Whitefish hosts Western A wrestling tourney

Whitefish will be a hub of wrestling action this weekend when it plays host to the Western A divisional tournament.

Nine teams from the Southwest A and Northwest A will converge at the Whitefish High School gym where some of the top talent in the region will go head to head.

The top eight wrestlers from each weight class will go to the All-Class tournament Feb. 12-13 at MetraPark in Billings.

“We’ll have three mats going at the same time,” said Whitefish coach Ryan Boyle. “We don’t want any lulls in the action.”

Boyle says a handful of Bulldog wrestlers have a chance to earn that trip to state.

“We’ve got a good group of seniors — five of them started as freshman — and all are looking to place well at divisional,” Boyle said.

“There are some underclassmen, that if they step up, we can take a good group to state.”

The team was tested last week against Polson on Thursday followed by four more rounds at the Whitefish Duals.

The Pirates came away with a 62-12 win on Thursday, but Boyle was pleased with his team’s effort.

“Against Polson, we wrestled a lot better than we did the last time we saw them,” Boyle said. “We competed and a lot of guys went three rounds.”

Whitefish earned two pins in the contest. Steven Quimby, ranked fourth at heavyweight, scored a pin in 1:31 and Konrad Zinke earned his in 2:00 to put 12 points up for the Bulldogs.

“Konrad is wrestling about as well as anyone in the state at 170 pounds,” Boyle said. “It feels like he is zoning in on what he does well. It’s exciting to see.”

“If Steven stays focused, he’ll do really well,” Boyle added.

The Dogs went 2-2 at their own Whitefish Duals on Friday with a 36-31 win over Browning and a 54-12 defeat of Bigfork. The losses came to tournament winner Eureka and Columbia Falls.

“On Friday, I told them let’s compete as much as you can and let’s be tired this weekend,” Boyle said.

Travis Catina was back in action after missing much of the season with an injury. He went 2-2 and showed he’ll be ready to fight for a trip to state.

“If he can get his conditioning back, he’ll be right there,” Boyle said.

Boyle liked having the busy week leading up to the divisional tourney.

“Sometimes it’s a lull before divisional and we’re trying to get them to peak,” he said. “If you let off the gas pedal, they can coast and back off too much.”

The Western A action starts on Friday at 4 p.m. and continues on Saturday.

Columbia Falls and Polson will be tough in the Northwest. In the Southwest, Boyle says to keep an eye on Hamilton as the best all-around team, while Dillon is tough in the middle weights.

Whitefish Duals

Friday, Jan. 29

Whitefish High School

Eureka 62, Whitefish 6

103 — Double forfeit. 113 — Josh Goff, EUR, dec. Taisuke Matsuo, 7-4. 120 — Kahden Bakkila, EUR, pin Eli Taylor, 0:34. 126 — John Schmidt, EUR, pin Dillon Thorsteinson, 3:25. 132 — Robert Bertelsen, WF, pin James Fehr, 0:49. 138 — Josh Schmidt, EUR, pin James Buckley, 4:43. 145 — Cannan Smith, EUR, pin Brooks Krause, 1:42. 152 — Jarrett Pecora, EUR, pin Alex Mazzonetto, 1:56. 160 — Colby Hammack, EUR, win by forfeit. 170 — Garrett Graves, EUR, pin Konrad Zinke, 3:20. 182 — Austin Sherwood, EUR, pin Aiden Eisenbarth, 1:23. 205 — Joe Fehr, EUR, pin Travis Catina, 1:58. 285 — Kaelan Yanak, EUR, pin Steven Quimby, 3:57.

Columbia Falls 47, Whitefish 18

103 — Double forfeit. 113 — Taisuke Matsuo, WF, win by forfeit. 120 — Winfield West, CF, pin Eli Taylor, 3:01. 126 — Ben Windauer, CF, pin Dillon Thorsteinson, 2:38. 132 — Hunter Peterson, CF, tech. fall Robert Bertelsen, 15-0 (no time reported). 138 — Kaleb Gravelin, CF, pin James Buckley, 0:54. 145 — Mason Fetters, CF, pin Brooks Krause, 1:40. 152 — Colton Sweeney, CF, pin Alex Mazzonetto, 2:30. 160 — Troy Meyer, CF, win by forfeit. 170 — Konrad Zinke, WF, dec. Colton McPhee, 11-4. 182 — Aiden Eisenbarth, WF, pin Dale Meyer, 2:31. 205 — Travis Catina, WF, dec. Jakob Freeman, 6-3. 285 — Steven Quimby, WF, pin Kyler Koski, 1:41.

Whitefish 54, Bigfork 12

103 — Double forfeit. 113 — Taisuke Matuso, WF, win by forfeit. 120 — Eli Taylor, WF, win by forfeit. 126 — Castor Conley, BIG, pin Dillon Thorsteinson, 1:57. 132 — Robert Bertelsen, WF, win by forfeit. 138 — James Buckley, WF, win by forfeit. 145 — Brooks Krause, WF, win by forfeit. 152 — Clint Williams Kehoe, BIG, pin Alex Mazzonetto, 0:19. 160 — Double forfeit. 170 — Konrad Zinke, WF, major dec. Jayden Dillon, 12-2. 182 — Aiden Eisenbarth, WF, win by forfeit. 205 — Travis Catina, WF, pin Drayson Heingarter, 0:55. 285 — Steven Quimby, WF, win by forfeit.

Whitefish 36, Browning 31

103 — Double forfeit. 113 — Taisuke Matsuo, WF, pin Tyler Brown, 1:40. 120 — Trevor James, BRO, dec. Eli Taylor, 11-4. 126 — Dillon Thorsteinson, WF, win by forfeit. 132 — Issac Wippert, BRO, pin Robert Bertelson, 1:18. 138 — James Buckley, WF, pin Emmit Augare, 1:53. 145 — Brooks Krause, WF, pin Ryan Kipp, 3:35. 152 — Calvin Racine, BRO, pin Alex Mazzonetto, 2:30. 160 — Dylan Luring, BRO, win by forfeit. 170 — Cody Lucke, BRO, major dec. Konrad Zinke, 10-0. 182 — Jacob Boggs, BRO, pin Aiden Eisenbarth, 1:59. 205 — Travis Catina, WF, pin Joe Monroe, 0:38. 285 — Steven Quimby, WF, pin Kolton Wippert, 1:30.

Thursday, Jan. 28

Polson 62, Whitefish 12

103—Rene Pierre, P, won by forfeit. 113—Mateo Quinones, P, tech fall Taisuke Matsuo, 20-5, 4:55. 120—Bridger Wenzel, P, p. Eli Taylor, 0:43. 126—Thunder Morales, P, won by forfeit. 132—Cameron Brown, P, p. Robert Bertelsen, 3:11. 138—Jaben Wenzel, P, dec. James Buckley, 6-3. 145—Parker Adler, P, p. Brooks Krause, 0:39. 152—Colton Cote, P, won by forfeit. 160—Koby Garcia, P, won by forfeit. 170—Jasper Drake, P, won by forfeit. 182—Konrad Zinke, W, p. Noah Humphrey, 2:00. 205—Ryan Burland, P, won by forfeit. 285—Steven Quimby, W, p. Nick Marquart, 1:31.