Quimby and Zinke make podium at state wrestling
A pair of Whitefish wrestlers finished on the podium at the State A tournament Saturday at Billings.
Heavyweight senior Steven Quimby finished in fifth place, and senior Konrad Zinke took sixth at 170 pounds. It’s the first time since 2009 that Whitefish has put two wrestlers on the podium at state.
As a team, the Bulldogs tallied 34 points to place 16th overall. Whitefish sent 10 wrestlers to the tournament. Havre won the State A championship with 213 points.
Quimby entered the tourney as the No. 1 seed from the Northwest. He was upset in the quarterfinals but managed to advance through the consolation bracket. Quimby won the fifth-place match by injury over Corvallis’ Garret Hunt. In the consolation quarterfinals, Quimby pinned Brownings’ Kolton Wippert in 3:15.
“Quimby started off really well before losing in a tough quarterfinals match,” Whitefish coach Ryan Boyle said. “But he came back the next two matches and that put him in the placing.”
“He’s been real close to placing the last three years at state, and now he’s done it. To finish with All-State in football and wrestling is an accomplishment.”
Zinke entered as a No. 3 seed from the Northwest and was the only semifinalist for the Bulldogs. He beat Columbia Falls junior Storm Kemppainen by decision, 4-2, in the second round.
“Konrad finally got Storm,” Boyle said, noting that the two had faced off many times this season. “We knew he could wrestle with him, and he finally came out on top.”
Zinke lost a tight match 6-7 in the semis to Fergus’ Wyatt Blythe, a defeat that seemed to take the air out of Zinke.
“It was tough for Konrad to get focused again after that,” Boyle said.
Kemppainen and Zinke met again in the fifth-place match, this time with Kemppainen coming out on top.
Boyle commended all five seniors who competed at state for bringing leadership to the program.
“Four of them have been wresting all four years — that’s tough for kids to do,” Boyle said. “They stuck with it and it shows in how the team is progressing.”
Boyle remains optimistic about the future of Bulldog wrestling with a handful of juniors and underclassmen picking up valuable experience at state.
“Getting that experience and seeing the caliber of wrestlers — they now know what they have to do to place at state,” Boyle said. “They see how much time they have to put in to get to that level.”
“We’re getting better, it’s a process.”
State A team scores: Havre 213, Polson 147.5, Hardin 114.5, Columbia Falls 113, Laurel 113, Sidney 109.5, Lewistown 106.5, Belgrade 101, Hamilton 99, Dillon 97, Glendive 90.5, Stevensville 71, Corvallis 57, Frenchtown-Alberton 53, Billings Central 40.5, Whitefish 34, Browning 31.5, Livingston 27, Miles City 21, Butte Central 5.