Wrestlers fare well in Eureka

The Bigfork Little Guy Wrestling team took 25 boys to Eureka last weekend and had 16 place high enough to qualify to move on to the Inter-Valley Tournament in Thompson Falls this Saturday.

"This year all the kids seemed more focused on learning their moves in practice and it seemed to pay off at the tournament," said Team Manager Kelly Rieke.

Beginner 'seven and eight year olds' and novice wrestlers (nine and 10 year olds' had to place in the top four at the tournament to move on and middle division wrestlers (11 and 12 year olds' had to place in the top eight to advance to the next tournament. Those that did not place high enough are not eligible to compete in the remaining tournaments this year.

Bigfork's Bo Meyer, who wrestled in the 55-pound weight class for beginners, and Boyd Rieke, who wrestled in the 110-class for the middle division, both took first place.

Second place winners from Bigfork were Garett Rieke (Beg. 65), Wyatt Mischke (Beg. 70), Damian Weilacher (Beg. 95), Hunter Gomel (Jr. 100), Vinny Quirk (Mid. 110), Connor Meyer (Mid. 70) and Colton Oster (Mid. 130).

Andy Russell (Mid. 95) and Jayden Dillon (Beg. 85) both had third place finishes. Fourth place finishers were Colton Woll (Mid. 65), Christian Ingrahm (Nov. 80) and Justice Ingrahm (Mid. 110). Gus Dipaulo and Tyler Iverson also qualified to advance to the next tournament by placing in the top eight in the middle division.

"All the wrestlers worked really hard and have come a long way this season," Rieke said. "We have a great group of coaches that are good at explaining things to the kids and the kids really want to learn."