13 wrestle their way to state
In divisionals last weekend in Ronan, the Greenchain claimed third in the Northwestern A championships at 142.5 points, with the Chiefs taking first (206) and Polson nabbing second (186.5).
Columbia Falls and Whitefish followed with 134 and 81 points respectively.
"The kids wrestled pretty good," said Libby coach Jay Graham. "We ended up third and that's what we kind of expected."
After looking over their season on paper, Graham had estimated 13 would go to state.
"It was a realistic goal," he said. "It would have been nice to have all 17, but their destiny was in their own hands. They got their oportunity to punch their ticket to state themselves."
Graham noted that no one on the Greenchain lost to an opponent they had previously beaten in the season - but the Loggers had a few upsets of their own.
"We had four kids that had lost to kids during the season and they ended up beating them," he said, noting that Tank - the only Logger to take first - was one of them.
Tank won by maj. dec., 15-6, against Ronan's Tommy Parker.
"The kid had beaten him 2 of the 3 matches, and Tank beat him in front of his own crowd," he said. "Tank won the championship!"
Graham also noted the other three upsets on the team.
Michael Roby (112) pinned senior Ryan Hardy of Ronan in 3:45 to place third.
Pat Wood (215) also took third when he pinned Ronan's Frank Swan in 2:26; Swan had pinned Wood twice earlier in the season.
Cody Elliot (125), pinned Whitefish's Phillip Murphy, taking fourth after being dec. by Nate Templar of Ronan, 6-2 in the next round.
"Your goal is divisionals and state, and as a coach we like to see them improve. Overall, the kids that lost in the finals, they had lost to those kids multiple times this year, and some of them closed the gap a little bit."
In the Championship round, some of the Greenchain settling for second included Justin Graham (189), when Kelly Houle of Columbia Falls' won in a 5-4 decision.
Steve Gary (160) also took second when he was maj. dec. by Brock Picard of Polson, 11-3.
Yet another another silver winner was Seth Wright (152), when Columbia Falls' Michael Hader dec. him, 11-4.
Finally, Kyle Sweedman (135) was dec. by Ronan's Cole McArthur, 6-4.
"Kyle sweedman hadn't wrestled the kid he did in the finals," Graham noted. "He made a mistake and got caught."
Derek Silva (171) took third place in divisionals when he dec. his teammate, Lucas Puckett, 8-5, who settled for fourth.
More fourth places for Libby included Levi Edwards-Myslicki (119), who was pinned by Randy Kelley of Polson in 2:46; Skilur Dilley (130), who was pinned by Columbia Falls' Shawn Whitman in 2:05; and Shadow LeMay (135), when Shane Ludwick of Polson beat him by dec., 6-2.
Dakota Bassett (112) took fifth place when he pinned Hunter Fishel of Columbia Falls in :34, and Kody Berget (145) pinned Zax Martin of Polson in 2:53 to also clinch a state spot fifth.
Yet another fifth placer for Libby included Ben Elliot (140), who beat Columbia Falls' Casey Stewart by inj. default.
Graham said that three of the four who didn't make it to state are freshman and a junior - all of which who will have chances to make state in the future if they work hard, he said.
Graham added that the trip to Billings next weekend, although a long one, will be good experience for his young team.
"It's quite a spectacle," he said, "with six to seven thousand people attending and three state championships going on simultaneously.
"It can be awe inspiring," he added.