Houle earns second at state

Columbia Falls junior Kelly Houle, sophomore Sal Baccaro and senior Kodie Kenfield concluded the 2008-09 season in style, bringing home Class A medals from the State Wrestling Championships in Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark in Billings last weekend.

Houle earned second place in the 215-pound weight class. Baccaro was third at 98, and Kenfield finished sixth at 285.

The Mat Cats were 14th as a team, scoring 70.5 points. Havre ran away with its third straight state title, totaling 294.5 points. Belgrade was second (179), Ronan third (134) and Corvallis fourth (132).

“There were a couple of kids who wrestled really well for us,” CFHS coach Jessie Schaeffer said of the state tourney. “We wanted everyone to go in and win a match.”

Nine of the 12 Mat Cats at state did just that.

Houle lost to nemesis Justin Graham of Libby by a 4-0 decision in his championship match.

“He went out a little flat. He wasn’t on his offense,” Schaeffer said of Houle.

Houle opened by pinning Michael Lingo of Belgrade in 3:28. In the quarterfinals, Houle won a 5-2 decision over Aleksi Grosulak of Billings Central. Houle earned a 7-2 decision over Brennan Fisher of Frenchtown in the semifinals. He finished the season with an impressive 36-4 record.

Baccaro avenged a 6-2 quarterfinal loss to Ethan Bristol of Belgrade, winning a 9-8 decision for third place.

Baccaro won a 9-4 decision over Michael Ledford of Hamilton in the first round, but was decisioned by Bristol. Baccaro pinned Riley Dennis of Ronan in 48 seconds and Leith Johnson of Sidney in 2:42. In the consolation semifinals, Baccaro earned a 4-3 decision over Dan McGrath of Dillon.

“He put together a great state tournament for himself,” Schaeffer said of Baccaro, who had a 28-win season.

Kenfield reached the championship semifinals with a pair of wins. The Mat Cat pinned Kyle Satre of Livingston in 29 seconds in his first state match, then stuck Chris Kurkowski of Miles City to the mat in 43 seconds in the quarterfinals.

In the semifinals, eventual state champion Mitchel Schnittgen of Havre won a 6-4 decision over Kenfield. In the consolation semifinals, Kenfield was pinned by Kaden Thomas of Polson in 4:24. Kenfield had beaten Thomas by decision for a divisional title. In the match for fifth and sixth, Mike Lucier of Anaconda pinned Kenfield in 2:43.

“He gave it everything he said,” Schaeffer said of Kenfield’s semifinal match. “He did everything we asked him to do this year. His goal was to get on the podium and he did that.”

Justin Whitman, at 105 pounds, came within one win of reaching the medal round.

After a first-round loss by a 12-2 major decision to Levi Gingerich of Corvallis, Whitman won by a 15-0 technical fall over Nick Beattie of Anaconda and pinned Tyler Debuse of Belgrade in 4:20.

Whitman was eliminated with a 16-6 major decision loss to Zach Westre of Frenchtown.

Junior Shawn Whitman, the 135-pound divisional champion, went 1-2 at state. He opened with a 14-3 major decision over Morgan Manolis of Hardin, but lost by fall in 28 seconds to Layne Waid of Havre in the quarterfinals. Whitman was eliminated by rival Cody Elliott of Libby in a 6-2 decision. In the divisional championship, Whitman had won a 13-4 major decision over Elliott.

Adam Richardson (119), Jarrett Smith (140), Joe Gross (160) and Doug Woodworth (189) each won one match at state. Wins were by: Richardson over Dalton Ueland, Anaconda, forfeit; Smith over David Busby, Livingston, fall in 4:40; Gross over Joe Warren, Billings Central, fall in 2:39; and Woodworth over Joshua Salapich of Havre by fall in 2:57. Woodworth lost to defending champion Beau Melby of Sidney in the quarterfinals.

Travis Province (98), Brendan Moseman (112) and Travis Pete (125) were out in two matches at state. Pete’s losses were both two-point decisions.

Schaeffer is losing only three seniors — Kenfield, Pete and Russell Plevel.

“We have some kids who are pretty excited about coming back into the (wrestling) room,” the coach said. “We have a young crew.”