Hundreds attend annual 'Little Guy' wrestling event
Libby’s Lexie Davis faces Sandpoint’s Axel Jones during the Kootenai Klassic, March 3. (Ben Kibbey/The Western News)
Libby’s Talen Nordwick looks back to his coaches while wrestling Columbia Falls’ Derek Juntunen during the Kootenai Klassic, March 3.
Rocky Gibson and Levi Nick take a break on the sidelines during the Kootenai Klassic, March 3. (Ben Kibbey/The Western News)
Libby’s Braydun Barnes grapples with Wolf Pack wrestler Wyatt Olson during the Kootenai Klassic, March 3.
Gaven Miles and Braden Nick wrestle during the Kootenai Klassic, March 3.
Gaven Miles and Braden Nick wrestle during the Kootenai Klassic, March 3.
Charles Arnold II walks away with his ribbon after a Pee Wee match during the Kootenai Klassic, March 3. (Ben Kibbey photos/The Western News)
Eli Rayome attempts to pin his opponent during the Kootenai Klassic, March 3.
Coach Brian Barnes and referee Tucker Masters talk with Orion Roberts after a match, during the Kootenai Klassic, March 3.
Justice Benjamin and James Masters grapple during the Kootenai Klassic, March 3. (Ben Kibbey/The Western News)
Referee Tim Carvey shows helps Waylon Edwards with the ankle band that indicates a wrestler’s color during the Kootenai Klassic, March 3.
Over 700 wrestlers, their coaches and families poured into the Ralph Tate Gymnasium March 3 for the annual Kootenai Klassic Little Guy Invitational Wrestling Tournament.
Vic Crace, a former president of the Libby Greenchain Wrestling Club and father of two wrestlers, said that in past years the tournament has drawn close to 1,000 wrestlers.
The tournament is so popular with other teams in part because of the level of competition, he said.
“A lot of people have said this is tougher than our state Little Guy, to come to the Kootenai, because we get those teams from out of state,” he said. “It’s a heck of a test. A lot of times if you’ve won the Kootenai, it’s a lot tougher than pretty much any other Little Guy tournament you’re going to go to — in the state of Montana, anyhow.”
Jason Harrington coaches wrestlers from fifth to eighth grade with the Greenchain Club, and assists with the Libby High School team.
A wrestler since third grade, Harrington has lived in and out of the area, but always involved in local wrestling when he was here.
“The Kootenai Klassic is what we can consider probably one of the craziest tournaments that these kids will see locally,” Harrington said.
When several hundred wrestlers, their coaches and their families crowd into the gym, there isn’t much room left to move, he said.
Yet, the tournament is still very well run, despite all the work involved, he said.
“There’s a lot of support in the community, and people like to bring their teams to our tournament,” he said. “We get a lot of wrestling in, a lot of good competition, and it’s just a fun atmosphere for these kids.”
Crace’s oldest son, Zach Crace, is still at the top of the Century club list outside the Ralph Tate Gymnasium with his 154 career wins. His other son, Cody Crace, is a Libby High School wrestler.
With two sons who were wrestling since not long after they could walk, Crace said there were times along the way when they butted heads and he wondered if his sons would have regrets.
“They said, ‘All in all, absolutely, our kids will wrestle too,’” he said.
In addition to the work ethic and other life lessons his sons took from wrestling, there was also just the experience, he said. Between tournaments and camps, the club wrestlers are able to travel all over the country, and sometimes even out of the country.
“We’d go to a tournament in Iowa, and all of sudden some kid would walk by from New Jersey and start talking to Zach,” he said. “It’s just amazing the kids they got to know all over the country.”
Crace and his sons made many memories with one another and with their fellow club members over long road trips and around hotel pools during the club wrestling seasons, he said. There was also the support of shared travel expenses to help keep costs down.
But the club doesn’t just support each other by sharing rides, Crace said. The Kootenai Klassic is the only fundraiser for the Greenchain Club each year, and proceeds will help wrestlers traveling to tournaments.
“It’s our big fundraiser every year, and it has sent kids all over the country — and even all over the world,” he said.
“We have one boy planning on going to the Disney Duels in Orlando this summer, the club will pay a third of that,” he said. “Our current president, RJ Masters, he went to Paris, France, when he was a junior in high school, and the wrestling club helped fund that.”
“That’s basically our whole mission, is to create funds to help these kids to get out and wrestle more,” he said.
