MatCats thump Dogs, Roberts 2nd at Jug Beck

by Chris Peterson Hungry Horse News
| January 21, 2015 7:14 AM

Columbia Falls wrestler Shonn Roberts lost a squeaker of a match to Blake Beard of Central Valley Washington 3-1 in overtime at the Jug Beck Rocky Mountain Classic in Missoula on Jan. 17.

In its 38th year, the classic is one of the biggest wrestling tournaments in the state, drawing the best wrestlers from Montana, Washington and Idaho. The MatCats took 11th as a team. Havre won the event.

“Roberts wrestled a lot of quality kids,” said coach Jessie Schaeffer. “He made one mistake in OT.”

This was only Roberts’ second loss of the season. He’s wrestling in the highly competitive 138-pound weight class this year. Roberts won the state title at 126 pounds last year.

The MatCats had several wrestlers in the semifinals. Mason Fetters (130) took fifth, pinning University High’s Mikey Garrison, of Spokane, Wash. Haze Bell (126) took fourth after he was pinned by Havre’s Logan Pleninger. Schaeffer noted that Storm Kemppainen and Kaleb Gravelin were just one win away from placing as well.

In duals earlier in the week, the MatCats beat Whitefish on Jan. 13 at home 52-12 in a match that featured mostly junior varsity wrestlers from Columbia Falls. On Jan. 15, the MatCats edged Polson 40-27 away.

Against the Bulldogs, Kalob Nelson (138), Miguel Garate (182), Colton Sweeney (145), Ike Schweikert (205) and Austin Nelson (103) all recorded pins. The match of the night came when Kemppainen (160) edged Bulldog Judah Prestegaard 7-6 in the closing seconds to get the victory.

Schaeffer said the dual was promising for the future of the program.

“I’m excited where we’re at,” he said.

The MatCats travel to Frenchtown on Thursday and then host Polson and Libby at home Friday night. The Friday event is the last home dual of the season for the MatCats. Matches are scheduled to start at 4 p.m.

Columbia Falls 40, Polson 27

160: Storm Kemppainen (CF) over Noah Humphrey (Pl) (Dec 6-0) 170: Tele Seemann (Pl) over Miguel Garate (CF) (Fall 3:39) 182: Mikey Denison (CF) over (Pl) (For.) 205: Mike Corrigan (Pl) over Ike Schwiekert (CF) (Fall 1:14) 285: Spencer Ross (CF) over Isaiah Williams (Pl) (Fall 1:05) 103: Austin Nelson (CF) over Mateo Quinones (Pl) (Fall 2:35) 113: Cameron Brown (Pl) over Winfield West (CF) (Fall 1:25) 120: Parker Adler (Pl) over Mason Fetters (CF) (SV-1 11-9) 126: Haze Bell (CF) over Thunder Morales (Pl) (MD 9-1) 132: Kaleb Gravelin (CF) over Jaben Wenzel (Pl) (Dec 5-2) 138: Shonn Roberts (CF) over Skylar Knutson (Pl) (Fall 1:34) 145: Colton Gove (CF) over Alex Helgeson (Pl) (Fall 2:28) 152: Colton Cote (Pl) over Cody Walters (CF) (Fall 3:24)

Columbia Falls 52, Whitefish 12

113: Colby Clark (CF) over (WHS) (For.) 120: Ben Windauer (CF) over James Buckley (WHS) (MD 14-2) 126: Brandon Thomas (CF) over Open (WHS) (For.) 132: Nathan Hader (CF) over Garrett Rice (WHS) (Dec 10-7) 138: Kalob Nelson (CF) over Brooks Krause (WHS) (Fall 5:26) 145: Colton Sweeney (CF) over M Hayden (WHS) (Fall 1:06) 160: Storm Kemppainen (CF) over Judah Prestegaard (WHS) (Dec 7-6) 170: Matthew Sampson (WHS) over Dale Meyer (CF) (Fall 3:47) 182: Miguel Garate (CF) over Matt Carr (WHS) (Fall 0:45) 205: Ike Schwiekert (CF) over Travis Catina (WHS) (Fall 3:30) 285: Steven Quimby (WHS) over Blake Arneson (CF) (Fall 5:15) 103: Austin Nelson (CF) over Parker McWhirter (WHS) (Fall 2:43)