Five Vikings earn trip to State A wrestling meet

Bigfork wrestler Holland Jantzen landed on the podium at the Western A Divisional tournament last week in Dillon to lead a Vikings squad that will send five wrestlers to the State A meet this week.

Competing at 285 pounds, Jantzen notched three wins in his run to third place. In the bronze-medal match, Jantzen outscored Corvallis' Aldan Emerson 8-1, scoring the nearfall in the second period.

In the consolation semi-finals, Jantzen scored a pin in the second period against Libby/Troy wrestler Hunter Nelson.

Jantzen heads to the state meet in Billings as the No. 3 seed where he opens the tournament against Eastern A No. 6 seed Shawn Wilson of Hardin.

Wrestling at 103 pounds, Bigfork's Callen Ballard placed fifth at the Western A divisional meet. He scored two pins over Polson's Landon Ellenwood, including in the fifth-place match, and topped Libby/Troy athlete Barrett Moe 7-0 with a nearfall in the second period.

Ballard opens the State A meet against the Eastern No. 4 seed Tucker Stygles from Havre.

Also punching their ticket to the State A meet, 175-pounder John Root and 126-pounder Lyrik Fainter finished the divisional tournament in seventh, and 126-pounder Bradley Wood took eighth.