by Scott Sacry
On Friday, January 26th, the five Bitterroot Valley wrestling teams – Florence, Corvallis, Hamilton, Stevi, Darby – 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 boys team standings, Corvallis took 1st, Florence 2nd, Hamilton 3rd, Stevensville 4th, and Darby 5th.
In the girls team standings, Corvallis took 1st, Hamilton 2nd, Florence 3rd, Stevensville 4th, and Darby 5th.
Individually, Florence’s Hailey Sutton was voted the Mike McChesney Outstanding Wrestler award. She has a record of 21-0 at the 152 weight class and boasts a 4.00 GPA. The event organizers said of Sutton, “She embodies all the lessons of sportsmanship and competition left in Mike’s wake. When you see her off the mat she is always smiling and willing to learn from anybody that she can in her quest to become the very best version of herself.”
The individuals results for the boys 1st & 2nd place matches:
103: Chase Davis (Cor) won by fall over Brycin Bugli (Stevi)
113: Rowan Miller (Flo) won by fall over Kahle Hill (Cor)
120: Max Rosenthal (Flo) won by fall over Quinn Wissenbach (Cor)
126: Cameron Beall (Ham) won by fall over Mark Sandoval (Dar)
132: Jon Post (Flo) won by fall over Connor Jessop (Cor)
138: Ben White (Cor) won by fall over Tash Murray (Flo)
145: Seth Wilson (Flo) won by fall over Gunnar Larson (Stevi)
152: Mathew Liedka (Stevi) won by major decision over Brett Riley (Flo)
160: Ayden Spencer (Cor) won by fall over Christian Englund (Flo)
170: Jett Murray (Flo) won by fall over Cayde Olsen (Cor)
182: Carter Morgan (Ham) won by fall over Colton Snyder (Cor)
205: Noah Guisinger (Ham) won by fall over Maurice Craun (Cor)
285: Arie Mclaughlin (Flo) won by fall over Shannon Stuart (Dar)
The individuals results for the girls:
100: Deedra Wohlgemuth (Cor) received a bye
107: Kaelyn Vanderpool (Cor) won by fall over Tayler Rust (Dar)
114: Finley Hillman (Cor) received a Bye
126: Malorey Lawrence (Flo) won by fall over Penelope Foster (Cor)
132: Keenya Gibson (Stevi) won by fall over Peyton Boggs (Ham)
138: Jocelyn Covington (Cor) won by fall over Kailey Broad (Ham)
152: Hailey Sutton (Flo) won by fall over Logan Paddock (Dar)
165: Harley Hanson (Ham) won by fall over Halana May (Dar)
185: Elle Irish (Ham) received a bye
235: Carlottta Gianquinto (Ham) received a bye
Wrestling season is nearing its completion as Divisionals are next weekend in Hamilton for Class A and in Shelby for Class B/C. The State championship is the following weekend in Billings.