The first thing one sees as they enter the foyer at the Corvallis gymnasium is a five foot long plaque saying “If it’s to be, it’s up to me,” Glyn Brawley. Brawley was a long-time supporter of Corvallis wrestling and of the Corvallis school who passed away several years ago. He passed his love of the sport on to several grandchildren who were Blue Devils. In fact, there was a young great grandson at the annual Christmas tournament on Saturday.
Saturday’s event featured nine teams from Western Montana and Salmon, Idaho. Superior was the team winner with 164 points. Hometown Corvallis finished third and Stevensville, the only other valley team, earned 20 points.
Matt Davis, Corvallis’ third-year coach, has a strong contingent of wrestlers who have quite a bit of experience. Tristan Davis finished in the top 10 last year at 138 pounds and is looking tough at 145 this year. Other Blue Devils to watch are Jason Davis at 126, James Wissenbach at 132, and Bryce Weidow at 170.
Tristan Davis, whose dad is the coach, took the championship at 145 with a pin of Isaac DuMontier of St. Ignatius. James Wissenbach took an 18-11 decision over Walker Murphy of St. Ignatius. Jonathon Williams lost a major decision to Decker Milender of Superior at 113 pounds. Troy Bruce of Salmon pinned Kanyon Stoker of Corvallis at 120.
Stevensville has a new coaching line up. Taking over from Ted Adams is Jon Foster. Foster is a middle school special education teacher at Stevensville who has had extensive wrestling experience. He grew up in a wrestling family in upstate New York and then wrestled in college. His assistant is Ron Brunell, a Missoula County firefighter who lives in Stevensville.
Stevensville has 10 wrestlers out this year in what Foster considers to be a rebuilding year. Leading the Yellowjackets are Keagan Crosby at 103 pounds and freshman Josh Wehr at 182.
“We have set a standard and they (the athletes) are working on that,” said Foster. “They are a good group of wrestlers.)