P-HS commemorates Kenny

Kenny will always be there now, looking in on the proceedings at his beloved Plains High School. PHS officials made sure of that last week.

In tribute to the late, great Kenny Lee Marjerrison, Plains school officials formally dedicated a spot of honor high on the gymnasium wall, where Kenny's initials "KLM," painted in large black letters, have been permanently placed for all to see, at the school's first home wrestling match of the season Thursday.

Following a touching tribute to Kenny read by long-time Plains sports emcee Randy Garrison with a spotlight directed to the freshly painted initials, and a poignant moment of silence to honor this fine man and mentor who meant so much to so many, the first match of the season without Plains-Hot Springs' beloved coach on the sidelines then ensued.

Although many of "his" Plains-Hot Springs wrestlers on this year's team (and many fans in the stands) were moved to tears by the planned tribute, they found the will and the way to carry on without Kenny for the first time that night, and again Saturday at the Bob Kinney Classic in Superior, and he most certainly would have been proud of them all for their efforts.

And that includes the teams and individuals who competed against Kenny and his teams through the years, squads and grapplers like those from Arlee, Eureka and Thompson Falls, the other teams that competed in mixer-match fashion across two mats in Plains Thursday.

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The Arlee team, in fact went so far as to put "In memory of Kenny" messages on their team shirts and hats for the season in tribute to the much-beloved coach Marjerrison.

Stepping in behind Marjerrison under the most difficult circumstances for all involved, Jeff Kujala was happy with his wrestlers' efforts last week in light of all the emotion that came with losing their coach, spiritual leader and friend so abruptly.

"It was good to see Kenny honored like that, he certainly deserves it," Kujala said, "but it was also pretty emotional for everyone."

Marjerrison undoubtedly would have enjoyed the busy night of wrestling at his alma mater, and the busy day of grappling at Superior Saturday, where Daniel Uli and Josiah Vanderwall won individual weight class titles and tournament honors to lead P-HS to seventh place in final team scoring with 90.5 team points.

Austin Stafford and Luke Lile both won third place medals in Superior, Stafford at 138 pounds and Lile at 160.

Uli won the championship at 126 pounds and brought home the Most Outstanding Wrestler award from the Kinney meet, while Vanderwall dominated the field at 132 and earned the meet's quick-pin trophy for his efforts.

Conrad Vanderwall (126), Kenzie Angle (132), Jesse Uski (138), Mason Gannarelli (145), Robert Mathers (152) and Steven Yother (Heavyweight) also all wrestled for P-HS in Plains Thursday and again in Superior Saturday.

"It was a good tournament, I felt good about the effort of all our kids," Kujala, who is assisted by Kenneth Beech, Rocky Wagoner and Jake Lile in coaching the Savage Horsemen grapplers this season. "We still have a lot to work on but last weekend was a good start."

P-HS's two-headed grappling monster at 126 and 132, Uli and Josiah Vanderwall were nothing short of dominant in Superior.

Uli grabbed his Kinney gold by winning his quarterfinal and semifinal matches by technical fall (which means building a lead of 15 or more points at any time during a match), and by defeating Dante Venema of Corvallis 10-3 in the 126 championship.

Vanderwall earned his title by pinning Glacier's Blake Franklin in 49 seconds, flattening Lucas Anderson of Thompson Falls in 41 seconds, Andrew Anderson of Cut Bank in 26 seconds and, finally, pinning Triston Davis of Corvallis in only 3:37 of the 132 title bout.

Stafford and Lile also wrestled well in Superior.

Stafford came back from a loss to the eventual champion in the first round, winning four matches by pin in less than four minutes of total mat time, and then defeated Western B-C rival Darwin Adams of Mission-Charlo by 3-1 decision in the 138 consolation final.

Lile fought back from a tough loss in the championship semifinals to win third at 160, pinning Miles Anderson of Mission-Charlo in 1:45 of the conso semis and Tim Carvey of Libby in 2:42 of the conso final.