MatCats bury Bulldogs

The Columbia Falls wrestling team opened up its season by walloping the Whitefish Bulldogs 51-15. Wildcat wrestlers Shonn Roberts, Seth McCall, Cameron Linstead, Dalton Nelson, Josiah Osborne, Cameron Peterson and Aaron Vick all won by pins at the Nov. 30 match in Whitefish.

Peterson had a particularly impressive pin, flipping Whitefish’s Kyle Bowerman from a standing position onto his back in one fell swoop. Bowerman left the map a bit dazed, with his nose bloodied.

The match of the night came in the heavyweight bout between Bulldog senior Wolf Zinke and Wildcat sophomore Spencer Ross. The two battled back and forth, with Zinke taking a one-point lead with seconds left.

Zinke won the match but not without some controversy, as Columbia Falls assistant coach Ben Schaeffer argued that Zinke had taken two timeouts (Zinke threw up in the middle of the match).

A wrestler is allowed just one timeout, and Schaeffer argued that Ross should be allowed one point which would have pushed the match into overtime. But the score stood, the referee ruled.

“You’ve got to get it done on the mat,” coach Jessie Schaeffer said Monday in retrospect. “We’ll get our chance again.”

Barring injury, Ross and Zinke are bound to meet again in future tournaments this season and at the divisional tournament at the end of the year.

The MatCats also had a good showing at the Polson Invitational, taking seventh in the tourney that included several Class AA schools.

Roberts was a champion in the 112-pound weight class, Osborne took third at 135, and Colton Gove was second at 145.

“We had eight wrestlers in the semis, which is good for us,” Schaeffer said. “It’s tough to make the top four.”

The MatCats travel to Dillon this week where they face Dillon and Sydney in a dual on Thursday. They then travel to Butte for the Mining City Duals on Friday and Saturday.

Columbia Falls 61 Whitefish 15

Columbia Falls 61, Whitefish 15

98 - James Buckley (WF) win by forfeit. 105 - Dillon Thornsteinson (WF) def Cameron Goodwin (CF), Fall 1:38. 112 - Shonn Roberts (CF) def Garrett Rice (WF), Fall 0:48. 119 - Cameron Linstead (CF) def Skyler Bowerman (WF), Fall 3:01. 125 - Seth McCall (CF) def Matt Barton (WF), Fall 3:12. 130 - Dalton Nelson (CF) def Trysten Armstrong (WF), Fall 1:55. 135 - Josiah Osborne (CF) def Emmitt Schmidt (WF), Fall 0:59. 140 - Zayne Brunz def Wyatt Price, Dec 7-1. 145 - Colton Gove (CF) def Judah Prestegaard (WF), Dec 9-5. 152 - Bryan Shaffer (CF) def Madison McWhirter (WF), Dec 8-4. 160 - Cody Walters (CF) def Konrad Zinke (WF) M-Dec 12-4. 171 - Cameron Peterson (CF) def Kyle Bowerman (WF), Fall 2:23. 189 - Jacob Burgess (CF) win by forfeit. 215 - Aaron Vick (CF) def Matt Gulbrandson (WF), Fall 3:10. Hwt - Wolf Zinke (WF) def Spencer Ross (CF), Dec 6-5.

Polson Invite

Team results: 1, Sentinel 214; 2, Corvallis 159; 3, Glacier 143.5; 4, Frenchtown 139.5; 5, Polson 113; 6, Ronan 108; 7, Columbia Falls 107; 8, Eureka 74; 9, St. Ignatius 69.5; 10, Whitefish 46; 11, Thompson Falls 30.5; 12, Superior 25.5; 13, Hamilton 22.

98 - 1, Cody Warner, Frenchtown; 2, Jake Hagel, Sentinel; 3, Caleb Bagnell, Frenchtown; 4, Thunder Morales, Polson.

105 - 1, Anthony Parkin, Superior; 2, Jace Koyalicky, Sentinel; 3, Paul Allsop, Corvallis; 4, Dillon Thornsteinson, WF.

112 - 1, Shonn Roberts, CF; 2, Garrett White, Eureka; 3, Dylan Duffalo, Sentinel; 4, Chase Connor, Corvallis.

119 - 1, Zach Durden, Eureka; 2, Cody Decker, Glacier; 3, Carlos Quinones, Polson; 4, Josh Venema, Corvallis.

125 - 1, Tyler Olsen, Corvallis; 2, Gunnar Fairbrother, Corvallis; 3, Dylan Moll, Polson; 4, Jake Marr, Sentinel.

130 - 1, Dylan Schulte, Sentinel; 2, Quinn Barber, Glacier; 3, Chase Rhine, Ronan; 4, Jarrett Krause, Eureka.

135 - 1, Jordan Hegel, Sentinel; 2, Brandon Dumont, Ronan; 3, Josiah Osborne, CF; 4, Nikko Bakkila, Eureka.

140 - 1, Craig Feistner, Polson; 2, Kaleb Mitchell, Glacier; 3, Cody Lemon, Frenchtown; 4, Arik Lybeck, Glacier.

145 - 1, Alek Mitchell, Glacier; 2, Colton Gove, CF; 3, Morley Jessop, Corvallis; 4, Jack Nerison, Frenchtown.

152 - 1, Mike Devlin, Polson; 2, Logan Fisher, Frenchtown; 3, Tanner Stupak, Glacier; 4, Steven Bravo, St. Ignatius.

160 - 1, Michael Cloud, Sentinel; 2, Jackson Barber, Glacier; 3, Wyatt Jessop, Corvallis; 4, Konrad Zinke, WF.

171 - 1, Jacen Petersen, St. Ignatius; 2, Quentin Denton, Ronan; 3, David Anderson, Frenchtown; 4, Tyler Scheffer, Hamilton.

189 - 1, Colby Roberts, Ronan; 2, Monty Jessop, Corvallis; 3, Colin Hammock, Sentinel; 4, Sam Gordon, Frenchtown.

215 - 1, James Weidow, Corvallis; 2, Emillo Bravo, St. Ignatius; 3, Jake Rebish, Sentinel; 4, Isaiah Willims, Polson.

Hwt - 1, Jaydn Wilson, Sentinel; 2, Jordan Zuraff, Frenchtown; 3, Wolf Zinke, WF; 4, Zach Dennehy, Glacier.