The club also feeds the high school wrestling program and keeps the older boys active in wrestling during the offseason, Crace said.
“‘Summer wrestlers make winter champions,’ is our saying in wrestling,” Crace said.
“It’s obviously important for a high school program to have a strong wrestling club,” said Libby High School Head Coach Kelly Morford.
The club and school system coaches work together and stay on the same page, he said. The club also helps cover the cost of competing in events such as USA Wrestling tournaments.
The high schoolers give back, from spending their Friday night setting up for the Kootenai Klassic, to coaching the younger kids throughout their season.
But that dedication to the program is not only evident among the older wrestlers.
Crace said that some of the people helping out with the Klassic are former wrestlers who don’t yet have kids of their own to participate. Yet, they still want to contribute.
Harrington said that high expectations start early with the wrestling club, and that young men with high standards are the result.
“It’s not just in the wrestling room and on the competition mat. We have a high expectation of our kids being students first, they need to be polite — basically they need to be good citizens,” Harrington said.
“The goal is that when they come out of here they have good work ethic, they have good life skills, they’re polite people — it’s somebody that you would want to hire,” he said.
Crace said that coaches like to see their wrestlers keep wrestling, but the main thing is just getting the kids up off their couch and active during the winter months.
“We just want to see kids out doing something. If they wind up being basketball players, great, at least they were doing something,” he said.
Even though he stepped down as club president two years ago after 15 years, Crace said he wants to stay involved after his youngest has finished wrestling.
“I love Libby. I love the Greenchain,” Crace said. “It made me insane proud to sit up there and watch Zach wrestle for all those years.
“I hope someday to watch my grandkids wrestle here.”
Those interested in Little Guy Wrestling can contact club president RJ Masters at 406-334-0741.
Kootenai Klassic Results
1 Kalispell 363, 2 Columbia Falls 351, 3 Libby 325, 4 Eureka 293, 5 Wolfpack Wrestling Club 282.5, 6 Bonners Ferry 248.5, 7 Whitefish 245, 8 Evergreen 220, 9 Lakeland Wrestling Club 218, 10 Bigfork 199.5, 11 Thompson Falls 186.5, 12 Mission/Charlo 141.0, 13 Plains 84.5, 14 Hot Springs 65.0, 15 Sandpoint Top Dog Wrestling 20.5
Beginner - 45A
1st Place - Noah Sprecher of Thompson Falls
2nd Place - Kingston Nyomo of Plains
3rd Place - Forfeit Forfeit of Unattached
4th Place - Pyper Murphy of Libby
1st Place Match
Beginner - 45B
1st Place - Dalton Regehr of Bonners Ferry
2nd Place - Silas Davis of Eureka
3rd Place - Taven Roetcisoender of Lakeland Wrestling Club
4th Place - Paxton Elm of Whitefish
Beginner - 50A
1st Place - James Cox of Kalispell
2nd Place - Aiden Harris of Libby
3rd Place - Riott Crump of Columbia Falls
4th Place - Audrey Love of Libby
Beginner - 50B
1st Place - Hudson Hannah of Libby
2nd Place - Nash Galey of Kalispell
3rd Place - Levi Nick of Libby
4th Place - Trent Shay of Eureka
Beginner - 50C
1st Place - Blake Michalkiewicz of Libby
2nd Place - Trigan Ereaux of Evergreen
3rd Place - Mason Hickman of Eureka
4th Place - Gabe Bassett of Libby
Beginner - 55A
1st Place - Caleb Poe-Hatten of Kalispell
