Regular season wrapping up for Bulldog wrestlers
Whitefish’s Brian Sweeney fights off Glacier’s Camryn Vergeront during a dual at Whitefish High School last Tuesday. (Daniel McKay/Whitefish Pilot)
Whitefish’s Casey Conkle grapples Glacier’s Thomas Putnam during a dual last Tuesday. (Daniel McKay/Whitefish Pilot)
Whitefish’s Casey Conkle grapples Glacier’s Thomas Putnam during a dual last Tuesday. (Daniel McKay/Whitefish Pilot)
The Bulldogs got plenty of wrestling in last week, finishing with seven total duals.
The Dogs started the week with a tough go against Glacier on Tuesday.
The Wolfpack took down the Dogs 61-12 in a Class AA versus Class A dual at Whitefish.
Glacier had four pins and gained 30 points from forfeits at 138, 152, 160, 170 and 182.
Dean Kellogg (120) and Dakota Flannery (145) had the Dogs’ sole pins.
On Thursday Whitefish got a win over Belgrade in a small meet in Frenchtown.
Then over the weekend the team traveled to Post Falls, Idaho, for the River City Duals.
Whitefish finished seventh in the bronze division, going 1-4 in duals in the tournament.
Despite the record, head coach Ryan Boyle said his wrestlers were at their best in the meet.
“We wrestled really well. We started with Post Falls, they were actually in the championship of that tournament. We competed in every one of those matches and we were with those guys. They’re just a better team with a deeper roster,” he said. “The next three duals we lost by a match. We were really close, we just couldn’t quite put it all together.”
This week Whitefish finishes up the regular season before starting divisionals the following week.
On Tuesday after presstime the team traveled to Libby, and this weekend they travel to Belgrade for the Class A Duals.
“This is like the last big week” Boyle said. “We’re going to try to win every dual we can this week. We’re excited about it, we’re excited to have a full team against Libby, then we’re really excited to go down to the Class A duals and wrestle that competition.”
Boyle said the following week will be good for resting some of his wrestlers ahead of the postseason.
With healthy wrestlers and the progress they’ve made this season, he says he’s optimistic about what his team can do moving forward.
“We still have some guys that are not 100 percent yet. We’re looking forward to giving them those four days without competition next week just so they can ice and rest and get healthy,” he said. “This last week was the best wrestling we’ve had, we were 2-5 in duals but we’ve wrestled better than we have all year. We were aggressive, we were going after guys. Record-wise, it doesn’t show, but we’re getting to the place we need to be.”
Glacier def. Whitefish, 61-12
182: Skiler Hitt, G, won by forfeit; 205: Colby Martin, G, pinned Ashton Akey, 2:11; 285: Camryn Vergeront, G, pinned Brian Sweeney, 1:13; 103: Thomas Putnam, G, dec. Casey Conkle, 11-4; 113: Dylan Miller, G, pinned Jackson Carson, 1:17; 120: Dean Kellogg, W, pinned Tristan Little, 4:00; 126: Lance Fretwell, G, pinned Jack Akey, 1:34; 132: Ricardo Hewitt, G, maj. dec. Sidney Cooke, 11-3; 138: Kael Willis, G, won by forfeit; 145: Dakota Flannery, W, pinned Royce Conklin, 2:25; 152: Caden Willis, G, won by forfeit; 160: Caden Gilmond, G, won by forfeit; 170: Thomas Crofts, G, won by forfeit.