We've Got The County Covered
We've Got The County Covered
The Chinook and Harlem boys and girls wrestling teams were back in action this past Friday and Saturday. The Sugarbeeters were in Miles City. The boys took part in the 64th annual Cowboy Classic while the girls took part in the 3rd annual Cowgirl Classic. The Wildcats and LadyCats were in Choteau for the Bulldog Classic.
The 'Beeters had two boys find a spot on the podium with freshman Walter Schoen and 8th grader Haiden Berreth each finishing in 8th place. On the girls' side, junior Grace Buck won it all in the 107-pound weight class. Buck went 5-0 on the day and won the championship match by major decision over Lockwood's Evelyn Arciga with a score of 11-2. Sophomore Emma Klingaman finished second at 126 pounds, going 6-1 on the day and falling in the championship match by a 6-3 decision against Lockwood's Meadow Mahlmeister. Sophomore Bailey Billmayer finished third at the tournament in the 114-pound weight class. Billmayer won in the third-place match by fall over Belgrade's Destiny Taylor with a time of 4:22.
Chinook Head Coach Ben Stroh was very satisfied, "The girls came out and wrestled well like usual. They beat some quality opponents that are going to be huge for their seating at the state tournament.
On the boys' side, we saw a lot of improvement in the teams' positioning and mat awareness. Given how young our team is, we are likely to make some tough mistakes, but I really feel like this team is trying to learn at an accelerated pace, which is a fun time for a coaching staff."
The Lady Cats also performed exceptionally well, bringing home a second-place trophy. Senior Kaitlyn Johnson won the tournament in the 126-pound weight class, going 3-0 on the weekend. Johnson won the championship match by fall over Choteau's Lucy Armstrong in a time of 4:00. Sophomore Jarah Wilson also took first in the 165-pound weight class. Wilson defeated her opponent, Cut Bank's Harley Fetters, in the championship round by fall in a time of 1:18. Junior Izzy Baker finished third in the 114-pound weight class. Baker went 2-1 on the day, making it to the third-place match, where she won by fall over Fairfield's Shienne McNary in 2:10.
On the boys' side, junior Trent King earned a third-place finish in the 160-pound weight class. King won the third-place match by fall over Cascade's Cache Carroll in a time of 4:19
Harlem Head Coach Jonny Baker offered these thoughts following the team's effort in Choteau, "Individual training plans are where we are at this point. Each athlete needs to get into the post-season mindset. We had another good weekend of mat time, even with the tournament changing and cold weather challenging us to do so. We still saw lots of great opportunities to grow. The boys made some progress with the mental game. Most of our matches went all 6 minutes and the effort brought forward was pleasing to see.
The girls also came out in full force, seeing some hard matches and challenges to overcome. All the girls wrestled hard and broke barriers as well. They had a good finish, bringing a trophy home and bringing their focus on the post-season push. We look forward to the next two weeks' competition to devise a plan for podium placement at the divisional level.
