Hawks place fifth at divisional

The Blue Hawk wrestlers took fifth place at the Western B-C Divisional tournament in Butte last weekend, with four wrestlers earning a trip to state.

"We had a really good weekend," Coach Mike Thilmony said. "We took seven guys in and four are going to state."

Thilmony was proud of his wrestlers who didn't advance to state as well. Levi Wenz went 0-2 at state in the 120-pound bracket, but Thilmony said the Noxon wrestler has room to grow and he expects Wenz to do great things for the program the rest of his high school career. Westin Brown was one match away from the podium at divisional. "That was a little heartbreaking," Thilmony stated. "I'm really proud of his effort all year." Ryan Bucher went 2-2 at the divisional tournament. "He went well beyond expectations for a first-time wrestler," Thilmony said of the Thompson Falls senior. "Those three played a big role in our fifth-place team finish. They scored some points on the back end for us."

As for the four Hawks who qualified for state - Trae Thilmony, Shane Reishus, Elijah Ratliff and Max Hannum - Coach Thilmony said they had outstanding tournaments. "Going 4-0 in the semifinals was incredible," he said of the two first-place and two second-place finishes.

Trae Thilmony had a big win in his semifinal match against Matthew Larson of Cut Bank. "Trae did a great job of opening up his offense early and scoring points. He wrestled outstanding throughout the weekend," Coach Thilmony said. At 152 pounds, Thilmony said Ratliff wrestled a solid tournament.

Shane Reishus placed second at 160 pounds. "He's in a good spoing going into the state tournament," Coach Thilmony said. Reishus got a big win, coming from behind to beat Persever Bechtold of Choteau.

Max Hannum had one of the most exciting matches of the tournament in any bracket, meeting Canyon Sargent in the semifinals at 170 pounds. The match went down to the wire, with the men tied 2-2 after the third period, sending the duo into overtime. Hannum got the first takedown and won the match. In the championship match, Hannum met Brady Armstrong from Jefferson High School, who coach Thilmony said is a tough freshman. Hannum lost 5-1, but Thilmony said that is a match that Hannum can win should they meet again at state.

"Overall, all seven kids fought hard. I'm very pleased with everyone's performance and how close the team came to bringing home a trophy," Thilmony said, adding that his team will be ready to go for the state tournament. "We'll walk into this thing one match at a time. We'll be ready to go and we'll be focused."