Hawks, Savage Horsemen head to Western B-C

Mission-Charlo and Eureka look to be the teams to beat in this week's Western B-C wrestling tourney, but the main goal for most wrestlers will be to simply get through and earn your spot in the next really big show – the State B-C tournament at Metra Park in Billings Feb. 14-15.

The 2020 Western B-C divisional tournament will be held in Mission Saturday and the top four place-winners in each weight class will earn their spots in the big show in Billings.

Local grappling teams from Thompson Falls-Noxon and Plains-Hot Springs look to send as many of their wrestlers as possible on to the Magic City, although neither Sanders County team figures to have a realistic chance of making a run at the team title in Mission.

Coach Mike Thilmony's Blue Hawks and Jeff Kujala's Savage Horsemen may not challenge for the divisional team title, but both teams will field competitive lineups featuring wrestlers who really want to earn their way to Billings.

"We are really looking forward to the divisional tournament," Thilmony said. "Mission-Charlo is probably the team to beat but you can't count out Eureka, Clark Fork or us either.

"This is shaping up as one of the tougher Western B-C's that I have seen," he added. "There are a lot of good kids in this division across the board, it should be a real competitive tournament."

"It depends on who shows up Saturday," Kujala said. "Mission-Charlo and Eureka look like the favorites. Thompson Falls, Clark Fork and Florence have some good kids but probably not enough to challenge for the team title."

For conversation sake, Mission-Charlo claimed the Ted Kato Memorial team championship in Thompson Falls two weeks ago. Eureka was the only Western B-C team not involved in that meet.

Both Sanders County teams completed regular season action last week. Thompson Falls-Noxon, Plains-Hot Springs and the Big Sky JV met up for dual matches in Thompson Falls Thursday. The Hawks out-pointed the Big Sky JV 30-27 and defeated P-HS 45-6 in those matches.

The Hawks wrestled four more dual matches in the Whitefish Duals in Whitefish Friday, falling to Browning (36-28), Columbia Falls (33-30), Eureka (37-24) and Whitefish (31-28).

"It was a good weekend, a good way to get us ready for the tournament," Thilmony said. "We sat out a couple of kids with nagging injuries Saturday, but the other kids got some good matches in."

Plains-Hot Springs completed the regular season hosting a triangular meet also involving Bigfork and Arlee Saturday in Hot Springs. The meet doubled as senior night for Hot Springs wrestlers.

Both county teams' lineups of 11 grapplers each are set for Saturday in Mission, the coaches said.

Thompson Falls-Noxon's lineup includes: Trae Thilmony at 120 pounds; Elijah Ratliff and Weston Brown at 132; Shane Reishus and Hunter Little at 138; Derek Andersen at 145; Lucas Andersen at 152; Josh Baldwin at 160; Dane Chojnacky at 170; Seth Alaracon at 182; and Will McPherson at 285.

For Plains-Hot Springs: Brady Schrenk and Taylor Angle are expected to compete at 113 pounds; Mason Elliott will go at 120; Peter Carey at 132; Conrad Vanderwall at 138; Gage Fuhrman at 145; Bert DeTienne and Lily McDonald at 152; Jesse Uski and Levi Blood at 160; and Stephen Yother at 205.

"We are sending a good, competitive lineup in to Mission and are hoping to qualify as many as possible for the State B-C tournament," Thilmony said of his Hawk grapplers. "I think all 11 have a legitimate chance of moving on if they wrestle well."

Kujala struck a similar chord. "We will be ready, we are still waiting for a few medical clearances," he said, "but the kids that we have will be ready to compete Saturday."