Sproul takes divisional title, Whitefish finishes fourth

With just one match remaining, Whitefish wrestler Nathan Sproul took to the mat against No. 2 ranked Hunter Barnes from Dillon.

Sproul weathered an entire six minutes to win by decision 7-3 and take the Western A Divisional title in the 113 pound weight class. According to Whitefish head coach Danny Neff, Sproul was on fire Saturday — not only did this win give him the individual title, but it boosted Whitefish in the team standings.

“I was really excited to see Nate Sproul get into the championship and win that,” Neff said. “I would say that he wrestled some of his best wrestling in his entire career just on that one Saturday.”

As a team Whitefish was battling with Ronan for fourth place in the Western A Divisional Tournament on Saturday in Libby. After day one of the tournament Whitefish was in fifth and trailed Ronan by eight points. A great day of performances from Whitefish wrestlers kept the chase for fourth within reach and it came down to Sproul’s championship match which secured the spot in the team standings for Whitefish.

“It was kind of a battle for fourth with Ronan and we were just super excited to beat them by about three points,” Neff recalled. “You could see the excitement on the kids’ faces after the tournament was over, going from last year placing I think ninth to fourth this year.”

“The kids really came out firing, we had a great tournament. We ended up placing fourth with 142 points; that is the highest that Whitefish wrestling has placed since 2006 when I was actually a junior for the program. So big improvements from the last few years,” Neff added.

Alongside Sproul’s success, fellow senior Camren Ross took second place as he made it to the championship match in the 170 pound class. Ross lost the title to Frenchtown’s Noah Rausch who won by major decision 13-3. Heading into divisionals Ross was ranked fourth in the Class A wrestling coaches poll and Rausch was ranked fifth.

“Camren Ross showed his leadership like he always does by getting into the championship,” Neff said. “He took on Noah Rausch and ended up losing that, but it was a tough battle.”

Neff was impressed by Jack Akey and Ashton Akey who both made it to the semifinal round, which gave Whitefish a major boost in team points. Jack Akey took third at 145 pounds and Ashton Akey ended up sixth in the 205 division.

“We knew that Jack and Ashton were going to place and go to state, we just didn’t realize that they were going to get to the semifinals, which is a huge team point booster,” Neff said. “So that was really helpful getting those points from them.”

Whitefish’s Rylee Creasey finished up fourth at divisionals after losing the match for third place to Frenchtown’s Gavin McLean by a 12-0 major decision. Henry Bennetts came in sixth at 152 pounds, Angelo Castro placed seventh in the 126 pound weight class and Valen Lewis-Ingerson was eighth at 160 pounds.

Neff also was happy with a third place finish from heavyweight Brian Sweeney, who defeated Max Morency from Ronan by decision 2-1.

“I was also really excited to see how Brian Sweeney wrestled,” Neff said. “He lost his quarterfinal match against Max Morency and battled back into the third and fourth place match. He had Max again and ended up winning 2-1 which was really good. A lot of kids can get down on themselves if they know they’ve lost to that kid, but Brian Sweeney really bounced back.”

Despite only taking a total of 13 wrestlers to divisionals, Whitefish managed to qualified nine wrestlers to compete at the state tournament this weekend which is an improvement from eight making it last year. Neff says the years don’t even compare though, because this year Whitefish had several wrestlers make it into the championship and third place rounds.

“It was just a more dialed team, a team that was more motivated and excited this year,” Neff said. “The atmosphere in the room this year has been tremendous. We have a great bunch of kids that get along with each other.”

Neff explained that this week before heading off to the Class A state tournament, he’ll be fine tuning technique with his wrestlers to get ready to face a talented group of kids from the east side of the state. Whitefish has not faced the majority of the Eastern A teams in the regular season this year due to Covid restrictions, therefore it will be a whole new level of competition.

“The east side has a really strong group of kids, so it’s going to be a tough tournament for us,” Neff said. “But I know the athletes are really ready to go and excited to see some new faces on the other side of the state.”

Whitefish will head to Miles City to compete in the Montana Class A State Wrestling Tournament this weekend, March 5-6.

