Grapplers heat up for divisional meet

Whitefish's individual success on the mat took another boost Jan. 30 against rival Columbia Falls, as the 'Dogs tallied three wins, including a pin. The strong performance comes at the right time, as the team heads to the divisional tourney this weekend in Polson.

Geoff Streeter got things rolling for Whitefish against the 'Cats in the 171-pound class with an 11-1 decision over Josh Folson. Streeter scored a two-point take-down in the first round and added two more take-downs and a near-fall in the second. He closed out the third with an escape and another two-point take-down.

Dalton Rice, 135 pounds, scored the Bulldogs' only pin of the night against Brendon Moseman. Rice opened the first round with a two-point near-fall. He added another near-fall in the second before nailing the pin at 2:14. Rice was recently ranked No. 4 among 130-pound Class A wrestlers in a coaches poll.

Tanner Benedict continued his winning streak in the 160-pound class with a hard-fought 4-0 win over Joe Gross. Benedict scored a two-point take-down in the first and second rounds and held Gross scoreless over all three rounds.

Earlier in the week, Benedict pinned Libby's Austin Bailey in 51 seconds at a dual in Libby.

Freshman heavyweight Wolf Zinke scored his first win on Jan. 26 against Ronan's Aaron Yazzi-Whitworth with a 15-7 decision.

Whitefish 12, Libby 64,

98—Ian Edwards-Myslicki, L, won by forfeit 105—Open 112—Aaron Seefeldt, L, won by forfeit 125—Mike Roby, L, won by forfeit 130—Mitch Haugen, L, dec. Dalton Rice, 10-2 135—Kyle Leir, L, pinned John Sammon, 1:14 140—Cody Elliott, L, pinned B.J. Buckley, 1:13 145—Dylan Berget, L, pinned Nick O'Dell, 0:28 152—Robin Kyes, L, pinned Robby Neff, 1:18 160—Tanner Benedict, W, pinned Austin Bailey, 0:51 171—Kyle Sweedman, L, pinned Geoff Streeter, 2:08 189—Kody Berget, L, won by forfeit 215—Dominic Sargent, W, won by forfeit Hwt—Lucas Puckett, L, pinned Wolf Zinke, 1:04

Whitefish 16, Ronan 54

98 — Lukas Conklin, R, won by forfeit; 105 — Open; 112 — Andrew Teigan, R, won by forfeit; 119 — Kyle Lawson, R, won by forfeit; 130 — Shelby Grant, R, pinned Jon Sammon, 1:17; 135 — Cameron Neiss, R, pinned Dalton Rice, 5:03; 140 — Alex Greenfield, R, pinned DJ Buckley, 1:14; 145 — Dustin Goldsby, R, dec. Nick O'Dell, 7-5 OT; 152 — Quenton Denton, R, pinned Robby Neff, 3:40; 160 — Tanner Benedict, W, won by forfeit; 171 — Tyler Wheeler, R, dec. Geoff Streeter, 8-7; 189 — Nate Wiedenmeyer, W, won by forfeit; 215 — Colby Roberts, R, pinned Domonic Sargent, 1:31; 285 — Wolf Zinke, W, maj. dec. Aaron Yazzi-Whitworth, 15-7.

Whitefish 19, Col. Falls 54

105-Seth McCall, CF, wins by forfeit; 119-Travis Province, CF, wins by forfeit; 125-Adam Richardson, CF, wins by forfeit; 130- Kohl Thompson, CF, pinned Jon Sammon, 2:59; 135- Dalton Rice, W, pinned Brendon Moseman, 2:14; 140-Cody Hader, CF, pinned DJ Buckley, 1:35; 145- Nick O'Dell, W, won by forfeit; 152-Billy Gross, CF, pinned Roby Neff, 1:01; 160-Tanner Benedict, W, dec. Joe Gross, 4-0; 171- Geoff Streeter, W, dec. Josh Folsom, 11-1; 189-Marcus Ross, CF, won by forfeit; 215- Jacob Babcock, CF, pinned Domonic Sargent,, 1:02; Hwt- Kelly Houle, CF, pinned Wolf Zinke, 1:22