Waterbury wins another one for P-HS

Once John Waterbury of Hot Springs took the mat for the Savage Horsemen this year, he just kept winning. Waterbury won his second straight tournament last week, finishing first at 157 pounds in the Choteau Classic.

The Savage Horsemen placed fourth as a team, collecting 139 points at the Classic.

After a bye in the first round, Waterbury, a senior, pinned his first opponent in 1 minute, 13 seconds, before winning by technical fall 17-1. Waterbury pinned his semifinal opponent before taking the championship with a 12-1 major decision over Brett Riley of Florence.

"John is all round a great athlete so it's no surprise that he continues to win like he has. Our goal and his goal is to get him on the podium for state this year," said head coach Jesse Jermyn.

Eighth grader Ethan Traver took second for Thompson Falls at Choteau. Traver pinned two opponents in a row to reach the championship match, where he lost to Tate Crabb of Choteau in the first period.

At 118 pounds, Matthew Thurston of Plains finished in third place, winning the final match with a pin in 55 seconds. Thurston pinned his first opponent before losing the semifinal match. In the consolation bracket, he pinned his opponent to make it to the finals. Luke Bonds of Thompson Falls pinned his first opponent but lost in the consolation rounds.

In the 126-pound bracket, Blue Hawk freshman Carson Kenney and John Owen Jermyn of Plains lost their first matches of the day. In the consolation bracket, Jermyn got two straight wins and just missed the podium, while Kenney was able to get a 13-7 win. Darrius Hockhalter of Thompson Falls went 0-2 for the day.

Gavin Schrenk finished in third place for the Savage Horsemen at 132 pounds. Schrenk won his first match of the day by technical fall in the second period, then won by pin in the quarterfinals before losing his semifinal match. Schrenk then won a 12-4 major decision before his final match of the day against Cooper Smith of Manhattan. Smith was leading 6-4 as the third period started, but Schrenk got a takedown and took Smith to his back for the win. Remington Ryan also competed for P-HS in the bracket.

Cody West of Plains earned fourth place for the team at Choteau, winning his way into the semifinal round before losing to the eventual champion. In the wrestlebacks, West won a 9-6 decision before losing a close consolation final 9-7.

"Cody did a great job, and his goal is state and we think he's on the right track," stated Jermyn.

At 144, BillyRay Holotta easily won his first match before going to the consolation rounds, where he won three in a row. He missed the podium by one match. Scott Ryder of Thompson Falls got one win in the bracket, a pin in 3:40.

Savage Horsemen Brock Ryan and Beau Crabb racked up points at 150 pounds, with Crabb pinning his first two opponents before finishing fourth. Ryan won two matches in the consolations. Nickolai Platner of Thompson Falls was unable to get a win in the bracket.

Hawk Noa Stevens finished in third place at Choteau. Stevens lost his first match of the day but then kept winning as he won two in a row by technical fall, then pinned two opponents to reach the consolation final, where he won an 11-3 major decision. Senior Jakob Molina also wrestled hard for Thompson Falls at 165 pounds, but was unable to get a win.

Senior David Chapman of Hot Springs won fourth place for the at 190 pounds. Chapman pinned two wrestlers in a row before losing his semifinal match. Chapman added a pin to his record in the consolation rounds before losing the final match. Hawk Gabriel Hutton was unable to get a win in the competitive bracket, while Jacobe Wood won one match at 285 by forfeit for the Hawks.

Lexi Volk-Ocaci and Veronica Vega finished third for the Hawk girls. After each winning their first matches of the day, they wrestled back to the podium, with Vega came back to pin Anaconda's Grace Richter in 4:22 and Volk-Ocaci winning a 12-2 major decision before winning by technical fall 18-0 in the consolation final. Hawk Alayna Hockhalter lost her first match, but showed determination in the wrestlebacks, pinning three opponents in a row to reach the finals, where she fell by pin and took fourth place.

Jaden Bewick wrestled tough but was unable to get a win at Choteau.

For Plains-Hot Springs, Ireland Corbin walked away with a close 8-7 win, while Tania Veremchuck pinned her first opponent of the day before losing out in Choteau.

"Ireland had a real tough match. All eyes were on her as they went into triple overtime. I'm super proud of her efforts to get that win," said Jermyn. "I'm really proud of the team. We had a tough first morning of the tournament but they were able to really rally together to get their energy up, to put the past behind them and continue strong. We are excited to see what our home meet looks like, having everyone there to hype the kids up will be nice."

Jermyn said the team was thinking about Brynn Courville, who passed away in an auto accident earlier this month. Courville wrestled for P-HS as a freshman and her father was an assistant coach. "Brynn is in our hearts and our minds as we wrestle," Coach Jermyn said.