2nd Place - Kellen Jones of Whitefish
3rd Place - Kade Knopp of Lakeland Wrestling Club
4th Place - Silas Stimac of Wolfpack Wrestling Club
Beginner - 55B
1st Place - Zach Teal of Lakeland Wrestling Club
2nd Place - Tristan Caudill of Libby
3rd Place - Greyson Brubaker of Kalispell
4th Place - Hudson Leck of Wolfpack Wrestling Club
Beginner - 55C
1st Place - Tyler Ereaux of Evergreen
2nd Place - Tristan Kelly of Thompson Falls
3rd Place - Brody Swift of Bonners Ferry
4th Place - Wyatt Henderson of Wolfpack Wrestling Club
Beginner - 60A
1st Place - Ryne Gillette of Wolfpack Wrestling Club
2nd Place - Olivia O`Leary of Whitefish
3rd Place - Scout Love of Columbia Falls
4th Place - Blake Hoffman of Libby
Beginner - 60B
1st Place - Benjamin Forman of Columbia Falls
2nd Place - Logan Nitti of Lakeland Wrestling Club
3rd Place - Tristen Cheff of Kalispell
4th Place - Gabriel Tappen of Bigfork
Beginner - 60C
1st Place - Cooper Denys of Wolfpack Wrestling Club
2nd Place - Axel Jones of Sandpoint Top Dog Wrestling
3rd Place - Indigo Hunter of Eureka
4th Place - Naomi Elwell of Bigfork
Beginner - 65A
1st Place - Sheldon Letcher of Eureka
2nd Place - Hunter Nelson of Kalispell
3rd Place - Hayden Strandberg of Columbia Falls
4th Place - Brylon Van Elswyk of Thompson Falls
Beginner - 65B
1st Place - Iain Edwards of Lakeland Wrestling Club
2nd Place - John England of Kalispell
3rd Place - Levi Dawson of Bigfork
4th Place - Dylan Owens of Columbia Falls
Beginner - 70A
1st Place - Kevin Letcher of Eureka
2nd Place - Hunter Strandberg of Columbia Falls
3rd Place - Logan Dutton of Libby
4th Place - Reiley Love of Libby
Beginner - 70B
1st Place - Trenton Moskalov of Columbia Falls
2nd Place - Eathon Brandon of Columbia Falls
3rd Place - Olavi Matson of Columbia Falls
4th Place - Colt Hapner of Kalispell
Beginner - 75
1st Place - L.j. Alton of Wolfpack Wrestling Club
2nd Place - Aiden Dodd of Bonners Ferry
3rd Place - Ryker McAnally of Bigfork
4th Place - Karson Wyatt of Columbia Falls
Beginner - 80
1st Place - Gage McWatters of Lakeland Wrestling Club
2nd Place - Sawyer Kaufman of Evergreen
3rd Place - Tiyler Curtiss of Eureka
4th Place - Alex Hensley of Thompson Falls
Beginner - 85
1st Place - Magnus Wisher of Kalispell
2nd Place - Brody Lau of Kalispell
3rd Place - Chase Hoerner of Columbia Falls
4th Place - Barrett Barnes of Kalispell
Beginner - 95
1st Place - Shannon Hughes of Wolfpack Wrestling Club
2nd Place - Jayden Grounds of Thompson Falls
3rd Place - Brycen Potter of Wolfpack Wrestling Club
4th Place - Thomas Airhart of Plains
Beginner - 108-130
1st Place - Bryce Alt of Unattached
Novice - 55
1st Place - Dayton Naldrett of Kalispell
2nd Place - Aiden Sweat of Kalispell
Novice - 60
1st Place - Kellen Downing of Kalispell
2nd Place - Kruger Sipe of Kalispell
3rd Place - Paul Sundstrom of Thompson Falls
4th Place - Gabriel Arensmeyer of Columbia Falls
Novice - 65A
1st Place - Jaxon Sterling of Columbia Falls
2nd Place - Colton Rush of Lakeland Wrestling Club
3rd Place - Carson Orr of Libby
4th Place - Rebel Crump of Columbia Falls
Novice - 65B
1st Place - Teagan Sweeney-Moore of Columbia Falls
2nd Place - Karson Spilis of Columbia Falls
3rd Place - Oliver Buzzell of Wolfpack Wrestling Club
4th Place - Logan Handlen of Lakeland Wrestling Club
Novice - 70A
1st Place - Landree Aurand of Whitefish
2nd Place - Colin Hickman of Eureka
3rd Place - Arne Troy of Columbia Falls
4th Place - Payton Jones of Whitefish
Novice - 70B
1st Place - Mason Fraley of Columbia Falls
