Greenchain ends regular season at Whitefish
<p>Scott Erickson slaps the mat as Buddy Doolin pins Garrett Jones of Thompson Falls, Libby Quad Jan. 19.</p>
<p>Tanner Wood vs. Aryan Anderson of Thompson Falls during Libby Quad Jan. 19.</p>
<p>Junior Dylan Parrish vs. Jayden Dillon of Bigfork, Libby Quad, Jan. 19.</p>
<p>Junior Reed Christensen over James Fehr of Eureka Jan. 12, 2016.</p>
The Greenchain wrestling team ended their regular season with a trip to the Flathead for the Whitefish Duals Jan. 29. As a team, the Greenchain lost their head-to-head duals against all four of their opponents, but coach Kelly Morford said the key is the position the individual wrestlers are in as they head into this weekend’s divisional tournament.
“The Whitefish Duals were a great way to end the regular season and to tune up for divisionals,” he said. “We had some good in-division matchups and also got to see some different competition with Columbia Falls and Browning. Columbia Falls is always tough and Browning is getting better every time we see them.”
In the head-to-head duals, Columbia Falls defeated the Greenchain 54-24. Browning won 42-22, Eureka won 58-12 and the Vikings of Bigfork took a 39-12 win.
Individually, Buddy Doolin, Mason Sams and Laine Young each won all four of their matches. Reed Christensen, Tim Carvey and Clancy Gout finished with 2-2 records and Tanner Wood went 1-3 for the day.
With divisionals coming this weekend, Morford said he is keyed on the Lions of Lincoln County High School in Eureka.
“We started pretty flat to start out the day against Eureka and they are not the type of team you want to do that against,” he said. “They pretty much took it to us and we are going to have to compete better against them at divisionals if we want to perform to our expectations. There are a few weight classes where it is probably going to be either them or us going to state, so those will obviously be big matches for us.”
Morford singled out the year-long progression of Christensen, who took down an opponent who has beaten him four previous times this season.
“Reed continues to wrestle on a mission,” he said. “One of the bigger wins of the day came when he beat the Bigfork kid. That kid had beat him 4 times this year and Reed was able to beat him. That shows how much Reed has improved this season and how well he is competing. It is always satisfying as a coach to see your wrestlers beat kids who got them earlier in the year.”
He also praised the work of Young, who he said is wrestling not only in the toughest weight class, but who has also been consistently winning and improving.
“Laine has really taken a big leap forward the past few weeks,” he said. “He has been in a weight class that has been tough everywhere we went all season it seems like. He wrestled the C Falls kid in Ronan earlier in the year and it was really close. It was a different story in Whitefish as Laine really dominated the match from start to finish. He has learned so much from those close matches against quality opponents and this is the time of year where that experience will pay off. His weight class at divisionals will probably be the toughest there but I know he is ready to respond to the challenge.”
Nine Greenchain wrestlers are going to the divisional tournament in Florence this weekend, and Morford’s goal is to qualify all of them for the state meet.
“We have had some sickness and some bumps and bruises the past few weeks but every team deals with that this time of year,” he said. “It is time to lay everything out there from here on out. The stakes are as high as they can be now, there are no second chances. We are entering nine kids in the divisional tournament and we want to qualify everyone of them. If we wrestle to our full potential, we can get that done. Just to make to this point in the season says a lot about these kids’ character. The tough part is over and now it is time go give it all we have and see where the chips fall.”
Columbia Falls High School vs. Libby at Whitefish Duals on Jan. 29, 2016.
