THOMPSON FALLS – The Bluehawk wrestlers went head-to-head with some tough competition at the Choteau Tournament over the weekend, learning some lessons along the way.

According to Head Coach Ian Taylor, he only entered four wrestlers into the varsity tournament, while the others competed in the junior varsity tournament.

The tournament offered a higher level of competition, a level that many of the Bluehawks have yet to see. Coach Taylor thought some of the matches at the JV tournament would help build some confidence for the kids and hopefully allow them to get some wins as well.

Lena Babcock, Colton Bray, Kyle Milner and Joey Milner were the four wrestlers entered into the varsity competition. None of the wrestlers placed but they were able to hone some of their skills against competition they have not yet seen.

As for the matches in the junior varsity tournament, Coach Taylor said the boys were able to work on their technique more.

“Everyone got a couple matches so that was a positive thing for us,” Coach Taylor said.

The competition gave the wrestlers a little taste of what state may look like.

“I would say it’s how we are going to finish (at state) but it tells us what we need to work on between now and then,” Coach Taylor said.

The wrestlers will have a busy week ahead of them with three different wrestling matches scheduled.

The team will go on to the Eureka Quad on Thursday where they will wrestle against some of their divisional competition.

Eureka, Arlee and Ronan will all be at the quad.

The team also has scheduled a dual against the Plains/Hot Springs wrestling team for Friday night at 5 p.m. in Plains – something everyone is excited about.

“It’s always good to get to wrestle our rivals. The kids get excited,” Coach Taylor said.

To wrap the busy week up, the team will head to the Mission Tournament. The round robin-style tournament will give the kids an opportunity to wrestle four or five times each.

Coach Taylor said the more live wrestling time the kids get, the better.

“Everyone will get a chance to get a good set of matches,” Coach Taylor said.