel McIntyre (170). Placing third for C-Falls were Austin Nelson (45), Austin Green (65) and Kyler Koski (130). Green and Koski won Little Guy state championships the weekend before in Thompson Falls.
Kalispell won the large team division Saturday, which combined wrestlers in novice, middle and junior divisions, with 79 points. That was just four points more than C-Falls. Eagle was third (58) and Polson fourth (47).
In the long run Columbia Falls placed 20 wrestlers in the top four of the novice, middle and junior divisions, which was six more placers than any other team at the tourney.
Earning state championships for the Mat Cats were Travis Hoerner (124) in novice; Shonn Roberts (75), Jason Williams (120), Brendan Windauer (147), Joseph McIntyre (224) and Wayde Motichka (269) in middle; and Tyler Volkman (215) in junior.
Placing second in novice were Kaleb Gravelin (70) and Colton Sweeney (90). Taking third were Tristan Steinwand (80), Bridger Johnson (90) and Gerrad Basham (124). Storm Kemppainen (85) was fourth. According to tourney organizer and coach Kelly Houle, the Mat Cat novice wrestlers performed very well.
Mat Cat middle division athletes also showed up ready to wrestle as 10 placed in the top four, with the five individual champs. Placing second were Jacob Scott (85), Jayce Fagerland (90) and Josh Matlock (166). Billy Webber was third (187) and Kyler Howke placed fourth (90).
The Mat Cats in the junior division also had a good day. Placing third was Josiah Osborne (119), and Hunter Role (145) was fourth. Several other juniors were a match away from placing and overall wrestled hard, according to coaches.
Houle and the other Mat Cat coaches offer a "thank you" to all the community members and businesses for their help and support of the Little Guy wrestling program in Columbia Falls, and to all the tournament volunteers.
To see photos of the Tournament of Champions and the Western Montana Little Guy Wrestling Championships, click the "photo reprint' box on the Hungry Horse News home page.
Beginners Tournament of Champions Wrestling Tournament
Columbia Falls High School gym
March 27, 2009
Individual place winners
Beginner 45
1. Grant March - Evergreen
2. Tilynne Vasquez – Kalispell
3. Austin Nelson – Columbia Falls
4. Justin VanVallis – Lolo
Beginner 50
1. Drew Deck – Kalispell
2. Tanner Taylor – Lolo
3. Lucas Davis – Eureka
4. Dane Martin – Lolo
Beginner 55
1. Noah Cheff – Ronan
2. Hank Dunn – Evergreen
3. Reece Eckley – Lolo
4. William Dworsky – Frenchtown
Beginner 60
1. David Crowe – Noxon
2. Conal Powers – Lolo
3. Cameron Hegel – Missoula
4. Carter Brown – Corvallis
Beginner 65
1. Parker Adler – Ronan
2. Travis Zirker – Kalispell
3. Austin Green – Columbia Falls
4. Bridger Wenzel – Ronan
Beginner 70
1. Colton McPhee – Columbia Falls
2. Wyatt Mischke – Bigfork
3. Dylan Moran – Ronan
4. Evan Todd – Evergreen
Beginner 75
1. Oz Allen – Kalispell
2. Buck Joubert – Kalispell
3. Justin Mays – Ronan
4. Brandon Blood – Ronan
Beginner 85
1. Kaleb Knieb – Lolo
2. Tyler Fischer – Evergreen
3. Landers Smith – Ronan
4. Houstin Cassidy – Whitefish
Beginner 95
1. Jake Freeman – Columbia Falls
2. Noah Humphrey – Polson
3. Zachary Zimmerman – Frenchtown
4. Preston Folch - Polson
Beginner 108
1. Kyle Anderson - Hamilton
2. Kesean Burke - Ronan
3. Riley Riffle - Thompson Falls
4. Hudson Morin - Kalispell
Beginner 130
1. Anthony Camel - Polson
2. Hunter Fritsch - Polson
3. Ramey Meinzen - Florence
4. Kyler Koski - Columbia Falls
Beginner 156
1. Zach Meadows - Eureka
2. Kade Parkin - Superior
Beginner 170+
1. Darel McIntyre - Columbia Falls