State qualifiers: Nathan Sproul (113), Angelo Castro (126), Jack Akey (145), Henry Bennetts (152), Rylee Creasey (160), Valen Lewis-Ingerson (160), Camren Ross (170), Ashton Akey (205), Brian Sweeney (285).

Western A Divisional

Saturday, Libby

Team Scores – Frenchtown 297.5; Columbia Falls 205; Libby/Troy 194; Whitefish 142; Ronan 139.5; Browning 128.5; Dillon/Twin Bridges 88; Hamilton 85; Corvallis 81.5; Polson 75; Stevensville/Victor 31; Butte Central 3.

Individual results

113

1st Place Match – Nathan Sproul (WHI) 23-2, dec. Hunter Barnes (DIL) 24-2, 7-3.

126

7th Place Match – Angelo Castro (WHI) 18-7, pinned Trevor Bartel (RON) 8-16, 2:05.

145

3rd Place Match – Jack Akey (WHI) 15-12, won by inj. def. Caleb Cheff (RON) 17-9, 0:00.

152

5th Place Match – Jaren Keene (BRO) 10-7, dec. Henry Bennetts (WHI) 19-8, 9-3.

160

3rd Place Match – Gavin McLean (FRE) 30-3, maj. dec. Rylee Creasey (WHI) 11-5, 12-0.

7th Place Match – Aaron Springer (STEV) 8-8, pinned Valen Lewis-Ingerson (WHI) 12-13, 1:49.

170

1st Place Match – Noah Rausch (FRE) 29-5, maj. dec. Camren Ross (WHI) 23-4, 13-3.

205

5th Place Match – Clay Barcus (COR) 10-9, pinned Ashton Akey (WHI) 15-14, 2:32.

285

3rd Place Match – Brian Sweeney (WHI) 11-3, dec. Max Morency (RON) 9-10, 2-1.

Friday

Individual results

113

Quarterfinals - Nathan Sproul, WF, pinned Xavier Reatz, L/T, 1:12.

126

First round - Angelo Castro,WF, pinned Logan Bratsch, H, 2:26.

Quarterfinals - Noah Huffaker, B/TB, maj. Dec. Angelo Castro, WF, 9-0.

Second consolation - Angelo Castro, WF, maj dec Matthew Niemi, L/T, 17-5

138

First round - John Warner, F, pinned Rylan McDaniel, WF, 1:02; Andrew Carmody, H, pinned Carter Moran, WF, 3:36.

Consolation - Carter Moran, WF, pinned Ty Thompson, S/V, 2:29

Second consolation - Jonathan Williams, Cor, maj dec Rylan McDaniel, WF, 10-0; Xander Spady, L/T, pinned Carter Moran, WF, 2:16.

145

Quarterfinal - Jack Akey, WF, pinned Elijah Edwards.

152

First round - Henry Bennetts, WF, pinned Trey Torpen, CF, 4:33.

Quarterfinals - Tate Hanson, B/TB, maj dec Henry Bennetts, WF, 15-7.

Second consolation - Henry Bennetts, WF, pinned Luke Garrison, BC, :47.

160

Quarterfinals - Lucas Thacker, CF, pinned Valen Lewis- Ingerson, WF, 1:48; Rylee Creasey, WF, dec. Brennyn Running Crane, B, 7-3.

170

Quarterfinals

Camren Ross, WF, pinned Zhane Jenkins, L/T, 3:35.

205

First round - Ashton Akey, WF, pinned Finn Hickey, Cor, 2:00; Clay Barcus, Cor, tech fall Ben Dalen, WF, 17-2.

Quarterfinals - Ashton Akey, WF, pinned Kaden Sunderland, S/V, 4:06.

Consolation - Brandon Role, CF, pinned Ben Dalen, WF, 4:38.

285

First round - Brian Sweeney, WF, pinned Zachary Sannar, S/V, :22; Max Morency, R, dec. Kai Nash, WF, 7-4.

Quarterfinals - Max Morency, R, dec. Brian Sweeney, WF, 9-6

Consolation - Kai Nash, WF, pinned Zachary Sannar, S/V, 1:46.

Second consolation - Aaron O`Roake, dec Kai Nash, WF, 5-0; Brian Sweeney, WF, pinned Tyler Smith, L/T, 2:00.