View from the Sidelines

With the Western B-C divisional wrestling tournament being held in Mission Saturday, a lot of memories of Thompson Falls’ two State B-C championship teams have been brought back by the recent celebration of those 1979 and 1980 Blue Hawks at TFHS.

At a special ceremony during a Jan. 24 triangular dual meet, members, managers and coaches who made it back to Thompson Falls for the event were brought out on the mat and honored once more.

In an attempt to further honor those great teams, the focus of this column for the next two weeks will be to relive some of those championship moments. The 1979 and 1980 Western B-C tournaments will be highlighted now, the ’79 and ’80 State B-C tournaments will be described in more detail next week.

Throwback….

Forty-one years ago this week, at the Western B-C divisional tournament in Superior, it all came down to one final match to see which squad would be the 1978-79 team champions.

With the team race yet to be decided, Hawk heavyweight Shawn Allen faced off against Seeley-Swan’s M. Cahoon in the last and what turned out to be the most important match of the tournament.

The stakes were unbelievably high. If Allen would have lost, Seeley would be the divisional champs; if Allen won but not by pin the teams could have ended up tied for the top spot; and the only way the Hawks would win the team title was if Allen won by pin.

Cutting the drama short quickly, Allen went out and pinned Cahoon in 1:24 to bring the divisional team crown to Thompson Falls, besides winning the individual heavyweight title.

Ron Kazmeirczak (125 pounds), Mike Fisher (132), Steve Davis (155) and Larry Milner (167) also captured individual titles, and Ken Brickzin (98) and Randy McKenzie (119) won important fourth place spots.

The Hawks won the championship despite the upset losses of standouts Mike LaBrosse and Gary Hagerman at 105 and 145, and neither grappler moved on to the State B-C tournament that year.

Of interest to Sanders County fans, Kazmierczak’s championship win at 125 was from Plains’ Jim Marjerrison, a 4-0 decision in the final.

The Thompson Falls Blue Hawks won the ’78-79 Western B-C title with 143.5 points. Seeley-Swan was second with 141.5 and Plains third with 124.

Throwback plus…

Forty years ago this week at Thompson Falls High School, the Seeley-Swan Blackhawks won the 1979-80 Western B-C team title with 149 points and Thompson Falls and Arlee tied for second place with 122.5 points each.

By the time the tournament ended only five Blue Hawks remained alive, and those five, the second edition of Thompson Falls’ famous “Dirty Five,” went on to win the school’s second straight State B-C title, but more on that accomplishment in next week’s issue.

At the Western B-C that year, Mike Fisher won the title at 132 pounds, Gary Hagerman claimed the gold at 145 and Steve Davis the top spot at 167. Larry Milner won second place at 185 pounds and Mike LaBrosse scrambled back to win third a 112.

Milner’s championship match with Steve Grasso of Florence at 185 turned out to be the best one of the tournament. After battling to a 2-2 draw after regulation, Grasso finally scored an escape in the second overtime period to claim the title.

The Plains Horsemen sent three grapplers on to the State B-C tournament that year: Dennis Dawson, second to Hagerman at 145; Jeff Betts, third at 119; and James Jermyn, third at 185.