Wrestlers pick up first win over Polson in 15 years
Last week Bulldog Wrestling went 3-1 through their duals, but the most significant moment of the week was defeating the Polson squad.
According to Whitefish head coach Danny Neff, it had been 15 years since the Whitefish team won over the Lake County foe. Although Whitefish continues to battle with giving up too many forfeits in certain weight classes due to a lower number of wrestlers this year, the Bulldogs left no doubt on the mat Tuesday evening, Feb. 2.
Whitefish started out the dual by giving up four forfeits, and the coaching staff was buckling down for another tight matchup between the teams. But as it turned out, Whitefish wrestlers were aggressive and the better team that day.
“We won 60-18 with getting pins from all of our wrestlers which is unbelievable,” Neff said. “In all the years that I’ve been around the sport, being a wrestler and coaching, I’d never seen anything like that for Whitefish wrestling.”
“The kids really got amped for that, we checked off one of our goals for the year. It was really fun to see the camaraderie and the excitement on the bench,” he added.
Whitefish also defeated East Helena, which Neff said is a new school and program only two years old. Whitefish won all of their matches against the newer school as well.
“I have to give credit to the [East Helena] coach, those kids fought really hard for only wrestling for two years,” Neff said. “That was really cool to see.”
On Thursday Whitefish traveled to Frenchtown for a pair of duals, one with Mission-Charlo and one with the Frenchtown Broncs. The Bulldogs defeated Mission-Charlo soundly, 48-15.
Frenchtown was a different story, though. The Broncs have a large 33-athlete roster and vast experience within the team. Whitefish fell to Frenchtown 60-9, the only two to win their matches for the Bulldogs were Nathan Sproul and Ashton Akey.
“We didn’t compete to our highest ability and they’re just a tough team,” Neff said. “They’re highly ranked in the state… When you fill up every single weight class and wrestle a team that has four open weight classes, it’s going to be tough for us to beat them.”
Whitefish senior Camren Ross went 3-1 on the week, getting pins against East Helena and Mission-Charlo both in less than 15 seconds. He lost a tough battle against Frenchtown though.
“Camren Ross lost a tough one in Frenchtown,” Neff said. “He was beating the kid and just ended up getting stuck on something. Someone that we’ll be able to see and compete with at divisionals.”
Sproul went 4-0 with one pin, one win by forfeit and two wins by decision. Whitefish’s Rylee Creasy finished 3-1 last week, getting three pins.
Neff continues to be impressed with the JV squad and says because of the Covid restrictions, the JV kids are not getting as much mat time.
“Our JV kids really competed well. It’s tough with this Covid year, kids can’t wrestle more than two times a day,” Neff said. “Rylan McDaniel’s been a leader for our JV squad, going out there and competing really well. He’s doing the stuff that he’s learning in the room and taking it out on the mat.”
Whitefish will host two triangulars this week, facing Bigfork and Browning on Friday and then Columbia Falls and Ronan on Saturday.
There are only two weeks remaining before divisionals and Neff said his goal is to have Bulldog Wrestling at top performance level prior to the divisional tournament.
“We keep stressing to the wrestlers that we want to be at the peak of our ability and the peak of our endurance come divisionals so that when we get to divisionals and state we can compete with the best wrestlers in the state,” he said. “That’s our big goal and we’re on the right path for that.”
