Mat Cats rally for 39-37 win over Libby

Fate was in the capable hands of Shawn Whitman and Jarrett Smith to wrap up Columbia Falls’ conference wrestling dual against Libby on the Mat Cats’ home mat Tuesday night.

With the Mat Cats trailing 37-33, they needed wins in both of the last two matches of the evening to earn the victory. Whitman and Smith delivered, posting wins by decision to give CFHS a thrilling 39-37 victory.

The Mat Cats opened the season with a solid showing against one of the conference favorites, Ronan, last Thursday. The Chiefs squeaked out a 39-36 win.

Kelly Houle and Justin Whitman both won all five of their matches at the Mining City Duals on Friday and Saturday in Butte. Teamwise, the Mat Cats opened the tourney with a 46-39 win over Billings Senior, then they were outscored by Butte 42-28, Colstrip 51-33, Polson 42-35 and Helena Capital 51-33.

The Mat Cats held a 33-22 lead with five matches to go against Libby, but the Loggers won three straight — two of them by fall — for a four-point lead.

Shawn Whitman took care of business, taking an early lead over Dylan Berget in the 140-pound match and going on to an 11-4 win.

With the dual on the line, Smith jumped to an early advantage over Charlie Berget at 145 pounds, leading 6-2 after one period. Starting the second period in the down position, Smith was turned on his back and nearly pinned by Berget. But Berget had an illegal choke hold on Smith after a 3-point near fall, and Smith got out of trouble — still leading 7-5. An escape gave him a three-point advantage.

Smith scored on a takedown to start the final period, and he was on his way to a 10-5 win — giving the Mat Cats the victory.

“You never give up,” an exhausted Smith said after the dual. “You never show a weakness out there. You don’t do it (win) for yourself, you do it for your team.”

Smith said he felt good with the lead going into the third period.

“I wanted to wrestle solid and not get caught,” he said.

CFHS head coach Jessie Schaeffer said he wasn’t concerned going into the last two matches trailing Libby.

“I felt confident. Both those kids have had a good showing,” he said, and commented on Smith’s effort. “He felt very confident on his feet. He got the job done.”

Schaeffer said it was a good showing by Shawn Whitman, who has excellent stamina.

“He’s a goer, he goes 100 percent,” Schaeffer said. “Going into the third period he’s ready to wrestle.”

Other Mat Cats picked up wins against Libby opponents were Joe Gross (160 pounds), Houle (189) and Sal Baccaro (98). CFHS counted 18 points with forfeit wins by Travis Province (105), Justin Whitman (112) and Adam Richardson (119).

Gross shut out Josiah Coker 6-0. Baccaro pinned Casey Graff in 1:40. Houle won by injury default when he had Lucas Puckett in an illegal hold and Puckett was unable to continue due to a shoulder injury.

Travis Pete (135), in many close decisions in the early season, lost to Cody Elliott 7-6 in triple overtime. Elliott scored on an escape early in the third extra period.

RONAN USED A string of four wins from 112 to 135 pounds to post the win over the Mat Cats.

Earning wins by fall for CFHS were Baccaro, Shawn Whitman and Kodie Kenfield (215). Smith and Houle got wins by decision. The Mat Cats received forfeit wins at 119 and 285.

Trailing 36-33 with one match to go, Zach Robinson pinned Justin Whitman with one second left in the first period.

“He was outwrestled,” Schaeffer said of Whitman. “He got over aggressive. He wanted to seal the dual for us.”

Schaeffer was pleased with the overall effort by the Mat Cats at the Mining City Duals.

“As a whole group we wrestled well,” he said. “We worked hard on things we worked on during the week. It turned out to be a great weekend. It was exciting, it was fun.”

THE MAT CATS went out strong against Billings Senior in their first dual at Butte as Justin Whitman, Virgil Matt, Smith, Houle and Kenfield earned wins by fall. Gross picked up a win by decision, and Pete and Aaron Howland got forfeit wins.

“They came out aggressive and wrestling solid,” Schaefer said.

Smith, Russell Plevel (152), Houle and Kenfield won by pin in the dual against Butte. Justin Whitman earned a 10-1 major decision.

“We started off very flat,” Schaeffer said. “I thought they were overconfident from the dual before. We didn’t wrestle to near our capabilities.”

Houle won by fall and Doug Woodworth took a 9-3 decision in the Colstrip dual. Justin Whitman, Adam Richardson, Brady Richardson (125) and Matt picked up forfeit wins.

The highlight of the dual was provided by Houle, who pinned Taylor Charette, a returning state champion, midway through the third period.

“The nine they have in their lineup are solid individuals,” Schaeffer said of Colstrip. “They were aggressive and they capitalized on our mistakes.”

CFHS gave Polson all the Pirates could handle on Saturday in Butte.

“We were in it with them all the way through,” Schaeffer said.

Getting wins for the Mat Cats were Baccaro, Justin Whitman, Gross and Houle by fall, and Pete and Plevel by decision. Shawn Whitman got a forfeit win.

CFHS wrestled without Kenfield, who missed the dual due to school testing.

“We would have won with Kodie in the lineup,” Schaeffer said.

Moving up from 145 pounds to 152, Plevel wrestled very well, according to the coach.

Smith, Howland, Houle and Kenfield won by fall against Helena Capital foes. Justin Whitman got a 4-0 decision, and Gross won by forfeit.

Houle won all five of his matches in the dual tourney by fall. Justin Whitman also went 5-0. Smith and Kenfield each had three wins, all of Kenfield’s by pin.

CFHS hosts the Flathead junior varsity today (Thursday), then the Mat Cats compete in the Buzz Lucey Tournament on Saturday in Eureka.