Libby follows Class A with strong Bonners showing

After the Class A Duals in Belgrade last weekend, The Libby High School wrestling team came away with many individual and two team wins, going on to a strong showing at Bonners Ferry Tuesday.

Libby Head Coach Kelly Morford said that he was extremely pleased with the performance the Loggers brought to the mat over the weekend.

“It was A great accomplishment for the boys to wrestle tough on Friday and make the championship pool. The win against Columbia Falls was especially sweet,” he said. “It has been a while since we have beat them, so that was fun.”

Morford said that the Greenchain performed well even in their losses at the Class A Duals. He was happy with how they competed against top-level teams such as Sidney, Havre and Frenchtown.

Going into the long tournament weekend, Morford said that the Loggers wanted to stay consistent with their focus and effort throughout. They wanted to compete with every single team they faced.

“I think we did a great job of that,” he said. “A lot of teams were wiped out by the end of the day Saturday, and our boys were still chomping at the bit to get that win against Hardin.”

Morford said that the Loggers made it difficult to single out any one performance that really stood out above the others.

“Every single one of them are right where they need to be and wrestling really well,” he said.

But Morford did have a plug for Libby freshman Zane Nordwick. Wrestling at 152 pounds, Nordwick was slotted against some tough opponents, he said.

“He is the type of kid who doesn’t even blink when you give him a tough assignment like that,” Morford said. “He knows what is best for the team and does whatever we ask of him. I am really proud of him for doing that.”

After that heavy weekend of wrestling and with the Loggers focused on their semester tests, Morford said he was a little worried how the dual at Bonners Ferry would go on Tuesday.

“It seemed like a perfect storm, but the boys didn’t skip a beat,” he said.

Libby had a rough dual at home against Bonners Ferry on Dec. 11, and Morford said that they “kind of took it to us.”

“We flipped the script with them Tuesday night as we really wrestled well,” he said. “We only lost one match in the dual and then kept it going in the exhibitions afterwards.”

One of the best matches of the night was Libby freshman Hunter Hoover’s exhibition match, even though it was a loss, Morford said. Hoover’s opponent was tough, and Hoover has not fared well against him in the past.

Yet, Hoover “had him on the ropes,” and almost had a takedown to tie the match at the end, Morford said.

“Hunter is so fun to watch and coach because he applies constant pressure on his opponents and is just a hard-nosed kid,” Morford said. “I was proud of him for accepting that challenge. Even though it counts as a loss, that match made him better.”

Morford said that, all in all, he is really excited about where the Greenchain is at this point in the season.

“Our motto lately is ‘don’t give an inch.’ Whether we are wrestling a powerhouse like Sidney or approaching practice, we want to keep pushING forward and don’t want any steps backwards,” he said. “The boys have answered the bell on that front lately, and we just want to really push hard into the postseason.”

The Loggers wrestle again today in Whitefish at the Whitefish Duals, starting at 1 p.m.

Class A duals

Jan. 18 and 19

Laurel 54, Libby 21

120: Buddy Doolin, Libby, won by pin in 0:38 over Max Brown, Laurel; 132: Zack Morrison, Libby, won by in in 0:23 over Braeden Foos, Laurel; 138: Keagan Campbell, Laurel, won by pin in 1:42 over Jeff Offenbecher, Libby; 145: Trey Thompson, Libby, won by pin in 5:02 over Tyler Emineth, Laurel; 152: Hunter Hoover, Libby, won by 11-4 dec. over Caleb Hill, Laurel; 160: Keevyn Alexander, Laurel, won by pin in 2:18 over Tucker Masters, Libby; 182: Cameron Younger, Laurel, won by pin in 0:24 over Daniel Rigney, Libby.

Libby 34, Hardin 30

126: Buddy Doolin, Libby, won by pin in 1:49 over Wyatt Harmer, Hard; 138: Jeff Offenbecher, Libby, won by pin in 2:37 over Hunter Popetsaitke, Hard; 145: Trey Thompson, Libby, won by maj. dec. (17-9) over Jace Guptill, Hard; 152: Hunter Hoover, Libby, won by pin in 1:33 over Calder Pilkington, Hard; 160: Conner Schwend, Hard, won by pin in 0:31 over Zane Nordwick, Libby; 170: Tucker Masters, Libby, won by pin in 4:47 over Ty Greenfield, Hard; 182: Dante Pallone, Hard, won by pin in 1:55 over Daniel Rigney, Libby.

Frenchtown 42, Libby 33

170: Tucker Masters, Libby, won by pin in 1:57 over Jake Houlihan, Fren; 182: Tate Jones, Fren, won by pin in 1:16 over Daniel Rigney, Libby; 205: 120: Jake Bibler, Fren, won by pin in 1:19 over Buddy Doolin, Libby; 132: Zack Morrison, Libby, won by forfeit; 138: Jeff Offenbecher, Libby, won by pin in 0:52 over Smokey Stoker, Fren; 145: Trey Thompson, Libby, won by forfeit; 152: Hunter Hoover, Libby, won by 8-3 dec. over Adam Vang, Fren; 160: Zane Nordwick, Libby, won by forfeit.

