Plains wrestling team continues to improve

The Savage Horsemen wrestling team got in one last night of matches before they went on break last week for the holidays. The team traveled to Bigfork for a mixer with Plains, Eureka, Browning, Arlee and Florence-Carlton. The teams had to get creative to get matches, with some wrestlers bumping up weight classes to receive opponents.

One of the highlights of the evening was for Lilly MacDonald, who had her first win against Drew Knoll of Arlee. “She’s lost to him every time she’s met him on the mat, but she pinned him at the end of the first period,” said Plains Coach Shane Angle. “That shows improvement.” MacDonald ended last Tuesday’s mixer with three pins.

David Schulze kept his undefeated season going with a match against Nolan Ryder of Bigfork. “He’s a pretty darn good wrestler,” Angle said of the Viking. Ryder first beat Will James Courville of Plains, but then Schulze wrestled him and won by technical fall in the third period.

Drew Carey went 3-0 at the Bigfork mixer, pinning his first two opponents. Senior Taylor Angle also had a good night in Bigfork, pinning her two opponents.

Coach Angle said Brady Schrenk “showed up to wrestle and did extremely well with his competition” at the mixer, ending the night with three pins. “He just looked like a totally different kid this week,” Angle said of Schrenk. “He was pretty pumped.”

Sky Van Der Gang dropped a weight class down to 132, and Angle was happy with his performance. Van Der Gang went 1-2 in Bigfork. “He had some good matches,” Angle said. “Every time Sky steps on the mat he does better. He’s a strong kid at 132.”

Spur Ryan lost his three matches in Bigfork, but Angle said he is seeing improvement in Ryan. Angle said that each time Ryan has wrestled RJ Knoll from Arlee, the Warrior wrestler has pinned him in the first period. But Tuesday, Ryan beat Knoll.

August Courville was 0-1 at the mixer, wrestling only one match due to a shoulder injury.

Gavin Schrenk was 0-2 at the mixer, but bumped up for a 113-pound match for his second match. “He did great and only lost by one point,” Coach Angle said.

Angle said the team is looking forward to the second half of the season. They come back from holiday break and travel to Arlee for a mixer January 4, with the girls wrestling in Hamilton that day. “We’ve got a lot of wrestling to do in the second half and we’re looking forward to it,” the coach added.