Greenchain wrestlers double up for home opener
The Greenchain wrestling team dropped their two home meets against Bonners Ferry and Whitefish in the Ralph Tate Memorial Gymnasium Tuesday night.
Greenchain wrestlers scored six wins against Whitefish, but forfeited in three weight classes, whereas Whitefish scored seven wins and forfeited in two weight classes. Against Bonners Ferry, the Greenchain team scored five wins, but forfeited in four weight classes. Bonners Ferry scored seven wins and forfeited in only two weight classes.
Colten Clemons scored the first win against Whitefish as well as the first Greenchain win of the night as the result of a forfeit in the 103-lb. weight class. Following that, Buddy Doolin pinned Taisuke Matsuo of Whitefish in the 113-lb. weight class, scoring the Greenchain’s first pin of the game and the night. Laine Young won his match on points with a score of 8-4 against James Buckley in the 138-lb. class.
Dominic Voorhies lost against Whitefish’s Konrad Zinke, son of Rep. Ryan Zinke, in the 170-lb. weight class. Regarding his son’s win, Rep. Zinke expressed enthusiasm on behalf of his wife, Lola, as well as himself.
“Lola and I are very proud of Konrad for the hard work he’s been putting in as an A student and captain of the wrestling team,” said Zinke. “Libby and Whitefish have always had a great rivalry. When I was in high school we always knew Libby would be tough. Those guys were working in the sawmills all summer and I swear had biceps as big as the logs they were carrying.”
Reed Christensen scored the Greenchain’s first win and first pin against Bonners Ferry in the 145-lb. weight class, pinning Nikolous Bertling of Bonners Ferry at the 3:00 mark. Following that, Greenchain wrestler Tanner Wood won in the 152-lb. weight class by forfeit.
Dylan Parrish won his match against Jesse Sandelin of Bonners Ferry on a major decision of 10-0 in the 170-lb. weight class.
There was a double forfeit in the 160-lb. weight class.
Greenchain wrestling coach Kelly Morford expressed pride in how his team played that night.
“I was proud of how the team came out and competed match after match,” said Morford. “We looked much better than we did in Havre and that type of improvement every time we step on the mat is what we are looking for.”
“This group is going to get a lot better thoughout the year as they gain more experience and we saw some of that Tuesday night. We may not win every match, but as coaches, we ask that they go out and battle every time. We still have a lot of things to work on, but we are headed in the right direction. Hopefully we can keep that going throughout the season.”
The Greenchain will participate in the Superior Tournament on Saturday, Dec. 12 at 9:30 a.m. They will travel to Noxon on Thursday, Dec. 17.