Western Montana Little Guy Wrestling Championships
Columbia Falls High School gym
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Team Scores
Small Team
1. Lolo – 32 points
2. Darby – 18 points
3. Thompson Falls – 16 points
4. Arlee – 13 points
4. Superior – 13 points
5. Plains/Hot Springs – 6 points
6. Noxon – 1 point
Medium Team
1. Eureka – 61 points
2. Evergreen – 54 points
3. Ronan – 31 points
4. Frenchtown – 24 points
4. Dillon – 24 points
5. Mission/Charlo – 23 points
6. Bigfork – 3 points
Large Team
1. Kalispell – 79 points
2. Columbia Falls – 75 points
3. Eagle – 58 points
4. Polson – 47 points
5. Libby – 44 points
6. Corvallis – 33 points
7. Missoula – 21 points
8. Hamilton – 11 points
9. Whitefish – 7 points
Individual place winners
Novice Division
Novice 55
1. Kaleb Frank – Thompson Falls
2. Hunter Rush – Kalispell
3. Spencer Stagg – Ronan
4. Shayne Pierre – Polson
Novice 60
1. Trae Vasquez – Kalispell
2. Chase Wilson – Eagle
3. Johathan Schmidt – Eureka
4. Kahden Bakkila – Eureka
Novice 65
1. Bryant Brown – Corvallis
2. Justin Gibson – Kalispell
3. Jaben Wenzel – Ronan
4. Kohltin Starkel – Ronan
Novice 70
1. Jaren Farney – Eagle
2. Kaleb Gravelin – Columbia Falls
3. Daniel Overman – Plains/Hot Springs
4. Kane Lawson – Plains/Hot Springs
Novice 75
1. Dylan Duffalo – Lolo
2. Mark Estes – Kalispell
3. Steven Scheffer – Hamilton
4. Gavin Wiseman – Eureka
Novice 80
1. Garrett Graves – Eureka
2. Jace Kovalicky – Lolo
3. Tristin Steinwand – Columbia Falls
4. Shawn Olson – Missoula
Novice 85
1. Tanner Fletcher – Kalispell
2. KJ Swanson – Eagle
3. Wyatt Ducharme – Pol
4. Storm Kempainen – Columbia Falls
Novice 90
1. Logan McGreevey – Missoula
2. Colton Sweeney – Columbia Falls
3. Bridger Johnson – Columbia Falls
4. Wyatt Carr – Plains/Hot Springs
Novice 95
1. Sam Sutley – Eureka
2. Tanner Wilson – Polson
3. Zackkory Palmer – Frenchtown
4. Justin Horvath – Darby
Novice 100
1. Garret Joubert - Kalispell
2. Matt Rensvold - Polson
3. Michael Lake - Evergreen
4. Hunter Crawford - Frenchtown
Novice 110
1. Austin Sherwood - Eureka
2. Caleb Hickox - Whitefish
3. Miles Plemmons - Eureka
4. Colby Hammack - Eureka
Novice 124
1. Trevor Hoerner - Columbia Falls
2. Kody Bailey - Libby
3. Garrad Basham - Columbia Falls
4. Spencer Schock - Missoula
Novice 140
1. Aaron Kelly - Superior
2. Bill Adams - Arlee
3. Kellen Szalda Petier - Missoula
4. Tanner Babbit - Missoula
Novice 158
1. John Kearns - Hamilton
2. Jake Rebish - Lolo
3. Emilio Bravo - Mission/Charlo
4. Brian Zorn - Whitefish
Novice 190+
1. Eli Horn - Kalispell
Middle Division
Middle 65
1. Cameron Linstead – Kalispell
2. Josh Schmidt – Eureka
3. Dylan Guzman – Kalispell
4. Devan Day – Corvallis
Middle 70
1. Jon Conklin – Eagle
2. Garrett White – Eureka
3. Anthony Parkin – Superior
4. Jake Hegel – Missoula
Middle 75
1. Shonn Roberts – Columbia Falls
2. Zach Durden – Eureka
3. Gunner Fairbrother – Corvallis
4. Dante McDougall – Mission/Charlo
Middle 80
1. Tyler Olsen – Corvallis
2. Cody Decker – Evergreen
3. John Davidson – Libby
4. Ryder Day – Evergreen
Middle 85
1. Dylan Schulte – Lolo
2. Jacob Scott – Columbia Falls
3. Chase Conner – Darby
4. Blake Doerr – Eagle
Middle 90
1. Zach Crace – Libby
2. Jayce Fagerland – Columbia Falls
3. Tucker Smith – Superior
4. Kyler Howke – Columbia Falls
Middle 95
1. Luke Entzel – Eagle
2. Nikko Bakkila – Eureka
3. Parker Love – Dillon
4. Tyler Badertscher – Libby
Middle 100
1. Cody Lemons – Frenchtown
2. Tanner Stupack – Evergreen
3. Dylan Broughten – Frenchtown
4. Nick O'May – Evergreen
Middle 105
1. Brandon Dumont – Ronan
2. Michael Miller – Libby
3. Alex Draper – Corvallis
4. Chase Rhine – Ronan
