Students lace up gloves, provide thrills to raise money for local athletics

ST. IGNATIUS - The St. Ignatius Community Center felt more like the MGM Grand last Thursday night as it hosted the Third Annual Mission Valley Rumble. The community packed the place to watch high school students from around the area square off in the ring. From the noise the place made, you would have thought guys by the name of Ali and Hollyfield were fighting.

"It was awesome," said Cameron Neiss, of Ronan. "It really got the adrenaline pumping."

In the main event of the night, the two-time state wrestling champion squared off against Cole Rice, of Arlee, also a state champion wrestler, and the result was a boxing match for the ages. The relentless attitude by both boxers combined with the grit and toughness that was displayed easily won over the crowd.

The three ringside judges thought that it should have been ruled a draw, however, by rule, they had to pick a winner in what ringside announcer and Mission girls basketball head coach Les Rice called "the closest fight we've had in three years."

"That kid had beat me in wrestling, he's a damn good wrestler," said Neiss, who thought he had the reach advantage on Rice but felt more gassed during the fight.

Russ Hansen, who has over thirty years of refereeing experience and has overseen Toughman Boxing, MMA, kickboxing and professional boxing, was simply blown away by the fights and even went so far as to entertain a possible rematch for Neiss and Rice down in Missoula.

"All I can say is that that's the main event on any show," said Hansen, who works for SportFight Montana.

The Mission Valley Rumble featured 19 fights and the proceeds went towards supporting athletic programs and camps. It does take about $2,000 to get the insurance, set up the ring and make sure everything is done correctly, but the community really comes out to support it, said Mission football head coach and event promoter Peter Hamilton.

"Some of them train a little," Hamilton said. "They come out here and just warrior up."

Last year, the event was able to cover the expenses and raise $2,000 for the Little Guy Wrestling and football programs with $340 also going to youth basketball. And it's easy to see how that could happen. The seats at the event were packed.

The fans weren't disappointed.

"A lot of these really came down to the third round," judge Brad Porch said. "This was the best night of fight night I've seen."

While there were plenty of bloody noses, that just spoke to the ferocity and intensity the kids fought with. Safety was heavily favored, as Hansen oversaw the ring like an expert and anytime somebody looked like they were hurting or didn't want to go on, the fight was immediately called off.

"You can tell in their eyes, they'll let you know," corner man and Mission high school basketball coach Lloyd Phillips said.

Since most of the kids had never boxed before or had received very little training, Phillips and other corner men, Ben Corral and Lyle Cronk, gave them advice.

"One of the big things is keeping your head up," said Phillips.

And all of the kids certainly kept their heads up, time after time.

"Oh man, it's hard to stand, I'm exhausted," Dylan Evans, of Mission, said of a split decision over Christian Haynes, of Arlee. Both came away with bloody noses.

One thing that was made very clear during the entire event was that there were no losers in these fights, just winners for trying. Medals were handed out to both participants and the crowd was immensely supportive to both sides no matter who was fighting. Many of those fighting knew each other, including Courtney Couture, of Charlo, who battled Donnilyn Rossbach, of Mission, to a split decision. The two had played together before on the same basketball team.

"The only part I was nervous about was finding out who I was boxing," Courture said.

The nerves that showed in the ring were that of resolve, as 12 of the 19 fights went the distance of the three rounds. The only thing missing was the Rocky theme song.

Mission cheerleaders Mackenna Cordier, Morgan Andres and Sydney Allard served as ring girls and several area businesses also sponsored the event, helping to offset the cost. After the event, the buzz was electric as people left talking about how that was the best night of fights so far. Hopefully, it won't be the last either. Hamilton said that it's definitely something that they would like to continue, having it around the time school gets out every year.

"I'd like to keep it going as long as we can," he said.

Judging from the roar of the crowd during the event, nobody is going to complain.