Roberts, Denison, Ross lead MatCats

The Columbia Falls wrestling team had three champions as it took second place at the Polson Invitational on Dec. 6.

Shonn Roberts, Mikey Denison and Spencer Ross all took first place.

Roberts, at 138 pounds, pinned Dylan Duffalo of Sentinel High School; Denison, at 182 pounds, pinned Tanner Stack of Sentinel; and heavyweight Ross pinned Jake Rebish of Sentinel.

The MatCats also got strong performances from Winfield West III, who took third at 113 pounds in a decision over Will Wissenbach of Corvallis High School, 8-2. Kaleb Gravelin also nabbed third at 132 pounds, beating Sam Barber of Glacier High School, 9-2.

Colton Gove took fourth at 145 pounds, losing to Jared Neiss of Ronan High School, 11-2. Tristan Steinwand took fourth at 160 pounds, losing to Jace Pancake of Florence High School in a squeaker, 6-5.

Sentinel won the meet, but the Cats beat cross-valley rival Glacier, which took third.

Coach Jessie Schaeffer had a mixed reaction to the meet. He noted some wrestlers did better than expected, while others fell short.

“It was an eye-opener for us and to get back on track of what we need to do,” he said.

On the other hand, the boys scored 100 more points than the closest Class A school, which was nice.

The MatCats will travel to Dillon on Thursday and to Butte for the Mining City Duals on Friday and Saturday. The Dillon meet will also include a dual against Sidney, one of the top Class A schools in the state.

“Sidney’s always a powerhouse,” he said. “It’s definitely a team we want to compete with.”