BROWNING — Ronan was sitting second for much of the Western A Divisional boys wrestling tournament. Then Koda King and Rowdy Crump got on the mat.

King’s 13-4 major decision over Columbia Falls’ Blaise Cronk at 165 pounds gave Ronan 229 points late in Saturday’s championship round at Browning High School.  

Rowdy Crump’s pin of Frenchtown’s Brody Hardy at 190 left the Broncs with 228 points, and no more to gain.  

That gave Ronan a sweep of the Divisional, since the Maidens easily outpaced the girls’ field with 259.5 points. 

“I don’t know if its as much a surprise as much as a cherry on top, for all the work they did this season,” Ronan coach Cameron Neiss said. “We always knew they (the boys) had the potential to perform that well. But there’s so many factors that go into a tournament like this, you can never count anybody out." 

Libby was third in the boys team race with 216 points and Columbia Falls was fourth at 204, followed by Corvallis (198) and Browning (143). 

Boys 

Ronan had two individual champions, including Ridge Cote at 132 pounds, and saw 12 qualify for the state tournament that begins Thursday night at First Interstate Arena in Billings. 

Cote won his final by fall in 3 minutes, 59 seconds over Logan Barnes of Dillon. Two more Chiefs, Brander McCollumn at 110 and Jackson Davis at heavyweight, were runners-up. 

Davis’ final was a fitting finale: He and Bigfork’s Holland Jantzen battled well into overtime before Jantzen got the pin in 7:14. 

“It was a barn-burner,” Neiss said. “Double overtime. It was crazy.” 

Cooper Wayman (190) and Brady Hout (175) picked up third-place finishes for the Chiefs. 

Libby saw Riley Orr win the 118-pound title — over teammate Bridger Bache. The pair scored 49 of the Loggers’ team points.  

Boe Miles (150) placed second and Levi Nick (103) and Darren Denton (132) provided third-place finishes for Libby, which is taking 14 wrestlers to state. 

Columbia Falls has 12 state qualifiers, led by divisional champs Crump and 157-pounder Dylan Delorme, who pinned Dillon’s Tucker Crowe in just 49 seconds in the final. 

Three more MatCats were runners-up: Octavius Christianson (126), Blaise Cronk and Winslow Peters (175).  

Browning’s Pita Fish scored the fall over Christianson in the 126 final, and joined Tahj Wells as an individual champion for the Indians. Wells, who was state champion at 145 pounds last February, scored a pin of Libby’s Miles to win the 150-pund title Saturday. 

Browning qualified eight for state, including Labraun Shooter, who fell to Whitefish’s Landree Aurand in the 144 final.  

Aurand won by technical fall and was one of three Bulldogs to qualify for state, including Carter Olson (third at 150). 

Jantzen will lead a contingent of five Bigfork wrestlers going to state; Lincoln Ledingham was third at 215 for the Vikings. 

Polson had six qualify, and Wyatt Moldenhaus was the top Pirate finisher with a fourth at 103. 

Girls 

Ronan, which won the State A portion of last year’s state tournament, had six individual champions: River Cote (unbeaten at 105), Marie Cheff (110), Saellah Nomee (115), Aaliyah Stewart (125) Leona Dodson-Howse (155) and of course, two-time state champion Tirza Two Teeth (235). 

In addition Hadassah Reed (170) and Destiny Finley (130) finished second for the Maidens while Giselle Barron-Valenzuela (120), Luliana Brown (190) and Haven Houle (235) finished third.  

Ronan brought 19 girls to the meet and 18 placed. Those that finished in the top two in their weight class are qualified for state; Neiss tabbed the number of qualifiers at 13. 

Browning was second with 187.5 points, 72 behind Ronan; Polson was third at 154, followed by Dillon (118.5), Frenchtown (106.5) and Columbia Falls (101.5).  

The Lady Indians had all 19 of their wrestlers place, led by champions Keyenna Deroche at 170. Prairie Sellars (120), Neveah Hammons (140), Hayden Edwards (155), Kaci Costel (190) and Kendahl Guardipee (235) were all runner-up at their weights. 

Polson had had nine of its wrestlers finish fifth or better, led by 100-pound champion Ciri Nice and 190-pound champ Abighail Sorrell. Avari Stone (105), Shyloh Huffine (125) and Venessa Wheeler (145) were runners-up for the lady Pirates. 

Columbia Falls saw Samantha Larson win the 145 title and Angenoux LaChance finish second at 135. 

Whitefish’s lone wrestler, Taylor Dorvall, won the 130-pound bracket. Bigfork’s top finisher was Ava Larsen, who was fourth at 100 pounds. 

Full results can be found at trackwrestling.com.