Middle 110
1. Wyatt Jessop - Corvallis
2. Joe Caiceda - Darby
3. Boyd Rieke - Bigfork
4. Lane Foster - Plains/Hot Springs
Middle 120
1. Jason Williams - Columbia Falls
2. Austin Hakes - Ronan
3. James Letcher - Eureka
4. Mike Baumgarner - Hamilton
Middle 130
1. Ronny Collins - Ronan
2. Josh Bowers - Libby
3. Garrett Villar - Eagle
4. Kellen Couture - Ronan
Middle 147
1. Brendan Windauer - Columbia Falls
2. Justin Harbison - Lolo
3. Billy Anderson - Corvallis
4. Jake Nygaard - Thompson Falls
Middle 166
1. Eric Thrift - Libby
2. Josh Matlock - Columbia Falls
3. Calvin Hendren - Arlee
4. Michael Denison - Libby
Middle 187
1. Oliver Grupenhof - Noxon
2. Gerald Branscome - Eureka
3. Billy Webber - Columbia Falls
4. Ian Fiorino - Lolo
Middle 224
1. Joseph McIntyre - Columbia Falls
2. Caleb Connolly - Plains/Hot Springs
Middle 269
1. Wayde Motichka - Columbia Falls
2. Darrin Cadman - Missoula
Junior Division
Junior 80
1. Wade Gascon – Thompson Falls
2. Colton Cox – Hamilton
3. Michael Valentine – Corvallis
4. Jared Young - Polson
Junior 85
1. Levi Polk – Ronan
2. Troy Scott - Dillon
3. Jacen Peterson – Mission/Charlo
4. Nick Iavicoli - Evergreen
Junior 90
1. Carlos Quinoness – Polson
2. Justin Conklin – Eagle
3. Dillon Moll – Polson
4. Taylor Martin – Polson
Junior 95
1. Craig Feistner – Polson
2. Chace Malone – Corvallis
3. Trent Vaughn – Eureka
4. Chase Greninger – Frenchtown
Junior 100
1. Grant Tafoya – Evergreen
2. Mick Paffhousen – Dillon
3. John Gunderson – Thompson Falls
4. Brian Combs – Kalispell
Junior 105
1. Kaleb Mitchell – Kalispell
2. Wyatt Clay – Thompson Falls
3. Andrew Tiegan – Ronan
4. MJ Simkins – Dillon
Junior 112
1. Lucas Mantel – Kalispell
2. Jacob Egley – Kalispell
3. Lane Boka – Dillon
4. Beau Doer – Eagle
Junior 119A
1. Mitch Haugen – Libby
2. Tra Ludeman – Mission/Charlo
3. Josiah Osborne – Columbia Falls
4. Suny Cheff – Kalispell
Junior 119B
1. Brennan Armstrong – Frenchtown
2. Kyle Lubke – Hamilton
3. Zach Benda – Superior
4. Cole Bruha – Dillon
Junior 119C
1. Cameron Dominick - Arlee
2. Kyle Lawson - Mission/Charlo
3. Taylor Kampbell - Whitefish
4. Jared Young - Polson
Junior 125A
1. Nate Brooks - Polson
2. Troy Scott - Dillon
3. Jacen Peterson - Mission/Charlo
4. Nick Iavicoli - Evergreen
Junior 125B
1. Shelby Gant - Ronan
2. Carston Baertsch - Ronan
3. Logan Fisher - Frenchtown
4. Kody Wilson - Frenchtown
Junior 130
1. Cody Piaski - Kalispell
2. Wyatt Deering - Frenchtown
3. Jose Letcher - Eureka
4. Kody Heard - Dillon
Junior 135
1. Barret Stanghill - Drummond
2. Michael Devlin - Polson
3. John Luke Koslosky - Dillon
4. Shelton Todd - Evergreen
Junior 140
1. Dawson Day - Evergreen
2. Scott Morgan - Eagle
3. John Mitchell - Dillon
4. Derek Meon - Darby
Junior 145
1. Lucas Leigh - Evergreen
2. Austin Bailey - Libby
3. David Anderson - Frenchtown
4. Hunter Role - Columbia Falls
Junior 152
1. Aaron Mitchell - Evergreen
2. Dylan Evans - Mission/Charlo
3. Colton Johnston - Darby
4. Rand Pritzkau - Frenchtown
Junior 160
1. Bo Hughes - Missoula
2. Barrett Sargent - Mission/Charlo
3. James Weidow - Corvallis
4. Brett Hanford - Kalispell
Junior 171
1. Richard Chavez – Evergreen
2. Jayden Wilson – Eagle
3. Zane Perryman – Kalispell
4. Joseph Hawkins – Mission/Charlo
Junior 189
1. Darby Maier – Eagle
2. Justin Adams – Arlee
3. Marlin Burke – Polson
4. Brady Dwello – Whitefish
Junior 215
1. Tyler Volkman – Columbia Falls
2. Jessie Ray Cisneros – Darby
3. Joe Bowden – Trout Creek
4. Austin Waldbillig – Drummond
Junior 240
1. Matthew Roberts – Florence
2. Donovan Hucke - Dillon
3. Dusty Jessop – Corvallis
Junior 285
1. Daniel Davis - Eagle