Whitefish 58, East Helena 6
113 Caleb Schwen (East Helena) over Unknown (For.)
120 Nathan Sproul (Whitefish) over Brayden Silveson(MD 14-2)
126 Angelo Castro (Whitefish) over Sonny Silverthorne (Fall 1:16)
138 Carter Moran (Whitefish) over Ramey Swede Olsen (Fall 1:08)
145 Jack Akey (Whitefish) over Colter DeYoung (Fall 0:48)
152 Henry Bennetts (Whitefish) over Gage Laman (Fall 1:49)
160 Rylee Creasey (Whitefish) over Damoin Hardesty (Fall 0:42)
170 Camren Ross (Whitefish) over Carlos Estrda (Fall 0:14)
182 Valen Lewis-Ingerson (Whitefish) over Unknown (For.)
205 Ashton Akey (Whitefish) over Unknown (For.)
285 Kai Nash (Whitefish) over Unknown (For.)
138 Extra: Rylan McDaniel (Whitefish) over Dakota Peterson (Fall 3:38)
Whitefish 60, Polson 18
103 Ryley Knutson (Polson) over Unknown (For.)
113 Nathan Sproul (Whitefish) over Cole Cross (Fall 1:14)
120 Micah Craig (Polson) over Unknown (For.)
126 Angelo Castro (Whitefish) over Gavin Knutson (Fall 5:54)
132 Casey Trosper (Polson) over Unknown (For.)
138 Carter Moran (Whitefish) over Noah Trosper (Fall 1:48)
145 Jack Akey (Whitefish) over Xavier Pierre (Fall 0:44)
152 Henry Bennetts (Whitefish) over Caleb Pierre (Fall 2:44)
160 Rylee Creasey (Whitefish) over Michael Pierre (Fall 2:43)
170 Camren Ross (Whitefish) over Abel Kimmel (Fall 2:20)
182 Valen Lewis-Ingerson (Whitefish) over Unknown (For.)
205 Ashton Akey (Whitefish) over Jamison Webster (Fall 3:05)
285 Kai Nash (Whitefish) over Aaron O`Roake (Fall 3:01)
Whitefish 48, Mission 15
103 Kody Dillard (Saint Ignatius/Charlo) over Unknown (For.)
113 Nathan Sproul (Whitefish) over Unknown (For.)
126 Angelo Castro (Whitefish) over Unknown (For.)
138 Carter Moran (Whitefish) over Codiak Killorn (Fall 3:49)
145 Charlie Adams (Saint Ignatius/Charlo) over Jack Akey (Fall 3:35)
152 Canyon Sargent (Saint Ignatius/Charlo) over Henry Bennetts (Dec 14-8)
160 Valen Lewis-Ingerson (Whitefish) over Unknown (For.)
170 Rylee Creasey (Whitefish) over Christian Smith (Fall 0:47)
182 Camren Ross (Whitefish) over Deago Hostetler (Fall 0:15)
205 Ashton Akey (Whitefish) over Unknown (For.)
285 Kai Nash (Whitefish) over Unknown (For.)
170 Extra: Chance Bockman (Saint Ignatius/Charlo) over Valen Lewis-Ingerson (Fall 1:00)
Frenchtown 60, Whitefish 9
113 Nathan Sproul (Whitefish) over Jett Cambell-Herald (Dec 7-0)
120 Eli Warner (Frenchtown) over Unknown (For.)
126 Nic Blanchard (Frenchtown) over Angelo Castro (MD 10-2)
132 Bradyn Rate (Frenchtown) over Unknown (For.)
138 John Warner (Frenchtown) over Carter Moran (Fall 4:25)
145 Zane Martin (Frenchtown) over Unknown (For.)
152 Smokey Stoker (Frenchtown) over Henry Bennetts (TF 15-0 3:38)
160 Gavin McLean (Frenchtown) over Rylee Creasey (Fall 0:40)
170 Noah Rausch (Frenchtown) over Camren Ross (Fall 2:53)
182 Nathan Hansen (Frenchtown) over Unknown (For.)
205 Ashton Akey (Whitefish) over Brody Harris (Fall 5:43)
285 Philip Herald (Frenchtown) over Kai Nash (Dec 4-1)
103 Landen Stewart (Frenchtown) over Unknown (For.)
113 Extra: Nathan Sproul (Whitefish) over Corbin Long (Dec 5-4)
138 Extra: Porter Tollefson (Frenchtown) over Rylan McDaniel (Fall 1:13)
138 Extra: Dryse Davey (Frenchtown) over Rylan McDaniel (Fall 4:49)
170 Extra: Wyatt Leishman (Frenchtown) over Valen Lewis-Ingerson (Fall 5:13)
205 Extra: Ben Dalen (Whitefish) over Nathan Hansen (Frenchtown) (Fall 3:28)