The Whitefish High School wrestling team competed at the Western A Divisional Tournament in Dillon last weekend. 

The team qualified six wrestlers to compete at the state tournament in Billings Feb. 18-21, including seniors, Sam Akey at 215, Taylor Dorvall at 130 and Kaycee Orvis at 120, junior Carter Olson at 157, sophomore Orla Sullivan at 190 and freshman Paxton Elm at 103. 

“The kids did amazing, every last one of them,” Head Coach Adrian Gualtier said. “They never gave up and to see the different wrestler and person they all are from the beginning of the year to now is just awesome.” 

Whitefish had a repeat divisional champion at 130 pounds in Dorvall, who scored a 6-1 decision over Ronan's McGreevey to take the title. She also bested Ronan’s Sierra McGreevey in 1:21 and Browning’s Jaeden Gilham in 0:49.  

Sullivan had three decisive wins to place fourth at 190. 

Orvis won three matches, and lost the quarterfinals, nabbing fourth place after a tough 6-2, 5:31 battle against Ronan’s Jewell Reum. 

After receiving a bye in the quarterfinals, Akey fell to Ronan’s Cooper Wayman by pin in the semifinals. He responded in the consolation bracket with a fall over Polson’s Damien Kato in 2:05 to advance to the third-place match. He then pinned Browning’s Jon Wells in just 16 seconds to claim third. 

Olson opened with a technical fall over Polson’s Daniel O’Roake, winning 19-3 in 2:29. He followed with a first-round pin against Stevensville’s Isaac Tritz in 1:18 to reach the semifinals. After dropping a semifinal bout to Beaverhead County’s Tucker Crowe and a consolation semifinal to Corvallis’ Marshall Jessop, Olson regrouped in the fifth-place match. He secured a 7-1 decision over Browning’s Kas Whiteman to finish the tournament on a win. 

Elm advanced to the semifinals after receiving a first-round bye and winning his quarterfinal by disqualification over Butte Central’s Jace Rauch. He was pinned in the semifinals by Frenchtown’s Caleb Weldon but rebounded in the consolation semifinal with a 15-10 decision over Bigfork’s Callen Ballard. In the third-place match, Elm dropped an 8-4 decision to Columbia Falls’ Brander Christianson to finish fourth overall. 

Gualtier said each student wrestled their hearts out. The wrestlers and the coach are ready for the state meet in Billings Feb. 18-21, and aim to show everyone what Whitefish wrestling is all about. 

“Once again, I couldn’t be more proud of the group of kids I had this year, even though not everyone qualified for state or even reached their goals,” he said. “I got to watch all of them grow in many, many different ways.”