Grapplers hit the mats at Owen Invite

Columbia Falls wrestlers had their first opportunity to show their skills this past weekend in Polson at the Owen Invitational on Dec. 5-6.

 “The boys definitely had an exciting weekend for the first weekend out. We ended up with eight total placers after all settled for the weekend,” said coach Jessie Schaeffer.

The boys came in seventh out of 20 teams with a total of 203.5 points. Leading for the Cats and taking first in the 165-pound division was Blaise Cronk.

 “Blaise had an exceptional weekend going 5-0 with 5 total falls. He led multiple stats in the tournament and as a senior that’s what you want to look forward to in a kid. Blaise is always ready to wrestle, and he wins a lot of positions and doesn’t give up a lot of points. He’s just an all-around great kid to have on our roster, phenomenal team captain, and just a good role model for our younger kids,” Schaeffer said.

 Several other wrestlers also achieved notable placements. Bradley Beck secured 3rd place in the 132-pound division, while Brander Christianson finished 3rd in the 103-pound division. Kolton McCoy earned a 6th place finish in the heavyweight division. Fisher Whitaker brought home 4th place in the 144-pound division, Kale Schaeffer took 5th place in the 150-pound division, and Kaden Kaber ended in 6th place for the 175-pound division. These strong performances provided a great way to start the season.

 “Highlights of the weekend definitely were Brander, Bradley, Beck, and Fisher. Fisher lost his first match and came all the way back and made it into the third and fourth place match. Blaise, with his first-place finish, had no match points scored on him. Kaber, Adam, and McCoy came in as freshmen going against a pretty salty senior group in the heavy weight division and ended up standing on the podium as well,” Schaeffer said,

 The Cats will head to Bigfork on Dec. 9th, after press time, for the Bigfork Quad, and then will be in Butte for the Mining City/Whitehall Duals on Dec. 13-14.

“Butte is always a challenge as it relates to the level of competition. Going in as a young team, we are going to be on a steep learning curve and at the end of the day, we want to leave the tournament positive and injury free,” Schaeffer said. “Excited about the team and the potential they have. We have a starting point now and now hopefully we can just pick certain goals, work on them, and by the year’s end, the plan is to have those goals accomplished.”

The girls would end with an overall 7th place finish out of 17 total teams with a total of 93 points.  Hailey Littlefield would stand on the podium with a 3rd place finish for the heavyweights, along with both Kate Lewellen (130-pounds) and Alayah Stevens (145-pounds) each earning 3rd place.

 “Those three ladies did have a good showing for the first weekend of competition. Stevens competing in her first high school tournament showed a lot of maturity in how she came back from her loss. Stevens has been on the mat with some out of season wrestling in the fall which I believe helped her lungs in some of her matches. She is still making some young mistakes but do believe she will be a bright spot in our line up come February. She is very coachable which goes a long way in our sport.  Kate had a very solid showing and might befalling into a needed leadership role for our team,” coach Ben Schaeffer said.

Also finding their way to the podium each with 6th place finishes would be, Kloey Wager (125-pounds) and Ella Timlick (145-pounds).

“As a team, we are very young and it showed in many positions. We just don’t know where their bodies are yet, but this group is by far the hardest working group of ladies I have coached in my time here at CFHS. We are lacking a lot of experience and leadership, but they have come together as a group which is really neat to see. Next weekend will be a tough weekend as they battle a lot of the AAs. We hope to come out healthy and with some more knowledge of the sport and things we can continue to work on leading up to February,” Ben Shaeffer said.

The girls will be at Bigfork Tuesday, followed by the Flathead Invitational on Dec. 12-13 in Kalispell.

    Korah Yerian works to gain the upper hand during the Polson Wrestling Tournament. Seth Anderson Photo.