By Jean Schurman
The valley has two new champions after this weekend’s state wrestling tournament in Billings over the weekend. Corvallis’ Garret Hunt took the championship at 285 pounds with a pin of Wacey Zuback of Browning. Hunt only lost one match all season. Manny Rivera of Hamilton was the second champion from the valley. He defeated Shane Gibson of Livingston, 6-4.
Hunt’s quest for the championship medal began with a pin of Mason Roberts of Billings Central at 1:26. He next pinned Ryan Horner of Sidney at 2:42 in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Hunt defeated Grand Scalpcane of Hardin with a 3-2 decision.
Corvallis finished seventh in the team standings behind Havre, Columbia Falls, Glendive, Hardin, Polson, and Frenchtown. Hunt was not the only Blue Devil to advance to Saturday. Dante Venema took fourth at 120 pounds after losing to Keagan Campbell of Laurel. Venema won his first two matches. He won by forfeit over Trajen Calica of Browning. Venema won his bout in the quarterfinals with a pin of Gage Meyer of Belgrade. After losing to Lane Paulson of Havre in the semi finals, Venema came back in the consolation round to defeat Tanner Mannin of Lewistown and advance to the third place match.
Kye McCollaum finished in fifth place at 160 pounds. The Darby Tiger who wrestles for Corvallis pinned Nick Verlanic of Laurel at 3:18 in his first match of the tournament. McCollaum was knocked into the consolation round after losing to Colton McPhee of Columbia Falls. He then defeated Gidion Herbel of Hardin with apin. His fifth place match was a 9-5 decision over Colton McPhee of Columbia Falls.
Hamilton tied for eighth with Belgrade, four and a half points behind Corvallis. Rivera started his run to the podium with a pin of Tyler Harms of Miles City just 43 seconds into the match. His next bout was in the quarterfinals where he took a 5-1 decision over Jemal Williams of Belgrade. In the semifinal match, Rivera won an 8-4 decision over Sawyer Thogerson of Sidney.
Hamilton’s Michael Golden took third at 113 pounds with a 3-2 decision over Ryan Stewart of Havre. In his first match, Golden pinned Belgrade’s Roystanlee Deguzman of Belgrade at 2:51. He then defeated Marc Ramirez of Havre in the quarterfinals with a 6-5 decision. Matthew DeWtt of Laurel won by sudden victory in the semifinals. In the consolation semifinals, Golden won with a pin over Austin Nelson of Columbia Falls.
Bridger Williams of Hamilton finished fourth at 126 pounds after Bridger Wenzel of Polson won a major decision in the third place match. Williams opened with a pin over Payten Batalden of Laurel. IN the quarterfinals, Williams won a major decision over Sean Comstock of Billings Central. Williams lost to Clay fisher of Butte Central in the semifinals with an 8-4 decision. Williams won a 7-5 decision over Ayden Role of Columbia Falls to advance to the third place match.
Justin Hinson finished third at 205 pounds with a 2-1 decision over Tyler Loverty of Livingston. Hinson won his first match with a pin of Will Blewett of Belgrade at 1:45. In the quarterfinals, Hinson took an 11-5 decision over Boyce of Fergus. Hinson lost to Jase Stokes of Havre in the semifinals. He came back to win in the consolation semifinals with a pin of Hardin’s Will Caprata at 2:40.
Stevensville finished with 62 points. Ben Crews finished second at 170 pounds after losing to Patrick Griffin of Dillon/Twin Bridges, with a pin at 3:36. Crews, who has battled injuries all season, opened his tournament with a pin of Thomas Cooper of Billings Central. He then pinned Nelson Crisafulli of Glendive at 4:25. With the win, Crews advanced to the semifinals where he took a 12-3 decision over Wyatt Blythe of Lewistown.
In the 182-weight division, Jerry Cassidy of Stevensville finished third with a 4-2 decision over Jemal Williams of Belgrade. Cassidy won his first match with a pin at 2:20 over Casimir Melton of Glendive. Cassidy lost in the quarterfinals to Columbia Falls’ Jakob Freeman. Cassidy wrestled back to win the second round consolation match with a pin of Shawn Horner of Dillon/Twin Bridges. He won the third round in the consolation bracket with a 10-4 decision over Brett McBurney of Laurel. Then, in the consolation semifinals, Cassidy won a 4-2 decision over Thogerson of Sidney.