Ronan puts damper on Libby wrestling opener

Libby High School’s wrestling squad entered the gymnasium Saturday night through special effects smoke while hard rock music played in the background. Fans cheered wildly as the lights went down and the spotlight hit the mat.

At last, wrestling season had returned to Logger land. Unfortunately for LHS, those cheers were few and far between the rest of the evening. Ronan dominated the season-opening dual, 53-27, to leave veteran coach Jay Graham shaking his head.

“Like I told the team, … the big difference was they were more physical than we were,” Graham said. “They were harder-nosed when it got down to it. They just came to our house and kicked our butts, basically.”

The dual wasn’t even as close as the 53-27 score would indicate. Libby won three of four matches by forfeit. In competition that reached the mat, the visiting Chiefs won nine of 10 matches.

“That’s the worst we’re going to wrestle against them,” Graham said. “I guarantee you that the next time we wrestle, it will be a lot closer match.”

It’s no secret that the Loggers are green at the lower weights. But even at the heavier weights, Libby couldn’t catch a break. Seniors Seth Wright, Justin Graham and Brandin Mills occupy three of the four heaviest weight classes. Those three athletes represent Libby’s corps of returning state qualifiers.

Only Wright had the opportunity to take the mat in a 171-pound meeting against Ronan’s Toby Cheff. The latest in a long line of Cheffs to find success on the mat, the Ronan sophomore took a 15-10 victory.

“Seth can go with the Cheff kid. He’s got to be able to go hard six minutes instead of kind of coasting and laying down to wait for another opportunity,” Graham said.

Wright came out strong and led 5-0 through the first minute of the match with a takedown and three-point nearfall. But by the end of the period, Cheff had regained his composure to steal a 6-5 lead. In fact, he came very close to sticking Wright.

In the second period, Cheff extended his lead to 8-5. Wright made a move in the final seconds and appeared to have control for what easily could’ve been two points on a takedown. But the official waived it off and Cheff maintained the three-point advantage.

Cheff took control in the first minute of the third period with a reversal and three-point nearfall. Wright tried to finish strong but the hole was too deep.

“It wasn’t our conditioning. For the most part, it was our mental toughness,” Graham said. “They just got a little bit physical and some of our kids folded.”

Justin Graham and Mills didn’t even take the mat and won by forfeit – a bit of a downer for a pair of seniors appearing in their final season’s home opener.

“That’s hard … our two highest placers from last year,” Graham said about his son and Mills. “That makes a difference with momentum, too, with a young squad.”

In the case of Mills, he caught a break with the forfeit because Coach Graham said he was sick and probably would not have wrestled anyway.

The coach is not exaggerating when he calls his squad young. The Loggers had four freshmen in the varsity lineup. But one of those ninth-graders thrilled the crowd with a 6-3 victory by decision.

Dylan Berget defeated Dustin Goldsby, also a freshman, at 140 pounds. After a scoreless first period, Berget went up 4-2 through the match’s middle 2 minutes. He held on to a 4-2 advantage for most of the third period as Goldsby tried hard to escape from Berget’s clutches.

With 36 seconds left, Goldsby was awarded a point on an illegal hold to pull within 4-3. But Berget composed himself and got credit for a two-point nearfall after the final buzzer.

Besides the forfeit wins by Graham and Mills, Libby also was awarded points on a forfeit victory at 98 pounds with Casey Graff. Ronan won by forfeit at 105. Neither could put a wrestler on the mat at 112 and each team received six points.

Among the Libby losses, one of the toughest to endure was at 160 pounds. There, freshman Josiah Coker held a 9-6 advantage over Ronan’s Tyler Wheeler through the first 40 seconds of the second period. Coker had fought back from a 4-1 deficit in the opening period to seemingly take control with a reversal and three-point nearfall late in the first.

Wheeler countered with a reversal with 8 ticks on the clock to close out the opening 2 minutes. Then in the second period, Coker got a three-point nearfall for that 9-6 lead. But then, Wheeler took control in a matter of only a few seconds. First, he executed a reversal with 1:18 left in the second and just a few seconds later, he pinned Coker for the win – the official time coming in at 2:44.

Also competing for the Logger Greenchain were Michael Roby (119), Levi Edwards-Myslicki (125), Kyle Leir (130), Cody Elliot (135), Charlie Berget (145), Kyle Sweedman (152) and Lucas Puckett (189).

Coach Graham said nothing is a given with the varsity lineup.

“The nice thing is we have challenges and as the year goes on, if I see some that are not being hard-nosed and physical, I’ll replace them with somebody who is regardless of what the challenges say,” Graham said.

The Loggers were scheduled to take to the mat at home again on Tuesday against Polson. The team will then not wrestle at Ralph Tate Gymnasium again until Jan. 27 against Columbia Falls.

“The nice thing is, we will improve. We’ll be a much better team,” Graham said. “We worry basically about the last two weekends – divisionals and state and we have divisionals at home. I think it’s going to be a lot different.”

Ronan 53, Libby 27

98 – Casey Graff, L, win by forfeit

105 – Riley Dennis, R, win by forfeit

112 – No entries, double forfeit

119 – Zach Robinson, R, dec. Michael Roby, 6-3

125 – Dilan Starkel, R, pinned Levi Edwards-Myslicki, 1:58

130 – Cameron Neiss, R, pinned Kyle Leir, 5:44

135 – Tyson Noyes, R, dec. Cody Elliot, 14-7

140 – Dylan Berget, L, dec. Dustin Goldsby, 6-3

145 – Cole McArthur, R, pinned Charlie Berget, 4:39

152 – Micky Cheff, R, maj. dec. Kyle Sweedman, 14-1

160 – Tyler Wheeler, R, pinned Josiah Coker, 2:44

171 – Toby Cheff, R, dec. Seth Wright, 15-10

189 – Marcus Schiele, R, maj. dec. Lucas Puckett, 14-3

215 – Justin Graham, L, win by forfeit

Hwt – Brandon Mills, L, win by forfeit