Wrestlers head to Missoula for Rocky
David Lesnick Daily Inter Lake | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 10 years, 10 months AGO
Columbia Falls, Flathead, Glacier, Libby and Polson will all be on the mats this weekend for the annual Rocky Mountain Classic in Missoula.
This is the final regular-season wrestling tournament for most of the teams involved with either dual, seeding, or divisional action left before the all-class state tournament Feb. 14-15 in Billings.
“One big thing we’re focusing on this week is to hopefully see our wrestlers do a complete tournament,” Glacier coach Ross Dankers said.
“We have kind of gotten better by one round at each tournament. At Rocky we want to wrestle through all the rounds ... wrestle hard all the way. If we do that, good things will happen.”
Last weekend at the Thompson Falls Invitational, Glacier’s AJ Robinson finished first at 182.
Tanner Stupak (160), Quinn Barber (132) and Donovan Macura (145) all finished third.
“AJ Robinson has kind of blossomed as of late,” Dankers said.
“He’s found a good style that fits him and we’re running with that right now.”
Tanner Stupack (160) has the most wins for the Wolfpack at 21-7. Cody Decker (126) and Zach Dennehy (heavyweight) are next. Both wrestlers are 17-7.
Glacier will not field a full lineup for Rocky. The Wolfpack will be open at 106, 195 and 220.
Flathead, on the other hand, will have all 15 weight classes filled for the weekend.
“It’s been great so far,” Flathead coach Rich Vasquez said.
“We started out pretty inexperienced. I’m really impressed with the guys ... how hard they work. We are way above where I thought we would be at this point of the season.”
Vasquez said much of the team’s improvement can be traced to the senior leadership of Alex Bladholm (heavyweight), Gavyn Wilson (126) and Mitch Stivers (195).
Anthony Wright (160) and Tyler Davis (132) have both won at least 20 matches for the Braves thus far.
Bladholm is 18-4.
“I’m looking for the same thing this weekend as I have been all year,” Vasquez said.
“That’s for my guys to continue to improve.”
Columbia Falls is expected to fare well. The Mat Cats are ranked third in Class A, led by two-time state champion Shonn Roberts at 126 pounds and a solid, talented lineup.
Polson is ranked 10th in this week’s Class AA coaches’ poll.
Wrestling begins today at 11:30 a.m.
Saturday’s action starts at 9 a.m.
Lineups For Rocky
Glacier
Weight class, name, record
98 — Justin Gibson, 10-5
106 — Open
113 — Sam Barber, 7-14
120 — Ryder Day, 12-6
126 — Cody Decker, 17-7
132 — Brandon Scholz, 1-5
138 — Quinn Barber, 9-8
145 — Arik Lybeck, 13-13
152 — Jacob Ferkin, 14-11
160 — Tanner Stupack, 21-7
170 — Isaac Sanez, 7-12
182 — A.J. Robinson, 11-15
195 — Open
220 — Open
285 — Zach Dennehy, 17-7
Flathead
98 — Cody DeVall, 14-5
106 — Michael Schmeusser, 6-12
113 — Lukas DeCock, 4-12
120 — Austin Gabbert, 4-6
126 — Gavyn Wilson, 7-5
132 — Tyler Davis, 20-8
138 — Daniel DeVall, 8-17
145 — Cody Wood, 12-19
152 — Nate Sommers, 4-7
160 — Anthony Wright, 22-7
170 — Logan Wilson, 6-12
182 — Payton Boyce, 11-10
195 — Cody Howe, 5-4
220 — Riley Leigh, 8-6
Hwt — Axel Bladholm, 18-4