P-HS first at Arlee invite

The Plains-Hot Springs team finished first at the Arlee Christmas Invite. The Savage Horsemen garnered 105 points to lead the six teams who wrestled on Saturday.

"Everyone on the team performed well, we took first place by a good margin. I'm pretty proud," said coach Jesse Jermyn.

Matthew Thurston took first at 118 pounds, pinning his first opponent in under 20 seconds and then winning by technical fall 20-4 in round two.

Owen Jermyn also was first, winning his first match against Dylon Arbogast of Superior 12-3 and then pinning Arbogast in round two in the third period.

At 132 pounds, Gavin Schrenk and Andrew Waterbury went 1 and 2 in the weight class. Shrenk won an impressive three matches by technical fall (17-1, 20-4, 17-1) and pinning Waterbury in round three of Saturday's action. Waterbury won three matches on Saturday, pinning two opponents and beating Arlee's Dominick Haynes 6-3.

Cody West went 3-0 at 138 pounds, taking first place with one pin and one win by technical fall 16-0 in the second period. Remington Ryan won two and lost two at 138 pounds, with his two wins coming by pin in less than a minute each.

Brock Ryan won one and lost one at 144 to finish second, with his win a 21-5 over teammate Billyray Hollata, who finished third in the bracket.

"Brock hasn't hit his peak yet, he is learning and improving every week," stated coach Jermyn.

Beau Crabb took first at 150 pounds with three wins. Crabb pinned all three of his opponents on Saturday. Johnny Felix went 1-2 for PHS at 157 pounds, getting a win by pin in the third round of Saturday's wrestling.

David Chapman continued his winning streak in Arlee, pinning his two opponents to finish first in the 190-pound weight class.

"We have two pretty big tournaments after the break, we are just going to work on conditioning, and working towards everyone's individual goals for the season," said Jermyn.

Thompson Falls wrestlers traveled to Great Falls for the CMR Classic last weekend for one of the biggest wrestling events of the season in the entire state.

Blue Hawk freshman Weston Block finished fifth at the CMR Classic at 110 pounds. Block, after a bye the first round, pinned Big Sky's Tyler Hovland in 1 minute, 4 seconds, then pinned Conrad's Riley McLeod in less than a minute to advance to the quarterfinals, where he pinned Helena Capital's Pate Engstrom in the second period. Block then lost a very competitive semifinal match to wrestle back to the podium.

"The second day was kind of a challenge for Weston, trying to stay positive fighting his way back to the podium, but I just told him, if you never lose you can't learn and get better from it," said coach Nate Block.

At 118 pounds, Luke Bonds got one win, a pin in 1:20 in the consolation bracket, before moving to the Walt and Trudy Currie JV tournament on Saturday. Veronica Vega got a pin in the consolation bracket at 105 pounds for the Hawk girls, seeing tough competition at the Classic.

"Veronica came really close to seeing the podium, and is the first girl from Thompson to get that close. As a freshman that's really great to see," said coach Block.

The Hawks put several wrestlers on the podium in the JV tournament, where they battled wrestlers from across the state. Bonds finished third, winning his final three matches at 118 pounds by pin. Bonds pinned all three opponents in under 2 minutes total. Liam Pallister finished fourth. After a loss in the first round, Pallister pinned his first consolation opponent at 165 pounds, won his next match by forfeit and lost a close 19-18 match in the consolation final. Alexandria Volk-Ocacio also finished fourth for the Hawks, pinning her first two opponents in the respective first periods, then losing her semifinal match. Volk-Ocacio finished with three pins for the day.

Eighth grader Ethan Traver got two wins by pin in the JV tournament, while Carson Kenney and Easton Helvey each got a pin and were one match away from making the podium. Zarek Pallister and Nikolai Platner also each got a win by pin, and Alayna Hockhalter won a 6-5 match in the consolation bracket at 165 pounds for the Hawk girls. At 130, Blue Hawk Kayla Fausett won her first match by pin, then won a 9-1 major decision before losing in the semifinals and consolation bracket.

"For the break we are just going to work on cardio, and of course the fundamentals. I'd like to see our energy up in the next meets," stated coach Block.