Grapplers compete at home and in Ronan

The Columbia Falls Wildcat wrestlers were back in action on the mat this past week after Christmas break.  Both teams kicked off the week by facing Ronan at home for the annual Ballers and Brawlers Night on Tuesday.  

“Dual score looks very lopsided due to uncontested matches, so to the spectator is looked like we got blown out by a very talented Ronan team.  We went into the week knowing it was going to be a dual that we were looking to gain some experience not to go out and win.  Right now, Ronan has a lot of girls that will be competing for spots on the podium in Billings come February and we are hoping to get our girls there to experience that tournament,” said girls coach Ben Schaeffer.  

The girls would have a better go at the competition over the weekend in Ronan.  The team finished in fifth with 105.5 points and eight girls wrestled their way into the top six of their respective weight divisions. Hailey Littlefield earned second place in the heavyweight category. At 145 lbs., Ella Timlick finished third and Alayah Stevens placed fifth. Emerence Beck (140 lbs.) secured fourth place, while Korah Yerian also claimed fourth and Kaya Carlburg took fifth at 135 lbs. Kloey Wager (120 lbs.) finished fifth, and Kate LeWellenn rounded out the top finishers by placing sixth at 125 lbs.  Overall, the team ended with a fifth place finish.

“I was very excited about how we wrestled on day one of the tournament, the momentum that we had leaving Friday did not continue on Saturday morning.  With a young team it is hard to know which team will be able to respond to a late night in the gym and then an early bus trip on Saturday morning.  

“We didn’t perform to our ability on Saturday and that is both tough on the coaches and athletes alike.  There are a lot of small victories that we will take away from the weekend though.  We are continuing to extend matches which is a team goal.  Start by wrestling 6 minutes, once we can do that, we can look at winning periods, then we can look at winning matches.  We need to learn to wrestle full matches as those will be the ones that help us get to the Metra in February.  That goal is getting closer as we earned more falls on the weekend then we gave up.  As a coaching staff we were really impressed with how Timlick and Littlefield are wrestling right now.  They are finding ways to keep matches close and use our lungs to win matches late,” said coach Schaeffer. 

For the boys, going up against Ronan can prove to be some tough competition, and they came away with one win at the Ballers and Brawlers Dual.  

“Anytime our program gets to wrestle in front of our community is always a highlight in our season, as we just don’t get that many opportunities.   I felt we had four key match ups in that dual and unfortunately, we came away with only one win out of the four which made for a much more exciting dual outcome than expected,” said coach Jessie Schaeffer.

Their weekend action in Ronan, also brought home a fifth place team finish along with multiple wrestlers in the top 6h.  

Blaise Cronk led the Wildcats with a first-place finish, winning the championship round 3-0 against Tatum Todd from Three Forks/Ennis. Fisher Whitaker secured second place at 144 lbs., while Brander Christianson finished third at 103 lbs.  Bradley Beck earned fourth at 132 lbs., with Trenton York (126 lbs.), Kolbe Cronk (132 lbs.), and Kolton McCoy (heavyweight) all taking fifth place in their respective divisions. Wyatt Yerian rounded out the group of placers with a sixth-place finish at 190 lbs.

“Anytime we get kids on the podium is always a highlight for our weekend.  We ended up with seven total in the top six and two of those in the finals.  Whitaker had a great showing and made a statement in the finals match showing he can compete with the best of them.   Blaise Cronk had another dominating performance with four falls and pinning the  second-ranked kid in state in just over a minute of the first period,” said coach Jessie Schaeffer.  

Upcoming action for the teams will include the Polson Duals on Thursday, followed by the Rocky Mountain Classic on Friday and Saturday in Missoula.