Wrestlers take third at Hamilton

Senior heavyweight Wolf Zinke and 98-pounder James Buckley scored individual championships at the Hamilton Invitation on Saturday to lead Whitefish to a third place finish.

The Bulldogs scored 141 points to finish behind Missoula Hellgate and Hamilton. It was the first time Whitefish has placed in a tournament since about 2005, coach Ryan Boyle said.

“It’s been a long time,” he said. “It was a great tournament for us. Everyone wrestled to their ability and didn’t give up any easy stuff.”

Zinke pinned Missoula Big Sky JV heavyweight Cameron Howard at 1:19 in the championship match.

Buckley pinned Whitefish teammate Colter Krass in 36 seconds in the championship match. Boyle was excited to see the two Whitefish wrestlers in that championship round.

140-pounder Matt Sampson and 171-pounder Kyle Bowerman each took second place.

“Sampson stepped up in this tournament,” Boyle said, noting that if it weren’t for an injury he could have won.

In the consolation matches, Matt Barton won at 130-pounds with a 6-1 decision over Sentinel JV wrestler Matt Robinson. 145-pounder Judah Prestegaard scored a 10-0 decision over Keith Clark of Frenchtown, and freshman 160-pounder Konrad Zinke pinned Hellgate’s Drake Pruitt in 2:59.

Boyle has seen significant improvement since their season-opening dual with Columbia Falls.

“Our conditioning is getting better and their confidence is getting up there,” he said. “We have competition in the room for varsity positions. It’s starting to come around to where there is pride on this team.”

Whitefish is at the Buzz Lucy Tournament in Eureka this weekend. Teams invited include Columbia Falls, Libby, Eureka, Arlee and Plains.