After dropping his opening match on a narrow 3-2 decision at the All-Class State Wrestling Tournament Friday, Bulldog senior Kai Nash came all the way back to make it into the placing rounds.

He won his next three matches which qualified him to wrestle on the second day of the tournament. Nash lost to Hamilton’s Derrick Saltzman in a consolation semifinal round which then set up a fifth-sixth place match. He was pinned in that one, ending the tournament on the podium in sixth place at 205 pounds.

“The tough thing about losing your first match is it's a long trip just to get to the placing rounds,” Whitefish coach Danny Neff said. “[Nash] showed some grit and battled, won three in a row… It's nice to see him finish off his wrestling career on the podium.”

All of Whitefish’s wrestlers on the boys side had a tough go of it in their opening rounds, which Neff says set them up for a difficult tournament to get into the placing rounds.

“Brackets are tough. A lot of our kids got some tough draws,” Neff said. “We had a tough first round.. but we bounced back and had a pretty good second round.”

Kitar Olsen, Henry Bennetts and Kadin Brown all went 1-2 at the tournament; Jackson Dorvall competed but lost two matches. Landree Aurand sat out with an injury sustained at divisionals.

For the girls, Sam Bennetts wrestled in a tough field of female wrestlers from all classes of schools, Class AA to C. This set the Whitefish freshman up for some tough matches, but according to Neff, she wrestled well through the tough competition.

Bennetts won her opening match over Billings’ Jersey Berg, but was pinned in her next match by Flathead’s Bella Downing. In the consolation bracket, she earned two more pins and was close to making it back to the placing rounds, but then lost to Billings’ Isabella Dillon.

As only a freshman, Neff was excited to see her do well in the state tournament.

“Sam, just the strides that she made throughout the year was pretty spectacular,” Neff said. “It was really fun to watch her grow.”

State wrapped up the season for Bulldog wrestling. The team battled through injuries all season long and Neff hopes to get everybody stronger to make another run at it next season.

“A lot of our individuals will have a great opportunity of getting on the podium next year, it’s just dedicating themselves to working for it,” Neff said.

State A Tournament

Whitefish results

Girls 120

Champ. Round 1 - Sam Bennetts (Whitefish Girls) 3-2 won by fall over Jersey Berg (Billings Senior High School Girls) 1-2 (Fall 3:17)

Champ. Round 2 - Bella Downing (Flathead Girls) 4-2 won by fall over Sam Bennetts (Whitefish Girls) 3-2 (Fall 3:19)

Cons. Round 2 - Sam Bennetts (Whitefish Girls) 3-2 won by fall over Braydee Lehman (Fort Benton Girls) 0-2 (Fall 1:14)

Cons. Round 3 - Sam Bennetts (Whitefish Girls) 3-2 won by fall over Trinity Bolvin (Flathead Girls) 2-2 (Fall 4:13)

Cons. Round 4 - Isabella Dillon (Billings Senior High School Girls) 3-3 won by fall over Sam Bennetts (Whitefish Girls) 3-2 (Fall 2:04)

205

Champ. Round 1 - Jaiden Gibson (Custer Co. (Miles City)) 43-14 won by decision over Kai Nash (Whitefish) 32-12 (Dec 3-2)

Cons. Round 1 - Kai Nash (Whitefish) 32-12 won by fall over Nate Goodluck (Hardin) 4-5 (Fall 3:34)

Cons. Round 2 - Kai Nash (Whitefish) 32-12 won by decision over Seth Benge (Billings Central) 36-17 (Dec 7-5)

Cons. Round 3 - Kai Nash (Whitefish) 32-12 won by decision over Seth Meyer (Lockwood) 18-14 (Dec 3-2)

Cons. Semi - Derrick Saltzman (Hamilton) 36-8 won by decision over Kai Nash (Whitefish) 32-12 (Dec 7-3)

5th Place Match - Bryce Weidow (Corvallis) 19-10 won by fall over Kai Nash (Whitefish) 32-12 (Fall 2:25)

182

Cons. Round 2 - Jaden Silha (Dawson County) 30-19 won by decision over Henry Bennetts (Whitefish) 33-14 (Dec 6-1)

Cons. Round 1 - Kitar Olsen (Whitefish) 14-21 won by decision over Jack Pallett (Fergus (Lewistown)) 19-13 (Dec 13-12)

Cons. Round 2 - Matthew Niemi (Libby/Troy) 30-16 won by fall over Kitar Olsen (Whitefish) 14-21 (Fall 1:37)

160

Champ. Round 1 - Beau Mares (Laurel) 37-20 won by tech fall over Henry Bennetts (Whitefish) 33-14 (TF-1.5 6:00 (23-8))

Cons. Round 1 - Henry Bennetts (Whitefish) 33-14 won by fall over Landen Caplette (Havre) 18-17 (Fall 4:54)

Cons. Round 2 - Jaden Silha (Dawson County) 30-19 won by decision over Henry Bennetts (Whitefish) 33-14 (Dec 6-1)

145

Champ. Round 1 - Sean Mehling (Hardin) 49-5 won by decision over Jackson Dorvall (Whitefish) 14-25 (Dec 7-1)

Cons. Round 1 - Cody Hofer (Billings Central) 24-17 won by decision over Jackson Dorvall (Whitefish) 14-25 (Dec 4-1)

113

Champ. Round 1 - Preston Johnson (Fergus (Lewistown)) 25-22 won by fall over Kadin Brown (Whitefish) 18-9 (Fall 3:53)

Cons. Round 1 - Kadin Brown (Whitefish) 18-9 won by fall over Cameron Beall (Hamilton) 22-21 (Fall 2:54)

Cons. Round 2 - Corbin Long (Frenchtown) 31-12 won by major decision over Kadin Brown (Whitefish) 18-9 (MD 16-4)