The wrestling programs in the valley had good successes at their divisional tournaments over the weekend and will be sending 31 wrestlers to the All Class State wrestling tournament in Billings this weekend at the Metra. Corvallis will send 11, Florence nine, Hamilton seven, and Stevensville will send three.
Florence finished second behind Eureka at the Western B Divisional in Thompson Falls with three championships. At 103 pounds, Oliver Post pinned Taylor Angle of Plains. Avery Meinzen pinned Gavin Pilkington of Eureka at 160. Spencer Jones of Florence defeated Miles Anders of St. Ignatius at 205. Other Falcons who placed and will advance to the state tournament are O’Maste Foster who finished second at 285; Aaron Edens was third at 126, Jonny Chamberlin was third at 138. Luke Maki finished fourth at 170 and Zach Cather was fifth at 170. Jarod Pallo finished fourth at 182.
Corvallis finished fourth in the Western A Divisional at Butte Central behind Polson, Frenchtown, and Columbia Falls. Hamilton was ninth and Stevensville finished with 52 points in 11th place.
Corvallis’ Dante Venema, who has a record of 40 wins and 4 losses, won the 126 division with a pin of Ronan’s Trapper McAllister 1:35 into the match. He also defeated Quentin Campos of Browning, and Luke Huffaker of Beaverhead Co.
Triston Davis finished third at 138 pounds for Corvallis. He defeated Dugan Davis of Polson in the first round and fellow teammate Allan Allsop in the quarterfinals. Jeff Offenbecher of Libby won a decision over Davis in the semifinals. Davis came back in the consolation bracket to defeat Smokey Stoker of Frenchtown and advance to the third place match where he pinned Ayden Role of Columbia Falls in 4:42.
Blue Devil Randon Weidow finished third at 145 pounds. He pinned Chance Kittson of Browning for the third place spot. He pinned John Warner of Frenchtown in the first round and then pinned Caleb Pierre of Polson in the quarterfinal round. Bridger Williams of Hamilton won by an 8-4 decision over Weidow in the semi finals. Weidow came back to defeat Peter Gibson of Dillon with a pin at :56.
Other Blue Devils who will advance to the state tournament are Derrik Gasvoda who placed fourth at 152 pounds; Mark Spencer who placed fifth at 103 pounds, Harley Wise who was fifth at 285 pounds, Jimmy Schmitt was sixth at 120 pounds, Benji Opat was sixth at 132 pounds, and Allan Allsop finished sixth at 138 pounds.
Hamilton’s Michael Golden, who has a record of 34-2, took first at 132 pounds with a pin of Libby’s Zack Morrison at :37 seconds. Golden pinned Alexis Aurand of Whitefish in 20 seconds in the first round. In the quarterfinal, Golden pinned Jeff Madman of Browning in 27 seconds. It took Golden 1:03 to pin Thomas Peters of Columbia Falls in the semi finals.
Hamilton’s Bridger Williams finished second at 145 pounds after losing to Libby’s Trey Thompson with a pin at 3:24. Williams defeated Isaac Balla of Columbia Falls in the quarterfinals with a pin. In the semifinals, Williams won an 8-4 decision over Corvallis’ Randon Weidow. Adrian Garcia finished third at 132 pounds with a pin of Thomas Peters of Columbia Falls. Noah Hurst finished third at 160 pounds with a 5-2 decision over Browning’s Ryan Kipp.
Stevensville’s Kyler Pancake finished second at 160 pounds after being pinned by Cooper Hoffman of Dillon. Pancake defeated Christian Smith of Ronan, Garrett Croft of Polson and Noah Hurst of Hamilton. Kellen Robbins finished fourth at 126 pounds and Jake Woods finished sixth at 285 pounds.