Greenchain hopes to qualify eight for state

For coach Kelly Morford’s Greenchain wrestlers, there are no superstitions or rituals necessary before they head into the divisional tournament this weekend in Polson, except for maybe freshman Laine Young’s pre-match Twix.

Coach Morford said the team has worked hard all season to develop their technique, so now he’s just going to turn them loose and see where the chips fall.

“I don’t think our level of intensity will be either more or less. You just hope they’re as ready as they can be and trust that,” he said.

Wrestlers are seeded in the tournament based on their records against Class A opponents, with the top four from the divisional tournament qualifying for the state tournament. Zach Crace and Garret Chapel both have winning percentages of 92 in their matches against Class A wrestlers. Laine Young, 62 percent, and Michael Miller, 52 percent, are two other Greenchain wrestlers with winning records against Class A competition.

The team will be open at three weight classes: 113 pounds, 205 pounds and heavyweight. They’ll then double up at 126 pounds, 138 pounds and 170 pounds. Alex Yeadon will bump up 10 pounds to 170 in an attempt to use his quickness to punch his ticket to state.

Columbia Falls is hands down the team to beat at the divisional tournament, Morford said. “Once again, the team race won’t create much drama. The real excitement comes from everyone scrapping it out to get as many wrestlers qualified as possible,” he said.

Morford said the brackets are much deeper with fewer weight classes and with teams like Whitefish showing improvement. “There will be no free passes to state,” he said. “I think if we wrestle well, we can push about eight kids through to state. Qualifying that many wrestlers will be tough, but definitely doable.”

If Crace earns two victories in Polson he will become the all-time winningest wrestler in Greenchain history. He currently has 142 victories, one shy of Jake Graham’s record. “It means a lot actually,” Crace said, “I’ve put a lot of time and effort into this sport.”

Crace said the wrestlers he’s most excited to square off against won’t be in Polson, but if all goes as planned he’ll see them in Billings. But he’s not looking past this weekend. Crace said this week the plan is to, “Just get my head straight and don’t get over-confident.”

Also looking to move up the most-wins list of Greechain wrestlers is Chapel. He’s currently tied with Keevin Bertelsen for the number three spot with 129 wins. Chapel won the state tournament at 170 pounds last year and is looking to make his fourth straight trip to Billings.

For Chapel it’s just another week of wrestling. “I’m just going into this week like it’s every other week. I wrestle hard every day in practice, push it until I can’t push any more with conditioning, and just go from there,” he said.   

Morford would like to see his wrestlers perform at their highest level in Polson so they can experience the state tournament.

“You want these kids who have worked so hard to experience that. It’s kind of the big payoff at the end of the year for those kids who get to go on that trip and wrestle at such a great venue. So we want to push as many people through as we can,” Morford said.

The divisional tournament is being held in Polson on Feb. 6 and 7.