Grapplers drop Dogs in opener

The Columbia Falls wrestling team had a solid start to its season, taking down Whitefish last Friday 58-15 in a dual and then placing seventh at the Polson Invitational Tourney behind some tough AA schools Saturday.

Against Whitefish, Kelly Houle pinned Domonic Sargent in the 215-pound class in just 20 seconds. Also winning by pin for the Cats were Kohl Thompson, 140, Cody Hader, 145 and Josh Folsom, 189.

Whitefish had four forfeits and the Cats had one at 160.

At Polson, the Cats mustered 71 1/2 points as Houle took Bentley Alsup of Sentinel into overtime but came up just short, 5-3. Sal Baccaro took fourth at 112, losing to Clay Armstrong of Frenchtown 10-1.

Overall, coach Jessie Schaeffer was happy with with the team's performance.

"As a coaching staff, we were pleased. It gives us a base to work off of," he said.

There were some pleasant surprises. Sophomore Folsom wrestled up a weight class to 189 and went 3-2 over the weekend, including a pin. Frosh Seth McCall went 2-2 with two pins. He also wrestled up a weight class at 105.

The Cats travel to Dillon tonight (Thursday) for duals against Dillon and Sidney and then to Butte Friday and Saturday for the Mining City duals.

Then they're home next Tuesday (Dec. 15) against Libby and Polson with matches starting at 5:30 p.m.

Over that timeframe, wrestlers will compete in 10 to 12 matches, Schaeffer said.

Columbia Falls 58, Whitefish 15

135 - Dalton Rice, W, pinned Adam Richardson, 2:43; 140 - Kohl Thompson, CF, pinned Andrew Timmons, 3:14; 145 - Cody Hader, CF, pinned D.J. Buckley, 3:17; 152 - Jarrett Smith, CF, tech. fall Nick O'Dell, 24-9; 160 - Geoff Streeter, W, wins by forfeit; 171 - Tanner Benedict, W, dec. Joe Gross, 6-1; 189 - Josh Folsom, CF, pinned Nate Wiedenmeyer, 2:40; 215 - Kelly Houle, CF, pinned Domonic Sargent, :20

Polson tourney-finals

Glacier 251 1/2, Flathead 220, Missoula Sentinel 212, Polson 113, Corvallis 109, Frenchtown 102 1/2, Columbia Falls 71 1/2, St. Ingatius/Charlo 51, Hamilton 33, Eureka 31, Superior 29 1/2, Thompson Falls 29 1/2, Whitefish 23.

Championship

98 - Kaleb Mitchell, Gla, pinned Jordan Hegel, Sen, 1:00; 105 - Levi Gingerich, Corv, maj. dec. Alex Mitchell, 13-0; 112 - Brandon Edwards, Sen, dec. Grant Tafoya, Gla, 3-0; 119 - Tyler Stedman, Ftn, dec. Caleb Piasecki, Fla, 7-2;125 - Cody Tally, Fla, maj. dec. Lucas Mantel, Gla, 11-2; 130 - Joaquin Calderon, Fla, maj. dec. Cooper Sipe, Gla, 13-0; 135 - Jacob Young, Pol, dec. Garrett Stephens, Sup, 4-2; 140 - Riley Nagel, Corv, dec. Shane St. Onge, Gla, 9-2; 145 - Jame Peterson, SIC, dec. Stormy Day, Gla, 5-1; 152 - Riley Pisk, Gla; dec. Ty Fouty, Pol, overtime (no score listed);160 - Josh Hamilton, Sen, dec. Caleb Allen-Schmid, Fla, 7-5; 171 - Larry Francis, Fla, dec. Tanen Doty, Sen, 10-7; 189 - Jace Prideaux, Sen, maj. dec. Bryce Ballard, Gla, 10-2; 215 - Bentley Alsup, Sen, def. Kelly Houle, CF, overtime, 5-3; 285 - Dan Gilbert, Gla, pinned Jeff Markette, Corv, 3:44.

Third Place

98 - Christian Knapp, Gla JV, pinned Glen Hensley, Ftn, :41; 105 - Craig Feistner, Pol, dec. Jake Kinkle, Fla, 5-3; 112 - Clay Armstrong, Ftn, maj. dec. Sal Baccaro, CF, 10-1; 119 - Cliff Evans, Sen, dec. James DuBose, Corv, 6-2; 125 - Jeff Maier, Sen, dec. Scott Gilleard, SIC, 15-8; 130 - David Marne, Sen, dec. Josh Wright, Sup, 4-2; 135 - Steven Jessop, Corv, dec. Steel Hahn, Fla, 4-3; 140 - Zach Deist, Fla, pinned Ty Hendrick, Ftn, :49; 145 - Jeremiah Gaiser, F, def. Josh Seeberger, Sen, no score listed; 152 - Josh Erickson, Fla, def. Elly Enderland, Ftn, no score listed; 160 - Taylor Vaughn, Eur, def. Troy Capp, Ham, no score listed; 171 - Taylor Brown, Eur, dec. Tanner Benedict, Wfh, 15-8; 189 - Randy Martin, Gla, dec. Travis Ozegovich, Fla, 7-4; 215 - Trevor Beaman, Fla, pinned Brennan Fisher, Ftn, :35; 285 - Kaden Thomas, Pol, pinned Joel Horn, Glac JV, no time listed.