For years, Mike McChesney was always at the sidelines or on the Matt at almost any wrestling tournament in the valley and beyond. McChesney was a wrestling coach at Florence for a while and then moved on to become a wrestling official. He was always encouraging the wrestlers and was their biggest fan. He passed away in August of 2018 but the Florence wrestling community keeps his memory alive.
A five team tournament was held on Saturday in Florence in conjunction with senior day. Hamilton/Darby won the event while Florence was second.
On Friday night, Hamilton/Darby battled Stevensville in a duo in Stevensville. Hamilton won three of the four matches, all by pin. Stevensville’s Sekhaia Wehr won the 182 pound class with a pin over Kale Wanner with 25 seconds remaining in the first period. Bridger Williams pinned Dylan James at 152, Jose Vaca pinned Tristan Reil at 160, and Cody Fisher pinned Erik Truebgar at 182 pounds.
Mike McChesney Memorial Tournament
Team scores: Hamilton/Darby 128, Florence 73, Plains/Hot Springs 66, Missoula Hellgate 62, Bigfork 51.
103-1st Place: Andrew Carmody of Hamilton/Darby; Championship round robin: Andrew Carmody (HD) p. Keith Zander (MH), :23; Carmody p. Zander, 1:21.
113-1st Place: Jesse Anson of Hamilton/Darby; 2nd Place: Hannah Hurst of Hamilton/Darby; 3rd Place: Jordan Tack of Missoula Hellgate; 4th Place: Henry Sawfer of Missoula Hellgate.
Championship: Anson p. Hurst, 1:48.
120: 3rd Place: Seth Allen of Hamilton/Darby; 4th Place: Logan Bratch of Hamilton/Darby
132-1st Place: Adyn Meinzen of Florence; 2nd Place: Deegan Martin of Hamilton/Darby; Championship: Meinzen p. Martin 1:09.
145- 4th: Colten Rice of Florence
152-1st Place: Bridger Williams of Hamilton/Darby; 2nd: Archie Brevik of Bigfork;
Championship: Williams p. Brevik, 2:56.
160-1st Place: Jesse Uski of Plains/Hot Springs; 2nd: Dallas Blair of Florence; 3rd: Jose Vaca of Hamilton/Darby
Round Robin: Blair p. Vaca, 1:55; Uski p. Vaca, 2:27; Uski p. Blair, 3:52.
170-1st Place: Cody Fisher of Hamilton/Darby; 2nd: Aidan Tollefson of Florence; 3rd: Sean Larson of Florence; 4th: Colton Frost of Hamilton/Darby.
Championship: Fisher p. Tollefson, :48.
182-1st Place: Derrick Saltzman of Hamilton/Darby; 2nd: Jared Weaver of Florence; 3rd: Kaiden Church of Florence.
Round robin: Saltzman p. Church, 1:44; Weaver p. Church, 1:19; Saltzman p. Weaver, 1:09.
205-1st Place: Luke Maki of Florence; 2nd: Cadogan Wheat of Hamilton/Darby; 3rd: Brock Jones of Hamilton/Darby; 4th: Steven Yother of Plains/Hot Springs.
Championship: Maki p. Wheat, 3:01.
HWT-1st Place: Reece Buchanen of Hamilton/Darby; 2nd: O’Maste Foster of Florence.
Round robin: Buchanen p. Foster, 1:28; Foster dec. Buchanen, 7-5 on OT; Buchanen p. Foster, :51.