Chapel, Crace lead Greenchain to state

At the Northwestern Class A Divisional Tournament in Polson on Feb. 6 and 7, Libby Greenchain wrestlers qualified six for the state tournament in Billings. The team placed fourth out of five teams at the tourney scoring 90 points.

Coach Kelly Morford said there were no huge surprises in the tournament, but wished they could have advanced a few more kids to state. “Overall I thought we wrestled pretty well. We won some close matches and there are some matches that we probably wish we could have another crack at,” he said.

Garret Chapel and Zach Crace kept their momentum going in to state, with both winning their respective weight divisions.

Morford said Crace didn’t get the best draw for his bracket at the state tournament, but Crace isn’t fazed by it. “Zach is really dialed in and has his eye on the prize as far as a state title. He is extremely determined and confident going into this weekend. We feel really good about where he is at physically and mentally right now,” Morford said.

Crace reached a couple of milestones over the weekend. He became a four-time divisional champ and also became the all-time wins leader for Libby High School. “Those are great accomplishments, but what he really wants is that state title,” Morford said.

Chapel also had a solid weekend of wrestling. “He beat a tough Polson kid in the finals and really dominated the match,” Morford said. “He has had one goal all season, to go to Billings and repeat as state champ. He has never shied away from the pressure that goes along with big-time tournaments like this.”

Laine Young placed second at 126 pounds by coming back from deficits in his first two matches to earn victories. “His conditioning and grit really paid off for him as he really dominated the third period in both of those matches,” Morford said. “That kid has a bright future in our program,” Morford added.

Dylan Parrish and Michael Miller both faced pressure situations to start the tournament. “If they didn’t win those, it was going to be really tough for them to qualify. They both went out and got the job done. I was really pleased with their approach,” Morford said.

Mason Sams will also be going to the state tournament. With only three wrestlers from the central division there was an opening in the bracket and they filled it by drawing in a fifth seed from one of the other conferences.

Morford said the wrestlers that didn’t make the tournament gained valuable experience over the weekend. He mentioned Reed Christensen and Tanner Wood as two of those wrestlers who gave their all and improved throughout the season.

“The most important thing for those young guys is to take their experience from this season and come back next year and build on that. Just making it through a wrestling season is an accomplishment in itself and says a lot about each and every one of their character,” Morford said.

Columbia Falls dominated the Northwestern A Divisional tournament, qualifying all 17 of its wrestlers for state next week at Billings. They won seven championships out of 13 weight classes.

The top four placers in each weight moved on to the State A meet. Polson and Frenchtown will each send nine, Whitefish has eight and Libby seven.

Northwestern A Divisional Saturday at Polson

Team Scores – 1. Columbia Falls 255; 2. Polson 154; 3. Frenchtown 116; 4. Libby 90; Whitefish 70.5.

Championship

103 – Caleb Bagnell, FT, pin Austin Nelson, CF, 5:27. 113 – Cameron Brown, Pol, dec. Ben Windauer, CF, 6-0. 120 – Cody Warner, FT, dec. Parker Adler, Pol, 4-2. 126 – Haze Bell, CF, pin Laine Young, Lib, 5:53. 132 – Kaleb Gravelin, CF, dec. Jaben Wenzel, Pol, 6-2. 138 – Shonn Roberts, CF, pin Skylar Knutson, Pol, 3:19. 145 – Colton Gove, CF, pin Colton Sweeney, CF, :45. 152 – Zach Crace, Lib, pin Preston Downard, FT, 3:16. 160 – Storm Kemppainen, CF, dec. Judah Prestegaard, WF, 7-3. 170 – Garret Chapel, Lib, pin Tele Seeman, Pol, 1:47. 182 – Mikey Denison, CF, pin, Cole Jones, FT, 2:21. 205 – Mike Corrigan, Pol, pin Bekzat Abdyrazokov, CF, 2:19. 285 – Spencer Ross, CF, pin Steven Quimby, WF, 3:56.

Third Place

103 – Mateo Quinones, Pol, pin Parker McWhirter, WF, 3:48. 113 – Shayne Pierre, Pol, dec. Winfield West, CF, 9-3. 120 – Mason Fetters, CF, pin James Buckley, WF, 1:39. 126 – Thunder Morales, Pol, pin Dillon Thorsteinson, WF, :41. 132 – Tyler Isher, FT, pin Garrett Rice, WF, 2:27. 138 – Hunter Peterson, CF, dec. Bryce Williams, FT, 5-4. 145 – Jon Blanchard, FT, dec. Dylan Parrish, Lib, 9-3. 152 – Cody Walters, CF, dec. Wyatt Green, CF, 2-0. 160 – Michael Miller, Lib, pin Matt Sampson, WF, 2:58. 170 – Miguel Garate, CF, pin Alex Yeadon, Lib, 3:54. 182 – Tristan Austin, FT, win by forfeit. 205 – Nathan Bennett, FT, def. Travis Catina, WF, injury default.