Crosstown wrestling on deck Thursday in Glacier’s gym
FRITZ NEIGHBOR | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 4 years, 3 months AGO
SPORTS EDITOR Fritz Neighbor is the Sports Editor for the Daily Inter Lake. He oversees sports coverage across the Flathead Valley, including high school athletics, youth sports, and regional competitions. In his leadership role, he helps shape the newspaper’s sports coverage and editorial direction. Fritz’s column, Full Count, taps into his decades’ long career covering Montana sports. You’ll also see Fritz sharing his thoughts and insights on the Big Sky Now podcast. IMPACT: Fritz’s work celebrates the athletes and teams that bring Northwest Montana communities together. | January 12, 2022 7:36 PM
Glacier wrestling coach Ross Dankers would like to have a better lineup ready for the crosstown rivals, but with open dates short and four weeks left in the season, tonight will have to do.
“We are pretty well decimated with illness and injury,” said Dankers, ahead of the Crosstown Duals set for 4 p.m. (junior varsity), 5:30 p.m. (girls varsity) and 6:30 p.m. (boys varsity) at Glacier High. “But we’re going to go out and battle.”
There are some marquee matches, such as at 126 pounds with Josh Melton for Glacier and Logan Stansberry. At 132, Flathead’s Asher Kemppainen is ranked No. 2 in AA behind two-time state champion Teegan Vasquez of Glacier.
“We would love to see him wrestle Teegan,” Dankers said. “That would be an exciting match.”
Dankers notes with interest that his heavyweight, Ethan Dimaio, wrestles at 215 pounds and could be giving away 70 pounds to Flathead’s Logan Lang.
At 205 TJ Gannon is banged up for Glacier, so freshman Cody Vergeront will battle Flathead standout Chase Youso.
Glacier’s girls are coming off a team title at the Ronan Invitational, while Flathead’s girls won the Rollie Lane Invite last week. The Wolfpack’s Emily Pedron won at 120 in Ronan, and the Bravettes can counter with Hania Halverson, who is 16-1 after her second-place finish in Boise.
There will be open weight classes mixed in, Dankers said.
“But we’re going to go out and battle like we know how to, in the matches we have,” he added.
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