The Columbia Falls wrestling team made it to the quarterfinals of the Belgrade Class A duals meet Friday and Saturday.

The MatCats lost a squeaker to Hardin 33-30 in the quarterfinal round. They went 4-0 the day before in duals action, dropping Billings Central, 45-28, Butte Central, 63-30, Belgrade 45-30 and Laurel 44-30.

Coach Jessie Schaeffer said he was pleased with the way the team wrestled.

“The guys that were on the mats wrestled well,” he said.

During the course of a season, a typical wrestler will have about 50 matches by the time they’re through with the state tournament.

A home dual against Frenchtown was canceled.

The squad is at this week home for the only time this season, with a dual Tuesday against Whitefish after presstime and another Thursday against Polson. Weigh-in times are 5 p.m. matches start at 6 p.m. They then wrap up the regular season in the Whitefish duals tourney Friday. Matches start at 1 p.m. Dillon hosts the divisional tourney the following weekend.

Schaeffer looks for the team to be in the top three, at least.

“I think we’ll be tough,” he said.

Seniors Mason Fetters, Winfield West, Storm Kemppainen and Hunter Peterson should all be in the mix for titles in both post-season tournaments, as should junior Ben Windauer.

On Tuesday, the MatCats dumped Whitefish 60-16. It wasn’t much of a dual, as the Bulldogs had several forfeits and several of Columbia Falls best wrestlers never got a match.

The MatCats that did wrestle wrestled well. Austin Nelson, Ayden Role, Winfield West, Hunter Peterson, Brandon Thomas and Colton McPhee all won by pin.

Hardin 33, Columbia Falls 30

152 – Mason Fetters, CF, pin Brenden Roan, 3:59; 170 – Storm Kemppainen, CF, pin Justin Zier, L, 2:41; 182 – Jakob Freeman, CF, pin Uriah Turner, 3:50; 285 – Grant Scalpcane, H, pin Kyler Koski, 1:59; 103 – Keith Pretty Weasel, H, dec. Garret Salminen, 3-0; 120 – open; 138 – Conner Schwend, H, dec. Brandon Thomas, 10-9; 145 – Bryce Roan, H, dec. Ben Windauer, 8-6.

Hardin won by forfeit at 113, 160, 205. C. Falls at 126, 132.

103 — Jackson Carson, W, pinned Garhet Salminen, 4:42; 113 — Austin Nelson, CF, pinned Anwar Mirza, :17; 120 — Winfield West, CF, pinned Carlitos Bertelson, 3:08; 126 — Ayden Role, CF, pinned Eli Taylor, 1:36; 132 —‚ Hunter Peterson, CF, pinned Jack Eisenbarth, 1:52; 138 — Brandon Thomas, CF, pinned Dakota Flannery, 1:47; 145 — Ben Windauer, CF, won by forfeit; 152 — Mason Fetters, CF, won by forfeit; 160: Colton McPhee, CF, pinned Malik Heydon, :23; 170: Storm Kemppainen, CF, won by forfeit; 182: Open; 205: Travis Catina, W, maj. dec. Jakob Freeman, 17-6; 285: Kyler Koski, CF, won by forfeit.