2nd Place - Hunter Rooney of Libby
3rd Place - Douglas Letcher of Eureka
4th Place - Cory Tappan of Bigfork
Novice - 75A
1st Place - Gannon Wisher of Kalispell
2nd Place - Elijah Copping of Wolfpack Wrestling Club
3rd Place - Logan Thompson of Evergreen
4th Place - Ayden Helgert of Eureka
Novice - 75B
1st Place - Dominick Young of Evergreen
2nd Place - Jayce Whitten of Wolfpack Wrestling Club
3rd Place - Trystan Toavs of Columbia Falls
4th Place - Ricco Busicchia of Lakeland Wrestling Club
Novice - 80A
1st Place - Gannon Wisher of Kalispell
2nd Place - Tyler Jorgenson of Kalispell
3rd Place - Alexander Reatz of Libby
4th Place - Ian Thom of Libby
Novice - 80B
1st Place - Johnny Felix of Plains
2nd Place - Gideon Dowd of Eureka
3rd Place - Jack Nagle of Libby
4th Place - Arianna Grounds of Thompson Falls
Novice - 85
1st Place - Blake Hoerner of Columbia Falls
2nd Place - Tanner Wolfe of Libby
3rd Place - Torren Murray of Wolfpack Wrestling Club
4th Place - Aiden Forrest of Kalispell
Novice - 90
1st Place - Matthew Ahner of Wolfpack Wrestling Club
2nd Place - Connor LeDuc of Wolfpack Wrestling Club
3rd Place - Dylan Delorme of Columbia Falls
4th Place - Isaac Lamere of Libby
Novice - 95
1st Place - Manny Barone of Wolfpack Wrestling Club
2nd Place - Forfeit Forfeit of Unattached
3rd Place - Dawsen Pyles of Columbia Falls
Novice - 100
1st Place - Kaden Kaber of Columbia Falls
2nd Place - Noa Stevens of Thompson Falls
3rd Place - Taylor Dodd of Bonners Ferry
4th Place - Brittany Bigoness of Whitefish
Novice - 110
1st Place - Haiden Johnson of Eureka
2nd Place - Wiatt Hume of Eureka
3rd Place - Quentin Wilson of Eureka
4th Place - Hunter Moskaloff of Columbia Falls
Novice - 124
1st Place - Noah Horn of Whitefish
2nd Place - Kai Aitken of Bonners Ferry
3rd Place - Aiden Tinney of Bigfork
4th Place - Brown Logan of Wolfpack Wrestling Club
Novice - 140
1st Place - Holland Jantzen of Bigfork
2nd Place - Blane Olson of Bigfork
3rd Place - Bye Bye of Whitefish
Novice - 159+
1st Place - Elijah McNeely of Whitefish
Middle - 65
1st Place - Brooke Yeadon of Kalispell
Middle - 70
1st Place - Aiden Downing of Kalispell
2nd Place - Will Barnes of Kalispell
3rd Place - Blake Lancaster of Eureka
4th Place - Cash Byrd of Columbia Falls
Middle - 75
1st Place - Traic Fainter of Whitefish
2nd Place - Davin Naldrett of Kalispell
3rd Place - Henry Troy of Columbia Falls
4th Place - Jaren Knopp of Lakeland Wrestling Club
Middle - 80
1st Place - Marley Erickson of Libby
2nd Place - Johnny Waterbury of Hot Springs
3rd Place - Josiah Kilman of Columbia Falls
4th Place - Angus Anderson of Bigfork
Middle - 85
1st Place - Nolan Cate of Kalispell
2nd Place - Logan Heyne of Kalispell
3rd Place - Billy Gustafson of Columbia Falls
4th Place - Tyler Gilfry of Columbia Falls
Middle - 90
1st Place - Winslow Peters of Columbia Falls
2nd Place - Gunnar Thompson of Kalispell
3rd Place - Rowdy Crump of Columbia Falls
4th Place - Kadin Brown of Whitefish
5th Place - Forfeit Forfeit of Unattached
6th Place - Xavier Reatz of Libby
6th Place - Aj Truman of Eureka
Middle - 95
1st Place - Anders Thompson of Kalispell
2nd Place - Logan Riley of Columbia Falls
3rd Place - Peyton Scofield of Libby
4th Place - Aaron Pfister of Plains
Middle - 100
1st Place - Marcus Regehr of Bonners Ferry
2nd Place - Zekiah Meyer of Libby
3rd Place - James Hubbs of Evergreen
4th Place - Koale Medicine_Bull of Eureka
Middle - 105
1st Place - Jace Deshazer of Libby