Havre 50, Libby 11

152: Orion Thivierge, Havre, won by pin in 3:12 over Hunter Hoover, Libby; 160: Connor Harris, Havre, won by pin in 2:38 over Tucker Masters, Libby;182: Brayden Stadell, Havre, won by pin in 2:32 over Daniel Rigney, Libby; 120: Cameron Pleninger, Havre, won by 1-0 dec. over Buddy Doolin, Libby; 132: Zack Morrison, Libby, won by tech. fall (16-0, 2:00) over Randy Tommerup, Havre; 138: Jeff Offenbecher, Libby, won by pin in 1:27 over Wyatt Hansen, Havre; 145: Martin Wilkie, Havre, won by tech. fall (15-0, 4:00) over Trey Thompson, Libby.

Libby 32, Columbia Falls 24

120: Buddy Doolin, Libby, won by forfeit; Zack Morrison, Libby, won by pin in 0:56 over Thomas Peters, C-Falls; 138: Jeff Offenbecher, Libby, won by 6-2 dec. over Ayden Role, C-Falls; 145: Trey Thompson, Libby, won by tech. fall (17-1, 2:00) over Issac Balla, C-Falls; 152: Zane Nordwick, Libby, won by forfeit; 160: Hunter Hoover, Libby, won by 4-3 dec. over Jordan Knapton, C-Falls; 170: Tucker Masters, Libby, won by 11-4 dec. over Lucas Thacker, C-Falls; 182: Colton McPhee, C-Falls, won by pin in in 0:13 over Daniel Rigney, Libby.

Fergus (Lewistown) 34, Libby 21

145: Trey Thompson, Libby, won by pin in 2:48 over Ashton Grover; 152: Hunter Hoover, Libby, won by 10-8 dec. over Treyvn Nave, Ferg; 160: Duane Otto II, Ferg, won by pin in 0:27 over Zane Nordwick, Libby; 170: Junior Cady, Ferg, won by maj. Dec. (12-1) over Tucker Masters, Libby; 182: Keaton Potter, Ferg, won by pin in 1:01 over Daniel Rigney, Libby; 120: Buddy Doolin, Libby, won by pin in 0:46 over Cael Nearhoof, Ferg; 138: Jeff Offenbecher, Libby, won by pin in 0:26 over Dylan Gatz, Ferg.

Libby 42, Dillon 36

132: Zack Morrison, Libby, won by pin in 1:10 over Teron Morrison, Dillon; 138: Jeff Offenbecher, Libby, won by pin in 2:28 over Eli Carlos, Dillon; 145: Trey Thompson, Libby, won by pin in 2:45 over Peter Gibson, Dillon; 152: Hunter Hoover, Libby, won by pin in 0:27 over Tristin Lowell, Dillon; 160: Cooper Hoffman, Dillon, won by pin in 1:29 over Zane Nordwick, Libby; 170: Tucker Masters, Libby, won by pin in 1:51 over Ash Norris, Dillon; 182: Daniel Rigney, Libby, won by forfeit.

Sidney/Fairview 69, Libby 4

132: Aden Graves, Sid, won by pin over Zack Morrison, Libby; 138: Christian Dean, Sid, won by pin over Jeff Offenbecher, Libby; 145: Kade Graves, Sid, sudden victory-1 (5-3) over Trey Thompson, Libby; 152: Jace Winter, Sid, won by pin over Hunter Hoover, Libby; 160: Riley Waters, Sid, won by pin over Tucker Masters, Libby; 182: Jett Jones, Sid, won by pin over Daniel Rigney, Libby; 120: Buddy Doolin, Libby, won by maj. Dec. (13-4) over Jordan Darby, Sid.

Bonners Ferry dual

Jan. 22

Bonners Ferry 48, Libby 24

120: Buddy Doolin, Libby, won by 9-4 dec. over Evan Barajas, Bonners; 132: Zack Morrison, Libby, won by pin in 1:03 over Bryan Durette, Bonners; 138: Jeff Offenbecher, Libby, won by 3-0 dec. over Manuel Naccarato, Bonners; 145: Trey Thompson, Libby, won by 6-3 dec. over Eli Richards, Bonners; 152: Kyle Smith, Bonners, won by pin in 1:05 over Zane Nordwick, Libby; 160: Hunter Hoover, Libby, won by pin in 2:50 over Jackson Richter, Bonners; 170: Tucker Masters, Libby, won by 8-6 dec. over Jessie Bradley, Bonners.