The Glyn Brawley Christmas Classic is one of the valley’s traditions at this time of year. Teams from throughout Western Montana and even Salmon, Idaho, braved the stormy and slick roads to make it to Corvallis for the event.
For the first time in 20 plus years, Jeff Nagel is not at the head of the Corvallis wrestling team. The long time coach stepped down, a rung, this year. The new head coach is Corvallis alum, Matt Davis. Davis graduated in 1998 from Corvallis. (He was the state champion at 105 pounds that year.) He has been involved since then in the program, first as a volunteer and then as a paid assistant. Nagel isn’t too far away though. He is continuing on as an assistant, mainly doing the vast amount of paperwork involved in keeping track of the wrestlers in school and their eligibility.
Davis said he has 24 wrestlers out this year. One advantage to having fewer kids out is more mat time. Davis said that gets the kids excited and keeps them involved.
“It’s a rebuilding year, we have lots of young kids out.”
Florence also has a new coach. Bryon Volkman has stepped in to head up that program. He has had previous experience at Missoula Big Sky and Sentinel as an assistant coach. He has been involved in the Florence program for a couple of years and in addition, has been involved in free style and Greco wrestling.
Volkman said he has 16 wrestlers out this season. They have a new place to practice, the Old Kingdom Hall at the Florence Carlton Church and the kids are excited to have a place to call their own. The seniors on the squad have been recruiting and the numbers are up. Dean Klakken, Jayce Pancake, Dax Miller and Austin Meinzen all have experience and are expected to do good things for the Falcon program.
The Hamilton/Victor team was the big winner on Saturday. Although they had only two champions – Michael Golden at 113 pounds and Justin Hinson at 205 pounds – the Broncs were deep enough to win several places in the brackets. Florence’s Kyler Pancake won the 138-pound championship and Jace Pancake won at 182 pounds. Stevensville’s Ben Crews won at 170 pounds. Corvallis had championships at 160 pounds, Kye McCollaum, and at 285 pounds, Luke Channer.
Glyn Brawley Christmas Classic
Team scores: Hamilton-Victor 165, Florence 141, Corvallis-Darby 140.5, Salmon 121, Stevensville 101, Missoula Sentinel JV 86, Mission-Charlo 70, Frenchtown-Alberton 69, Missoula Big Sky JV 67, Superior 45.
103 – Championship – Dakota Thomas, Sent, maj. dec. Zach Blanchard, Fre, 10-0.
Third place – Benji Opat, Cor, maj. dec. Kelson Bauman, Fre, 8-0.
113 – Championship – Michael Golden, Ham, dec. Dayne Martin, MBS, 2-0. Third place – Cahl Williams, Sal, dec. Elliot Vanosdell, Ste, 6-5.
120 – Championship – Jake Kesl, Sal, pinned Bailey Wieble, Miss, 3:46. Third place – Bailey Hawk, Sent, pinned Adrian Garcia, Ham, :47.
126 – Championship – Beau King, Sent, dec. Luke Joy, Sent, 7-1. Third place – Blaine Parkin, Sup, pinned Aaron Christensen, Cor, 2:41.
132 – Championship – Conner Burley, Sal, pinned Steven Banks, Ham, 2:37. Third place – Will Wissenbach, Cor, pinned Jethro Thorne, Flo, 3:33.
138 – Championship – Kyler Pancake, Flo, pinned Alex Simon, Sent, 4:28. Third place – Drew Schmitt, Cor, pinned Dustin Copeland, Ham, 1:08.
145 – Championship – Casey Burley, Sal, pinned Dean Klakken, Flo, 1:38. Third place – Josh Brunner, MBS, dec. Stormee Kipp, MBS, 7-5.
152 – Championship – Trent Dennison, Miss, pinned Steven Scheffer, Ham, 4:51. Third place – Braden Loveless, Ste, dec. Hunter Allen, Fre, 9-4.
160- Championship – Kye McCollaum, Cor, pinned Israel Umphrey, Miss, 2:40. Third place – Dax Miller, Flo, dec. Michael Edwards, Fre, 4-2.
170 – Championship – Ben Crews, Ste, maj. dec. Spencer Jones, Flo, 15-4. Third place – Brenden Gallagher, MBS, dec. Cole Jones, Fre, 6-1.
182 – Championship – Jace Pancake, Flo, pinned Mason Griffin, Ste, 1:18. Third place – Jerry Cassidy, Ste, pinned Chase Bennett, Salm, 1:35.
205 – Championship – Justin Hinson, Ham, pinned Kordele Behner, Ste, 4:11. Third place – David Robbins, Cor, pinned Austin Meinzen, Flo, 1:59.
285 – Championship – Luke Channer, Cor, pinned Justin Murray, Ham, :19. Third place – Garret Hunt, Cor, pinned Hayden Wilcox, Sal, 1:35.