2nd Place - Elijah Ratliff of Thompson Falls
3rd Place - Aiden Krause of Kalispell
4th Place - Brady Schrenk of Plains
5th Place - Forfeit Forfeit of Unattached
6th Place - Trystan Vanzant of Kalispell
6th Place - Nic Frost of Mission/Charlo
Middle - 110
1st Place - Barrett Auge of Libby
2nd Place - Rusty Gillespie of Libby
3rd Place - Canyon Sargent of Mission/Charlo
4th Place - Danial Lemer of Eureka
Middle - 120
1st Place - Noah Poe-Hatten of Kalispell
2nd Place - Zarek Lee of Kalispell
3rd Place - Henry Bennetts of Whitefish
4th Place - Tristan Crane of Columbia Falls
5th Place - Forfeit Forfeit of Unattached
6th Place - Damian Hoehne of Lakeland Wrestling Club
6th Place - Dayson Brough of Mission/Charlo
Middle - 130
1st Place - Zhane Jenkins of Libby
2nd Place - Trey Torpen of Columbia Falls
3rd Place - Jaxon Hume of Eureka
Middle - 147
1st Place - T.j. Gannon of Kalispell
2nd Place - Garrett O`Connor of Mission/Charlo
3rd Place - Riley Hume of Eureka
4th Place - Mason Miller of Kalispell
Middle - 166
1st Place - Dylan Whitten of Kalispell
2nd Place - Cody Vergeront of Evergreen
Middle - 187
1st Place - Colton Vergeront of Evergreen
2nd Place - Ethan Johnson of Eureka
Junior - 80-85
1st Place - Jake Summerfield of Bonners Ferry
2nd Place - Chris Vigil of Columbia Falls
3rd Place - Kody Dillard of Mission/Charlo
Junior - 90-95
1st Place - Teegan Vasquez of Kalispell
2nd Place - Justin Windauer of Columbia Falls
3rd Place - Ryder Decker of Evergreen
4th Place - Cade Gardner of Kalispell
Junior - 100-105
1st Place - Trae Thilmony of Thompson Falls
2nd Place - Cole Eastwood of Kalispell
3rd Place - Caleb Utter of Eureka
4th Place - Carson Kateley of Libby
Junior - 113
1st Place - Orion Barta of Columbia Falls
2nd Place - Brandon Role of Columbia Falls
3rd Place - Kyle McCollam of Kalispell
4th Place - Colton Hogan of Columbia Falls
Junior - 120
1st Place - Asher Kemmpainen of Columbia Falls
2nd Place - Kyle Lawson of Hot Springs
3rd Place - Benedict Waterbury of Hot Springs
4th Place - Brok Viau of Kalispell
Junior - 126
1st Place - Danny Dunn of Eureka
2nd Place - Hayden Comly of Bigfork
3rd Place - Bryce Umphrey of Mission/Charlo
4th Place - Morgan Pound of Evergreen
Junior - 132
1st Place - Royce Conklin of Evergreen
2nd Place - Sam Resh of Eureka
3rd Place - Noah Cooke of Whitefish
4th Place - Trey Eisenbarth of Whitefish
Junior - 138
1st Place - Eli Richards of Bonners Ferry
2nd Place - Tyler Strouse of Columbia Falls
3rd Place - Tanner Gardner of Bigfork
4th Place - Wyatt Graver of Eureka
Junior - 145
1st Place - Kyle Smith of Bonners Ferry
2nd Place - Hunter Fleming of Whitefish
3rd Place - Hunter Hoover of Libby
4th Place - Shayden Friedlander of Mission/Charlo
Junior - 152
1st Place - Andrew Sandelin of Bonners Ferry
2nd Place - Gavin Pilkington of Eureka
3rd Place - Bridger Flowers of Kalispell
4th Place - Keller Mitchell of Kalispell
Junior - 160
1st Place - Jayden Hoerner of Columbia Falls
2nd Place - Colten Wroble of Bigfork
3rd Place - Johnny Fehr of Eureka
Junior - 170-182
1st Place - Jackson Rickter of Bonners Ferry
2nd Place - Dominic Babcock of Eureka
3rd Place - Brandon Ryan of Columbia Falls
4th Place - Molly Kurkowski of Bigfork
5th Place - Rudy King of Mission/Charlo
Junior - 205
1st Place - Patrick Connors of Mission/Charlo
2nd Place - Conner Gerard of Mission/Charlo
3rd Place - Kemana Larkey of Evergreen
4th Place - Forest Howell of Kalispell
Junior - 215-285
1st Place - Brian Sweeney of Whitefish