Battling injuries, boys have a tough week on the mats

Hungry Horse News

Injuries led to a scarcity of victories for the Columbia Falls wrestling team last week.

With as many as five regulars out of the lineup, the Wildcats lost to Whitefish 45-27 Jan. 6 and then finished sixth in the Cut Bank Invitational on Jan. 7-8.

Cody Kolodejchuk, Michael Hader, Calvin Williams and Nik Caron were all out of action at Cut Bank. Bobby Opp wrestled two matches but was too sick to continue.

The injuries meant Columbia Falls, which was ranked No. 5 in Class A last week, had a bunch of underclassmen wrestling.

"All things considered, we wrestled pretty darn well," coach Wes Knutson said.

Sophomore Tyson Nelson did a fine job filling in at 112 pounds. He took fifth.

"We're pretty excited about his efforts," Knutson said.

Seniors Aric Tarr and Tommy Church finished second in the tournament.

Tarr, who didn't lose a match the last two seasons, lost for the second time this year to Frenchtown's Brandon Stedman. The score was the same as their first match, 3-2. Tarr's record is 16-2.

Knutson said Tarr (119 pounds) worked aggressively for the winning takedown after falling behind 3-2. He said Stedman kept backing away, which made it difficult for Tarr to score.

"Aric chased the kid around for six minutes," Knutson said. "It was kind of unfortunate that he didn't get any more stall calls. The tempo of the match was definitely set by Aric, and it will pay off for him down the road."

Church (275) had three pins on his way to the finals. He lost by pin in the championship to Havre's Matt Schnittgen.

"He stood up and turned wrong into his opponent and he caught him," Knutson said. "One mistake. You've got to end those mistakes at that level."

Ryan Buck, who is 13-4 and ranked No. 1 at 145 in Class A, finished fourth. He lost to Dustin Scotten of Lewistown 7-4 in the third place match.

The Wildcats had four varsity wrestlers out as they struggled against Whitefish.

Freshman Clayton Patterson (98 pounds) had the only pin in that dual for the Wildcats.

Cory Pete, Keyvin Walter and Buck all won by decision. Tarr and Nelson got forfeits.

Columbia Falls may see better results soon.

Knutson said Opp, Kolodejchuk and possibly Williams should be wrestling again against Hamilton and Corvallis tonight (Jan. 13). The Wildcats wrestle Hamilton at 5 p.m. and Corvallis at 7 p.m. Both duals are away

On Friday and Saturday Columbia Falls travels to Missoula for the Rocky Mountain Classic. The classic is a premier tournament featuring teams from out of state.

Columbia Falls will have some challenging matches, including a likely rematch between Tarr and Stedman.

"Aric is looking forward to that," Knutson said.