The All Class state wrestling tournament was held over the weekend in Billings. It was not kind to the local wrestlers. Corvallis finished sixth in Class A behind Havre, Sidney, Columbia Falls, Belgrade and Hardin. Hamilton finished in the middle of the pack. Florence finished in the middle of the Class B/C pack. Colstrip won that state championship.
Chase Conner, who is actually from Darby, was the highest finisher for Corvallis. (Darby and Corvallis co-op wrestling.) Conner finished in second place after losing to Sidney’s Gresh Jones in a 9-0 decision in the 120-pound championship. Conner pinned Dylan Roby of Libby at 1:48. He then pinned Zach Wall of Billings Central at 4:56 in the quarterfinals. In the semi finals, Conner topped Clayton Carter of Laurel in a 3-2 decision.
Monty Jessop finished fourth at 195 pounds. He lost to Hamilton’s Michael Bumgarner in the consolation match. Monty Jessop defeated Garrett Darby of Sidney with a pin at 5:04 in the opening round. He then defeated John Chinadle of Havre with another pin before falling to Jace Billy of Havre in the quarterfinals.
Tylor Olsen finished fifth at 138 pounds. He topped Chris Swenson of Livingston with a pin at the 57-second mark of the match. He then defeated Bryant Dorn of Havre before falling to Parker Filius of Havre. Olsen had to come back through the wrestlebacks to earn fifth place. He lost to Lye Degen but then won a major decision over Bryan Dorn again, to take the medal.
Riley Jessop also took a fifth place medal. Riley Jessop opened against Brandon Gilham of Browning. He pinned Gilham at 3:54 and moved on to wrestle Bryan Schaffer of Columbia Falls. Riley Jessop lost to Schaffer but came back and defeated Layton Linville of Livingston and Noah Criner of Belgrade before losing to Mason Mavrinac of Anaconda and finishing fifth.
Josh Venema went into the tournament as the No. 1 seed at 126 pounds. He won his first three rounds. He topped Skylar Knutson of Polson with a major decision. He then defeated Chandler Metcalf of Havre in a 3-2 decision. Venema was pinned by Shonn Roberts of Columbia Falls in the quarterfinals. Venema then lost to Carlos Quinores of Polson and Dylan Stewart of Havre and finished sixth.
Wyatt Jessop also won his first two matches. He defeated Bradley Denton of Lewistown by pinning him at 1:32. Jessop defeated Kyle Cannon of Laurel in a major decision and then lost to Keevan Pickle of Belgrade. Jessop lost to Cody Walters of Columbia Falls and Tanner Delp of Hardin and finished sixth at 160 pounds.
Hamilton’s Michael Bumgarner defeated Austin Kendal of Sidney in his opening match at 195 pounds. He then lost to Jace Billy of Havre and had to wrestle back through the consolation round. Bumgarner defeated Nathan Bennett of Frenchtown by pinning him at 1:14. He then defeated John Chinadle of Havre with a major decision and William Ollinger of Browning with another pin. He finished third with his win over Monty Jessop of Corvallis.
Justin Hinson of Hamilton finished fourth at 160 pounds. Hinson defeated Jordan Penino of Livingston with a pin at 3:24. He then topped Columbia Falls’ Cody Walters with a 7-2 diction. However Cody Johnson of Sidney won the quarterfinals match with a 16-1 technical fall. Hinson had to defeat Tanner Delp of Hardin and did with a 5-4 decision. But Cody Walters of Columbia Falls came back to pin Hinson at 1:59 in the consolation round, giving Hinson fourth place.
Florence had two wrestlers place at the state tournament. Keenan Hendricksen finished in fifth place at 220 pounds. He notched wins over Thomas Bell of Forsyth, Denver Krone of Choteau, and then lost to Seth Adams of Harlem. Hendrickson came back through and topped John Onofrey of Noxon to take fifth place after losing to Christian Cottingham of Belt.
Torren Lawson finished in sixth place at 132 pounds. He defeated Jace Rogers of Cascade with a major decision in his opening bout. He lost to Teague Jones in the second round and them came back through to top Chase Rhone of Ronan and earn another match. Logan Harms of Forsyth and Cache Giles of Fairfield/Power both earned wins over Lawson in the consolation rounds.
