GREAT FALLS — The Ronan wrestling team beat up on Whitefish 60-12 in duals, then sped off to the Great Falls Holiday Classic tournament where they placed five of twelve wrestlers entered.

At the tournament, the Chiefs’ five placers were Zach Robinson, who took fourth place for the 105 lbs. weight class, Cameron Neiss, who took fourth place for 125 lbs., Micky Cheff, who took second for 145 lbs., Toby Cheff, who took fifth for 160 lbs., and Marcus Schiele, who took fifth  for 189 lbs.

Robinson, who went 5-2, wrestled some of the best  to keep himself in contention for a place after a loss in the quarter finals match, head coach Ryan Fisher wrote in an e-mail.

Neiss lost to tough AA competitors who Fisher predicted he would wrestle stronger against in the future.

The Cheff’s both wrestled well, although Fisher said Micky seemed nervous in the finals against a two-time state champ and didn’t wrestle to his full potential.

Fisher was pleased with Schiele’s performance.   

“I was extremely pleased with the efforts of Marcus. He was 6-2 in the tournament with only one class “A” opponent placing higher. Marcus was constantly attacking and moving very well. He broke a number of his opponents, which is something we try to stress to our boys (breaking is where you keep the pressure on to the point where the opponent is just going through the motions; they give up hope),” Fisher wrote in an e-mail.

Due to knee pain, Cole McArthur was removed from the tournament by his coaches early to prevent serious injury, Fisher said.

At home against Whitefish, the wrestler’s put on a dominant display, pinning all of their opponents.

“I was very pleased with the dual as we won all of our contested matches by pin, to include the Junior Varsity matches,” Fisher said.

After the meet against Whitefish, senior Tyson Noyes, squarely beating his opponent, felt the rush of success, but still hadn’t met the hardest challenge with the big weekend tourney still lurking.

“There’s always room for improvement,” he said.

His team fought Whitefish hard, and had come out with a strong win. When it comes to the attack, however, Noyes saw some areas his team could improve, particularly in taking shots.

As Ronan wrestlers made their move from the standing position, they needed to tighten up with their opponent and strike from closer in, Noyes said.

With a squad shortened from previous years, and a big agenda regardless, the Chiefs have had to keep their heads high and let skill and confidence beat out the forfeits, still taking dual wins.

Noyes is onboard with his team, of seasoned wrestlers and carries a winning philosophy.

“It’s not always quantity. It’s quality,” he said.

After the Whitefish match, Noyes said he wanted to place in the top three in Great Falls. Though he didn’t meet his personal goal, his team fared well.

Neiss won his dual match quickly and deliberately, barely flinching as he held his opponent to the mat for a full count and the quick pin.

“I felt good, conditioned and ready to go,” Neiss said.

Like Noyes, Neiss saw room for improvement but was happy with the end result.

“Some of our kids wrestled a little flat, but we wrestled good overall and got the job done. That’s what we gotta do,” Neiss said.

Neiss said the Chiefs welcomed the weekend and expected to see some placers and big pins on their score sheet if they went in tough. He predicted correctly. 

The Chiefs wrestle next on Jan. 2 and 3 at the Bozeman Invitational.