P-HS wrestling sees successful start

Plains/Hot Springs finished fifth in their first tournament of the season, the Cascade Badger Invitational. “It was a great season opener for us,” Coach Shane Angle said. The Savage Horsemen sent seven to the finals in the tournament and two wrestled for third and fourth. The girls’ team garnered enough points to take home the first-place team trophy. “It was impressive,” Angle said. “What a surprise.”

Drew Carey brought home first place from Cascade in the 132-pound bracket. Carey first pinned Jace Ashley of Three Forks in 2:50, then Eli Zachary of Columbus/Absarokee in 1:18. Carey’s semifinal win was a 9-7 decision over Cascade’s Nate Wadlow. The Plains senior then met Chase Kirkland of Three Forks in the championship match and won 6-4. Kirkland had previously beat Cary in the divisional meet last season.

David Schulze also won his bracket at 138 pounds on Saturday. Schulze’s first match was against Gavin Watson from Whitehall and the Plains wrestler won by pin in 1:48. He then won a 4-0 decision over Simms’s Michael Leach before beating Fairfield’s Miguel Ramos in a 7-3 decision. In the championship match, Schulze pinned Shelby’s Harold Miller in 1:48. Also representing the Savage Horsemen at 138 were Sky Van Der Gang and Will James Courville. Van Der Gang lost by pin in the first match of the tournament and was eliminated in the solocation bracket by Marshall Kunkel of Simms. Courville pinned his first opponent, Jeremiah Meskimen of Boulder, then was pinned by Ramos in the second round, putting him in the consolation bracket. Courville then pinned Kunkel in 1:54 before falling to another Simms wrestler.

In the 103-pound weight class, Gavin Schrenk and August Courville wrestled for the Savage Horsemen, with Courville taking second place and Schrenk fourth. Courville first beat Cascades’ Nic DeShayes by pin in 2:42 before falling in the championship match to Cole Rogers of Three Forks, who had pinned Schrenk in the Plains wrestler’s first match of the tournament. Schrenk then pinned DeShayes in 3:30 before falling to Isaac Skogen of Whitehall in the consolation championship match.

At 126 pounds, John Waterbury brought home a second-place medal from the Badger Invite, pinning opponents in 45 seconds, 4 minutes and 1:01 in his first three matches before meeting Boulder’s Cameron Mikesell in the championship match. Mikesell, a 2021 state placer at 126, won by pin in 3:23.

Brady Schrenk competed for the Savage Horsemen at 152 pounds, losing both of his tournament matches by pin. Spur Ryan wrestled at 160 pounds, pinning his first opponent, Darrius LongKnife of Harlem, in the third period. Ryan was then pushed to the consolation bracket after being pinned by Percy Bechtold of Choteau.

In the girls tournament, Brynn Courville won the 132/138 bracket with two pins, the first over Harlem’s Kaitlyn Johnson in 1:45 and the second in the championship over Shelby’s Berlin Larson in 1:47. Lillian MacDonald also won her bracket at 145/152, pinning Columbus/Absarokee’s Emmy Zachary in 43 seconds and then Harlem’s Amilia Blackcrow in 1:09. Taylor Angle lost to Lily Grismer of Cascade in the 120/126 bracket, with Grismer winning a 5-3 decision over the Plains senior.

“We are looking forward to an even better season working our way to the big show in the end,” Angle said. The Savage Horsemen wrestlers will host a quad Thursday at 5 p.m. with Eureka, Bigfork and Arlee. The boys will then head to Superior for a mixer on Friday and the Bob Kinney Classic on Saturday. The Plains girls will get a good look at competition from all over the state this weekend at a tournament Saturday at Flathead High School. Angle said the competition will be mostly Class A and AA schools and the girls will have full brackets, something they won’t see again through most of the season.