Corvallis wins ‘Battle of the Root’ 2026

by Scott Sacry, Sports Editor

The annual quest for Bitterroot wrestling supremacy, called the Battle of the Root, was contested this year in Florence on Saturday, February 7. 

The boys and girls wrestling teams from Corvallis, Darby, Hamilton, Florence, and Stevensville participated in this annual event where the five schools battled it out to see who was the best in the Bitterroot Valley. 

Corvallis reigned supreme, as both the Blue Devil girls and boys teams carried home the 2026 Root trophies.

“Corvallis has a strong team this year, and they have a solid group of kids, so it’s fitting they won,” said Florence’s boys head wrestling coach Skip Rosenthal. “The other teams’ numbers have been down, but each team has a handful of talented wrestlers who will compete well at state this season.”

A highlight of the event was the competition in the 144 weight class between Corvallis’s Byron Stoker, Stevensville’s Todd Whitescarver, Florence’s Max Rosenthal, and Hamilton’s Colt Yocum. Stoker and Whitescarver are both ranked in the top six for Class A at 144. But it was Florence’s Rosenthal who came out on top as he defeated both Stoker and Whitescarver to take first place at 144.

Individual awards 

Besides the team trophies, there were two individual awards given. The Most Inspirational Wrestler award went to two wrestlers: Kacey Springer from Stevensville and Brett Riley from Florence. Corvallis heavyweight Jesse James was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler. 

The following are the boys individual results in the championship round. 

At 110, Florence’s Caleb Scussel defeated Christian Wissenbach. At 118, Darby’s Drextin Evers defeated Corvallis’s Leyton Olson. At 126, Corvallis’s Kahle Hill defeated Hamilton’s Keegan Gingrich. At 132, Stevensville’s Rowan Miller defeated Florence’s Landon Sirevaag. At 138, Stevensville’s Ben White defeated Corvallis’s Quinn Wissenbach. At 144,  Florence’s Max Rosenthal defeated Stevensville’s Todd Whitescarver. At 150, Corvallis’s Colby Bowles defeated Darby’s Mark Sandoval. At 157, Hamilton’s Brandon Saltzman defeated Corvallis’s Marshall Jessop. At 165, Corvallis’s Colter Bestor defeated Darby’s Reagan Christopherson. At 175, Corvallis’s Colton Snyder defeated Florence’s Jake Schneiter. At 190, Corvallis’s Maurice Craun defeated Darby’s Marco Biesiot. At 215 Darby’s Eli Spross defeated Corvallis’s Adrian Sears.

Team standings 

In the boys team standings, Corvallis took 1st place, Florence and Darby tied for second place, Stevensville was 4th, and Hamilton was 5th.

In the girls team standings, Corvallis took 1st place, Hamilton took 2nd, Darby took 3rd, Florence took 4th, and Stevensville took 5th.