Middle weights power Dogs at Class A Duals

A strong performance from the middle weights was the difference for Whitefish at the Class A duals in Belgrade. The Dogs topped Hamilton, Lewistown, Anaconda and Belgrade to take four of its six duals on the weekend.

“The middle weights stepped up and were scoring a lot of points,” said Whitefish coach Ryan Boyle.

He pointed to 120-pounder James Buckley, 126-pounder Dillon Thorsienson, 132-pounder Garrett Rice and 138-pounder Brooks Krause.

“They were really consistent and that’s what got us through the duals,” Boyle said.

Whitefish started Friday with a crushing defeat to Havre and a close loss to Laurel before turning it on against Hamilton.

Buckley took a 12-4 decision over Steven Banks, Thorsteinson pinned James Buss in just 36 seconds, Rice pinned Kris Anderson in 54 seconds, and Krause dominated in a 16-3 decision over Dustin Copeland.

“They were all wrestling for each other,” Boyle said. “There was a lot of energy in the team.”

160-pounder Judah Prestegaard scored a pin on Kyle Anderson at 2:59, and 285-pounder Steven Quimby pinned Ryan Thomas in 59 seconds to round out the scoring against Hamilton.

Whitefish swept its duals on Saturday.

They’ll look to ride the momentum into the final week before the Northwest A divisional tournament.

The Dogs wrestle Libby on Thursday, host the Whitefish Duals on Friday, then travel to take on Polson and Ronan on Saturday.

“It’s our last push to see what we have before divisional,” Boyle said.

“We just want these guys to go out there and go for it. Just try something — it doesn’t matter if you win or lose.”

“They have a belief they can win duals now.”

Class A Duals results:

Whitefish 42, Belgrade 24

Whitefish 31, Anaconda 30

Whitefish 30, Lewistown 28

Whitefish 44, Hamilton 30

Laurel 48, Whitefish 21

Havre 72, Whitefish 0