Flathead sweeps Crosstown duals

There was a white-knuckle showdown early on and another to finish, and when it was over Flathead had a decisive sweep of the Crosstown wrestling duals Friday at Glacier High School.

The Brave Brawlers improved to 10-1 in duals with their 63-9 win; the Bravettes, winning three of five contested matches and picking up nine forfeits, prevailed 72-12. 

Julia Kay at 130 pounds, Danica Hennell at 110 and Alisha Cook at 145 picked up either pins or a technical fall for the Bravettes; this came after Keira Oftedahl (100) and Katelyn Sphuler (105) won by fall to give the Pack a short-lived 12-0 lead. 

“The highlight of the night was at 130,” Flathead girls coach Amber Downing said of Kay’s win over Kylie Shine. “Kay came out strong from the start, matching Shine’s handfight and hitting a picture-perfect double leg for a takedown and into a near fall.  Kay continued her lead with a reversal in the second after Shine chose top and gained an additional near fall, finishing the match 15-0 faster than was realized.” 

The boys and girls wrestled concurrently on different mats at the Wolf Den. There was more drama on the boys’ mat, especially at 118 where Glacier’s Aiden Sweat outlasted Flathead’s Caleb Poe-Hatten by a 1-0 score. 

“It was a lot of action for a 1-0 match and both guys were attacking,” Flathead coach Jeff Thompson said. “Both wrestlers had just incredible defense and didn’t give anything up. On a positive note I think maybe next time Caleb will know it’s a winnable match.” 

“That kid wrestled really well,” Glacier coach Mark Fischer said of Poe-Hatten. “He wrestled a really smart match against Aiden, and I thought Aiden wrestled very smart. Those are the two of the top kids at 118 in the state and that was a great match to show what the state tournament could be like.” 

Joining Sweat in victory was teammate Matthew Ahner at 175; he won by fall.  

Meanwhile the Brave Brawlers got pins from Liam Iverson at 103, Coy Miller at 132, Hunter Arriaga at 144, Jasper Bench at 150 and Kohen Rilley at 215. 

There were also two forfeits to Flathead’s side. 

“Almost to the T how we expected it to go,” Fischer said. “I thought there were three matches we could win and only got two of those, but the kids just kept on competing — like Daniel Pederson. He wrestled a super tough kid (Flathead 190-pounder Connor LeDuc, who won 12-5) and only lost by a few points in the end.” 

The dual concluded with Glacier senior Noah Horn battling with Flathead junior Jacob Berry. A penalty against Horn for locked hands and a reversal helped Berry pull ahead late to win 3-2. 

“Noah, he’ll learn from this,” Fischer said. “We’ve got to be a little more aggressive and capitalize more. There were a few times he was close to a turn and didn’t get it and we just need to capitalize on those.” 

“Overall we wrestled really well,” Thompson said. “It’s sometimes a tough battle but I felt like we showed up and were excited to wrestle in front of the Crosstown crowd. I’m super proud of this team; it was a lot of fun. 

“As for Jacob Berry, that was the biggest win in his short wrestling career, and what a great match. Everybody was on their feet yelling and screaming for him; to win that, what a great way to end the duel for us.” 

Both Glacier and Flathead were set to wrestle at Butte High Saturday, boys and girls. 

Flathead boys 63, Glacier 9 

103 — Liam Iverson, Flathead, p. Bassam Murad :58; 118 — Aiden Sweat, Glacier, dec. Caleb Poe-Hatten 1-0; 126 — Dawson Hamland, Flathead, t.fall Trigan Ereaux, 17-2; 132 — Coy Miller, Flathead, p. Diesel Hubble, 1:20; 138 — Jacob LaNotte, Flathead, md. Cole Hanson, 10-0; 144 — Hunter Arriaga, Flathead, p. Dillon Sams, 1:23; 150 — Jasper Bench, Flathead, p. Jaden Beston, 1:41; 165 — Liam LeDuc, Flathead, t.fall Kyler Detrick, 16-1; 175 — Matthew Ahner, Glacier p. Colten Conover 1:50; 190 — Connor LeDuc, Flathead, dec. Daniel Pederson, 12-5; 215 — Kohen Rilley, Flathead, p. Jimmy Winchester, 1:18; 285 — Jacob Berry, Flathead, dec. Noah Horn, 3-2.  

Flathead’s Dayton Naldrett (110) and Brett Chivers (157) won by forfeit. 

Flathead girls 72, Glacier 12 

100 — Keira Oftedahl, Glacier, p. Serenity Neubert, 1:45; 105 — Katelyn Sphuler, Glacier, p. Tatum Ogden, 1:57; 110 — Danica Hennell, Flathead. P. Luda Khrupina, 1:32; 130 — Julia Kay, Flathead, p. Kylie Shine, 3:16; 145 — Alisha Cook, Flathead, p. Vivian Wentworth, 3:01. 

Flathead’s Sophia Torgison (115), Bella Downing (120), Eloise Smith (125), Kiera Lackey (135), Haley Wilson (140), Janet O’Day (155), Hannah Bailey (170), Lily Anderson (195) and Adri Cox (Hwt) all won by forfeit. 

    Glacier's Matthew Ahner wrestles Flathead's Colten Conover at 175 lbs. at Glacier High School on Friday, Jan. 9. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider   

    Glacier's Katelyn Sphuler wrestles Flathead's Tatum Ogden at 105 lbs. at Glacier High School on Friday, Jan. 9. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider   

    Flathead's Alisha Cook wrestles Glacier's Vivian Wentworth at 145 lbs. at Glacier High School on Friday, Jan. 9. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider   

    Flathead's Liam LeDuc wrestles Glacier's Kyler Dedrick at 165 lbs. at Glacier High School on Friday, Jan. 9. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider   

    Flathead's Hunter Arriaga wrestles Glacier's Dillon Sams at 144 lbs. at Glacier High School on Friday, Jan. 9. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider   

    Glacier's Aiden Sweat wrestles Flathead's Caleb Poe Hatten at 118 lbs. at Glacier High School on Friday, Jan. 9. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider