Local wrestlers ventured into the world of big school Montana with mixed results this past weekend at the prestigious CMR Invitational in Great Falls, and a second wrestling invitational in Arlee.

Plains-Hot Springs wrestlers dominated the Arlee Christmas Invitational, with the Horsemen winning the team title by a large margin over host Arlee, 105-48.5.  Superior was fourth with 35.5 points in the six-team field.

Plains-Hot Springs got first place finishes from Matthew Thurston at 118 pounds, John Owen Jermyn at 126, Gavin Schrenk, 132 pounds, Cody West, 138 pounds, Beau Crabb, 150 pounds, and David Chapman at 190 pounds. 

The Plains squad also got a third-place finish from Tania Veremchuk in the girls' 130-pound category.

Other Horsemen who place at the Arlee event were Andrew Waterbury, 2nd at 132 pounds, Brock Ryan, second in the 144-pount classification, and several wrestlers who took third, including: Jonny Felix (157), BillyRay Hollata (144) and Remington Ryan (144).

At the prestigious CM Russel Invitational meet in Great Falls Friday and Saturday, Thompson Falls wrestlers got a fifth-place finish from 110-pound freshman Weston Block as they accumulated 28 points, good for 48th place among the 63 mostly Class AA and A teams. 

A total of 538 wrestlers from throughout the area participated in the prestigious two-day meet, which was won by Billings West High School, which amassed 286.5 team points.  Second place in the team standing went to Flathead High of Kalispell with 228.0 points. 

Thompson Falls, the only local high school wrestling program at the CMR event, totaled 25 points. 

In addition to Block, T Falls wrestlers who took part were freshman Kenny Carson, 132 pounds, junior Nikolai Latner, 150 pounds, Jakob Molina, 157, Noa Stevens, 165, Liam Palliser, 175, Gabe Hutton, 190, Zarek Pallister, 215, and Jacob Wood, 285/heavyweight. 

At the bi-county's other wrestling program,  Superior attended the Arlee Christmas Tournament in Arlee, with Superior 165-pound sophomore standout Turner Milender winning his second tournament in a row this season.  Milender, a state placer last year, also won the 165-pound title at last week’s Bob Kinney Classic in Superior. 

Superior’s small, but potent contingent also got second place finishes from senior Sam Doughty (150 pounds) and Dylan Arbogast (126).  Also placing for the Bobcats were freshman Ethan Durovey, third at 157, and a fourth-place finish from138-pounder Wade Calloway.  

Next up for local wrestlers is the Cut Bank Invitational tournament on January 10.