by Scott Sacry
On Saturday, January 28th, the five high school wrestling teams in the Bitterroot Valley met at “The Root” tournament in Stevensville to crown the “Best of the Bitterroot” when it comes to wrestling. In this format, all the valley wrestling coaches ranked the top four wrestlers for each weight class. First, the wrestlers ranked 3rd and 4th wrestled, then the wrestlers ranked 1st and 2nd wrestled. Each wrestler earned points toward their team’s total.
In the final team standings, Corvallis took 1st in the event, beating out 2nd place Hamilton by two points. Florence took 3rd, Stevensville took 4th, and Darby took 5th. Hamilton’s Jesse Anson was awarded the most outstanding wrestler of the tournament.
The following are the results in the 1st and 2nd place contests:
103: Max Rosenthal, Florence, defeated Kira Davis, Corvallis, 9-1.
113: Cameron Beall, Hamilton, pinned (5:05) Isaac Nicoson, Florence.
120: Todd Whitescarver, Stevi, pinned (5:14) Tash Murray, Florence.
126: Ben White, Corvallis, pinned (2:24) Will Chivarini, Stevi.
132: Jesse Anson, Hamilton, defeated Seth Allen, Corvallis, 11-1.
138: Seth Wilson, Florence, pinned (3:27) Ted Mellott, Corvallis.
145: Nate Davis, Corvallis, pinned (3:13) Brett Riley, Florence.
152: Aiden Meinzen, Florence, pinned (:25) Brandon Musbrucker, Corvallis.
160: Johnny Williams, Corvallis, pinned (1:55) Jeffery Berryman, Stevi.
170: Andrew Fredrick, Hamilton, pinned (0:38) Jett Murray, Florence.
182: Dallas Blair, Florence, pinned (3:04) Clayton Beall, Hamilton.
205: Derrick Saltzman, Hamilton, pinned (1:57) Jacob Roth, Florence.
285: Arie McClaughlin, Florence, defeated Zachary Sannar, Stevensville, 2-1.