Seven 'Little Guys' make Finals

The Libby Wrestling Club finished fourth in last weekend's state championship in Missoula and Arlee, with seven wrestling their way into the finals.

Corvallis defeated Kalispell, 79-77, taking the championship, while Columbia Falls edged out Libby, 54-52, who settled for fourth place overall.

“We were right there,” said head coach Vic Crace. “The novice and the junior groups wrestled extremely well.

Joe Coker at a 160 pounds capped off an undefeated perfect season with his first state champion, while Kyle Lier defended his sixth little guy state championship, beating Michael Delvin of Polson.

The season is not over yet, as this weekend, at least 13 wrestlers will travel to Billings for a tournament, the Montana Open, which will host more than a thousand wrestlers from MT, ND, WY and ID.

The following weekend is the Greco State championship in Great Falls, and concluding the season is the State Freestyle Wrestling championship April 19th in Butte, MT.

“The boys will receive a trophy from the Libby Wrestling club for placing in the top four at our banquet the end of April,” said Crace, who added around 20 wrestlers will get the trophies, placing 1-4th in the state championships.

“On a separate note, I have 7-8 boys who will travel to Denver, July 10, 11 and 12, for the AAU Grand Nationals,” said Crace.

Whoever places in the top eight will be awarded as an all-american top wrestler for the AAU.

“Last year we had four all-americans from Libby,” said Crace. “This year we hope to have a whole bunch more than that.”

Crace said they will do some fundraisers such as car washes to help cover the $750 per wrestler, which covers the airline ticket and other costs.

Novice:

70 Johnny Davidson 2nd

80 Collin Johnson 5th

85 Asa Coker 4th

90 Garret Chapel 2nd

124 Michael Curtis 2nd

124 Kody Bailey 7th

Mid:

70 Gunner Fairbrothers 5th

75 Sydnee Ehlenfeldt 13th

80 Zach Crace 4th

80 Kody Kessel 7th

85 Levi Erickson 5th

90 Michael Miller 5th

90 Tyler Badertscher 6th

100 Josh Massey 14th

110 Cody Barrick 9th

120 Christian Dewine 11th

130 Skyler Badertscher 7th

147 Eric Thrift 2nd

Junior:

80 Casey Graff 4th

105 Mitch Waugen 2nd

119 Kyle Lier 1st

125 Tate Wilson 3rd

130 Thomas Osborn 2nd

130 Dalton Jones 5th

135 Dylan Berget 4th

140 Austin Bailey 5th

145 Robin Kyes 3rd

145 William Lee 7th

152 Justin O'Brien 6th

160 Joe Coker 1st

171 Logan Newbauer 6th

189 Carson McCollum 3rd

215 Rigo Ibarra 5th

240 Phil Perez 2nd

Beginners:

50 Owen Cook 5th

50 Colton Clemons 13th

60 Daniel Miller 4th

75 Aaron Warberts 11th

85 Dylan Parrish 4th

95 Mickenzy Beard 5th

108 Tyler Ekstedt 5th