It was a triumphant weekend for Ronan wrestling, as multiple wrestlers in different weight classes emerged victorious in one of the largest tournaments of the season. Even better for the Chiefs, it was all at home.

A packed Ronan High School gym was the stage for the Ronan Wrestling Tournament, a meet that featured 27 schools from across Montana and Idaho.

Ronan took home first place in three weight classes for the boys and two weight classes for the girls. 

River Cote took first in the 105-pound weight class and Judasha Ellsworth took first in the 235-pound weight class.

Cote's run was dominant, dropping only one point on her way to the first-place match. She ended her first two matches with a nearfall, beating Ember Carmichael of Corvallis and Arianna Smith of Whitefish. Smith was the only wrestler to score a point against Cote in the entire bracket.

Her semifinal match against Marlee Fox of East Helena was her longest match up to that point. However, it ended in just over a minute with a takedown.

The first-place bout for the 105 weight class came down to Cote and her Ronan teammate, Marie Cheff. Cheff was the most challenging opponent, keeping Cote up for about 90 seconds. However, Cote’s run of dominance was too much as she won out with a takedown.

Her teammate Cheff was also one of a couple of Lake County wrestlers who finished in the top three. Her teammates, Hadassah Read and Finlay Taylor, finished second in their respective weight classes as well. 

Ellsworth's run was also impressive as she ran through four different opponents in dominant fashion. Her final came against Corvallis's Kendyl Sutherland, where Ellsworth won on a takedown.

Kaiah Dumont of Polson was only one point away from winning the 135 weight class, but still earned second. Kellyn Nelson of Polson also finished runner-up but in the 140 weight class.

Jewell Reum, Ainsley Peretto, Amitiel Schlel-Auld, Kobe Stevens, Laila Neiss, Leona Dodson Howe and Sierra McGreevey, all of Ronan, finished third in their respective weight classes.

Mission/Charlo also had a good weekend on the girls' side, with Anna Cronk winning out in the 145 weight class and Meadow Ragen winning out in the 155 weight class.

Another exciting slate of matches saw Cronk not drop a point until her championship match against Columbia Falls's Alayah Stevens. Even then, she only dropped a point from a penalty, winning that match with a decisive takedown.

Ragen's win was hard fought, dropping points in her semifinal to Dodson Howe before eventually taking it to the championship. From there, Ragen took a gritty win over Read to take first place.

Onto the boys' brackets, where Ronan had three champions across three weight classes. The lowest weight-class winner was Brander McCollum at 126.

After getting a forfeit in his opening match, he fought a long but ultimately lopsided match against Thomas Reddick of East Helena. McCollum won in under a minute by takedown against Luke Sol Bonds of Whitefish to head to the semis.

Jared Nygard of Frenchtown was the next opponent, putting up a fight against McCollum. Despite two takedowns from Nygard, McCollum cruised to another win and earned a trip to the final.

McCollum faced off against Kahle Hill of Corvallis in one of the closer title matches of the second day. Hill had the early edge with multiple takedowns. McCollum managed to swing the momentum in period two before ultimately sealing the final period with a match-clinching takedown.

The next Ronan champ was Luc Cheff in the 132 weight class. He earned a bye in the first round before taking on Travis Nygard of Frenchtown. In his closest match of the day, Cheff held an early lead. Nygard benefited from a penalty in round two and managed a takedown. However, Cheff finished strong with another takedown in the last period to move on.

Cheff won a decisive match against Gabe Bassett of Libby/Troy and took a decision from Kolbe Cronk of Columbia Falls to end up in the first-place match.

The final featured another Libby/Troy athlete in Jeremiah Thomas. Cheff dominated through two periods with multiple takedowns to win Ronan’s third total bracket of the day.

The final champion of the day was Cooper Wayman of Ronan at the 215 weight class.

Wayman had two easy wins to start his first-place campaign, starting with a 22-second victory over Kerry Frost of Stevensville. His next match was a forfeit win for him.

Wayman had another quick victory over Michael Aakre of East Helena to send him on to the first-place bout.

He was set to face Camden Salas of Frenchtown, a match he won handily. Multiple nearfalls for Wayman gave him the points and leverage to take a quick first-place victory.

The only other Lake County athlete to place in the top three was Josiah Houle of Ronan, finishing in third place in the 118 weight class.

Multiple Lake County wrestling programs are set to wrestle this week. The Polson boys, the Ronan wrestling team and the Mission/Charlo co-op wrestling team will head to the Jug Beck Rocky Mountain Classic on Jan. 16-17 at Sentinel High School.

The Polson girls will head to Hellgate High School on Jan. 16-17 for the Hellgate Invitational.

Arlee boys and girls travel to Fairfield Jan. 15 for the Fairfield Mixer, then to Choteau Jan. 16-17 for the Choteau Classic.

    Ronan's Sierra McGreevey lies on top of Polson's Alyssa Thoft at the Ronan Wrestling Tournament on Jan. 10 at Ronan High School. (Max Dupras/Leader)
  

    Polson's Kaiah Dumont takes a charge from Columbia Falls's Kaya Carlburg at the Ronan Wrestling Tournament on Jan. 10 at Ronan High School. (Max Dupras/Leader)
  

    Frenchtown's David Brant and Mission/Charlo's Dakota Zeiler grapple on the mat during the Ronan Wrestling Tournament on Jan. 10 at Ronan High School. (Max Dupras/Leader)