Columbia Falls High School (CF) 54.00 Libby (LIBB) 24.00
103: Buddy Doolin (LIBB) over (CF) (For.) 113: Mason Sams (LIBB) over (CF) (For.) 120: Winfield West (CF) over (LIBB) (For.) 126: Ben Windauer (CF) over (LIBB) (For.) 132: Brandon Thomas (CF) over Reed Christensen (LIBB) (Fall 0:00) 138: Laine Young (LIBB) over Nathan Hader (CF) (Fall 0:00) 145: Mason Fetters (CF) over (LIBB) (For.) 152: Tim Carvey (LIBB) over Colton Sweedmen (CF) (Fall 4:00) 160: Colton Mepher (CF) over Tanner Wood (LIBB) (Fall 0:00) 170: Storm Kemppainen (CF) over (LIBB) (For.) 182: Dale Meyer (CF) over (LIBB) (For.) 205: Jakob Freeman (CF) over Clancy Gout (LIBB) (Fall 0:00) 285: Kyler Koski (CF) over (LIBB) (For.)
Browning vs. Libby at Whitefish Duals on Jan. 29, 2016.
Browning (Brow) 42.00 Libby (LIBB) 22.00
103: Buddy Doolin (LIBB) over (Brow) (For.) 113: Mason Sams (LIBB) over (Brow) (Fall 0:00) 120: Trevor James (Brow) over (LIBB) (For.) 126: Double Forfeit 132: Isaac Wippert (Brow) over Reed Christensen (LIBB) (Fall 0:00) 138: Laine Young (LIBB) over Emmit Augare (Brow) (MD 10-1) 145: Ryan Kipp (Brow) over (LIBB) (For.) 152: Calvin Q (Brow) over Tim Carvey (LIBB) (Dec 7-2) 160: Dylan Luring (Brow) over Tanner Wood (LIBB) (Dec 11-7) 170: Cody Lucke (Brow) over (LIBB) (For.) 182: Brett Kipp (Brow) over (LIBB) (For.) 205: Clancy Gout (LIBB) over Joe Monroe (Brow) (Fall 0:00) 285: Kolton Wippert (Brow) over (LIBB) (For.)
Eureka vs. Libby at Whitefish Duals on Jan. 29, 2016.
Eureka (EURE) 58.00 Libby (LIBB) 12.00
170: Garrett Graves (EURE) over (LIBB) (For.) 182: Austin Sherwood (EURE) over (LIBB) (For.) 205: Sam Johnson (EURE) over Clancy Gout (LIBB) (Fall 0:00) 285: Kerlar Yarele (EURE) over (LIBB) (For.) 103: Buddy Doolin (LIBB) over (EURE) (For.) 113: Mason Sams (LIBB) over Josh Goff (EURE) (Dec 8-3) 120: Kadar Bakkila (EURE) over (LIBB) (For.) 126: John Schmidt (EURE) over (LIBB) (For.) 132: Reed Christensen (LIBB) over James Fehr (EURE) (Dec 8-1) 138: Josh Schmidt (EURE) over (LIBB) (For.) 145: Cannan Smith (EURE) over (LIBB) (For.) 152: Jarrett Pecora (EURE) over Tim Carvey (LIBB) (Fall 2:00) 160: Levi Garcia (EURE) over Tanner Wood (LIBB) (MD 13-0)
Bigfork vs. Libby at Whitefish Duals on Jan. 29, 2016.
Libby (LIBB) 39.00 Bigfork (BFK) 12.00
103: Buddy Doolin (LIBB) over (BFK) (For.) 113: Mason Sams (LIBB) over (BFK) (For.) 120: Conner Meyer (BFK) over (LIBB) (For.) 126: Double Forfeit 132: Reed Christensen (LIBB) over Conner Meyer (BFK) (Dec 13-6) 138: Laine Young (LIBB) over Shade Youso (BFK) (For.) 145: Double Forfeit 152: Tim Carvey (LIBB) over Clint Williams-Kehoe (BFK) (Fall 0:00) 160: Tanner Wood (LIBB) over (BFK) (For.) 170: Jayden Dillon (BFK) over (LIBB) (For.) 182: Double Forfeit 205: Clancy Gout (LIBB) over Drayson Heingartner (BFK) (Fall 0:00) 285: Double Forfeit