Ratliff, Waterbury win in Superior

Thompson Falls and Plains/Hot Springs wrestlers traveled to Superior last weekend for the Bob Kinney Classic to show off their skills. The Blue Hawks earned excellent wins against tough opponents to place 7th out of 14 teams.

Eli Ratliff pinned his first two opponents, won the third match by a technical and then pinned opponent Jonny Williams of Corvallis in three minutes, 44 seconds for the championship. In the 152-pound weight class, Noa Stevens placed third. This was the first tournament for Stevens and coach Mike Thilmony said he was proud of his effort. Wrestler Brock Ryan pinned his opponent in the first two matches to place fourth in the 138-pound class. Westin Brown, weighing in at 132, lost in the first round then came back tough to win two matches but fell short of placing in the top four, said Thilmony.

Blue Hawk girls Desani and Jade Bewick wrestled in the boys brackets to continue to gain experience.

“Overall our team competed well; we had young wrestlers winning matches and we’ll continue to work hard,” said Thilmony.

The Plains/Hot Springs team showed what they were made of, placing fourth overall. Sophomore John Waterbury won the title in the 138-pound weight class, beating out opponent Zekiah Meyers of Libby. Gavin Schrenk placed second in the 113-pound bracket. He won the semifinal 2-1 by fall over Diego Rodriguez of Bigfork in three minutes, 22 seconds.

Weighing in at 113, John Thurston placed third. Coach Jesse Jermyn said that it was a great comeback for him, given that he hasn’t wrestled for a couple of years. In the 132-pound weight class, Drew Carey got a third place win and weighing in at 126 pounds, Jacob Schulze earned fourth place. He also highlighted that Lily McDonald, an accomplished wrestler, traveled to Kalispell to compete with other females for a fourth place triumph.

“Everyone wrestled phenomenal,” said Jermyn.