Bigfork wrestlers prove to be tough competition
Vinny Quirk kicked off Bigfork’s only home wrestling meet on Thursday with a quick start, pinning Mission-Charlo’s Christopher Anderson at 205-pounds in 28 seconds.
Quirk’s win was one of five victorious matches for Bigfork at the meet, including another quick pin by Quirk, two wins from 170-pound Dalton Western and one from 120-pound Connor Meyer.
Though only three wrestlers had their arms raised in wins, Bigfork demonstrated some strong wrestling in front of a home crowd.
“For a second-year program I’m very proud,” assistant coach Adam Tunnell said.
Bigfork hosted top-ranked teams from Ronan, Eureka and Mission-Charlo, which featured many of the wrestlers Bigfork will face as they attempt to wrestle in the state meet. 113-pound Castor Conley went all three rounds against Ronan’s Seth Cheff, eventually losing 13-6 but not without threatening to put Cheff down.
Conley came out strong with the take down, but ceded a point for illegal locked hands. Cheff began to flip the tables with a reversal before the second period. Cheff scored two more with a takedown at the start of the second, but Conley managed a reversal before Cheff escaped.
Conley took him down again, but that would be the last points he scored before Cheff took control and scored a few near fall points to extend his lead.
“That was probably his best match against him,” head coach Josh Feller said.
All of the Bigfork wrestlers who were pinned lasted at least a minute, and several made it to three before being pinned.
Both of Western’s 170-pound wins were hard-fought battles, though he was able to control much of the match. Western pinned Ronan’s Jarrett Richey in 3:06, and defeated Mission-Charlo’s Andy Hohenauer 20-3.
132-pound Keaton O’Connor wrestled an unusually high scoring match against Eureka’s Zach Durden. The match ended in favor of Durden 35-19.
Saturday Bigfork travelled to St. Ignatius for the Mission Valley Championships where Meyer placed second, losing the 120-pound championship match to Arlee’s TJ Knoll, 13-5.
Bigfork also faced Mission/Charlo in dual at St. Ignatius where 160-pound Noah Vanqueckelberg nearly beat Mission/Charlo’s Andy Hohenauer. Hohenauer took the win 11-10. Conley, Meyer and Quirk all boasted wins in the dual.
The Vikings will visit Arlee on Friday and Plains on Saturday.
Bigfork/Mission-Charlo Dual
160 – Andy Hohenauer MC, dec Noah Vanqueckelberg BF, 11-10.
113 – Castor Conley BF, dec Bailey Wiebel MC, 6-3.
120 – Connor Meyer BF, dec Danny Helmer MC, 19-17.
132 – Jamie Mullins MC, pin Keaton O’Connor BF, 1:11.
145 – Jay Wadsworth MC, pin Tate Chenard BF, 5:09.
205 – Vinny Quirk BF, pin Chris Anderson MC, 1:06.
160 – Trent Dennison MC, pin Noah Vanqueckelberg BF, :35.
113 – Castor Conley BF, dec Danny Helmer MC, 22-18.
120 -- Connor Meyer BF, maj dec Bailey Wiebel MC, 11-1.
138 – Troy Mitchell MC, pin Keaton O’Connor BF, 2:09.
152 – Israel Umphrey MC, pin Tate Chenard BF, :18.
160 – Kyle Couture MC, tech fall Noah Vanqueckelberg, 17-2.
205 – Steven Bravo MC, dec Vinny Quirk BF 12-11.
Bigfork Quad
205: Vinny Quirk (BFK) pinned Christopher Anderson (Mission Charlo) :28
113 Seth Cheff RON dec 13-6 Castor Conley BFK
120 Kahden Bakkila EUR pin Connor Meyer BFK 2:24
132 Jamie Mullins MC pin Shade Youso 1:06
132 Trevar McAllistar RON pinned Keaton O’Connor BFK 2:22
145 Josh Schmidt EUR Pinned Tate Chnard BFK 1:20
160 Colby Hammack EUR pinned Noah Vanqueckelberg BFK 2:17
170 Graydon Irish RON Pinned Dalton Western BFK 3:49
205 Vinny Quirk BFK Pinned Luis Gonzalez RON :45
113 Kahden Bakkila EUR pinned Castor Conley BFK 2:40
120 Connor Meyer BFK pinned Seth Cheff RON 1:37
132 Trevor MCAllistar MC pinned Shade Youso BFK 2:05
132 Jamie Mullins MC pinned Keaton O’Connor BFK 1:22
145 Brendon Blood RON pinned Tate Chenard BFK 2:20
160 Andy Hohenauer MC pinned Noah Van quackelburg BFK 3:14
120 Johnathan Schmidt EUR pinned Connor Meyer BFK 3:34
170 Dalton Western BFK pinned Jarrett Richey RON 3:06
170 Dalton Western BFK techfall Andy Hohenauer MC 20-3
132 Zach Durden EUR Techfall Keaton O’Connor BFK 35-19