BILLINGS — Winning titles is a Coles family affair.

Kaura and Niko Coles earned individual championships Saturday at the State All-Class Wrestling Tournament at First Interstate Arena. 

Kaura adds a third title to her resume after winning via technical fall over Flathead’s Bella Downing at 115 pounds. 

“I feel like I wrestled well all week,” Kaura Coles said. “There’s a few things that I want to work on as I set my attention towards Fargo (at the USA Junior Nationals).” 

Niko adds a second piece of hardware to his mantle after pinning Billings West’s Bowen Bentley in the third period. 

“This week has been pretty good,” Niko Coles said. “It’s good to be done with the tournament as I have been pretty sick all week. The feeling was just as good as last year, I'm pretty excited about it. 

“Niko did what he loves to do and put on a show,” Glacier coach Ross Dankers said. “He loves to fun exciting things on the mat and that is what he did, throwing his guy and getting the big pin.” 

Jerin Coles — the third sibling that reached the finals — came up short in his match with Billings West’s Christophe Acuna, but Dankers is excited for the freshman’s future. 

“Super proud of Jerin, being a freshman in the state finals at 150 is so hard,” Dankers said. “Those are tough cookies and for him to get where he did is outstanding.” 

The trio took to the podium adorned in a traditional Métis sash to claim their medals, honoring their heritage. The Métis (pronounced meh-tee) people originated in the Red River Valley in Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada. 

In total, the Wolfpack placed six of the eight boys they brought to the tournament and four of the five girls that made the trip. 

In the boys team race, Billings West capitalized on a solid finals performance to pull away from Flathead and repeat as champions with 278 points. The Braves ended the day at 243.5 with Great Falls in third at 175. Glacier picked up a sixth-place finish. 

The Golden Bears finished the tournament with seven champions including Zach Morse at 118, who claimed his fourth straight individual title. 

“We got punched in the face a bit last night, but man what a rebound,” Brawlers coach Jeff Thompson said. “I’ve never seen a team so resilient to come back like they did, we were down 80 points this morning and were able to tie it up at one point. The guys had so much heart and just kept finding ways to win.” 

Flathead had a pair of boys reach the championship round, but were unable to find the top step of the podium as Aiden Downing fell via pin to Butte’s Bode Hazlett at 144 and Loki Bigras couldn’t rally from an early 7-0 deficit against West’s Gabe Rosales, who took a 14-6 major decision. 

“You could just see his confidence (after the initial deficit),” Thompson said. “It’s a six-minute match, and he never gave up, I’m really excited for him and his future.” 

Thirteen Braves wrestlers placed in the tournament. 

The Bravettes placed a pair in the finals with Downing falling to Coles and Julia Kay being forced to retire from her match against Helena Capital’s Taylor Lay after an injury to her leg. 

“It happened just recently from a slip on the ice,” Bravettes coach Amber Downing said of Kay’s injury. “It's very tender and she was determined to finish out her season strong. Unfortunately she just ran out of time.” 

The Bravettes finished fourth overall in the team standings and second of AA teams behind Billings Senior. The Broncs claimed their second straight title at 241 points. Flathead tallied 131. Second overall was Miles City at 176 and third was Ronan at 145.5. 

“We had more girls come out of this tournament placing than we ever have,” Downing said. “So, thats obviously a big improvement for the team. When you put two in the finals and come home with two second places it’s a bit of a bummer.” 

Four of the 15 Bravettes that competed placed.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been updated to include a photo of two-time State AA champion Niko Coles.