Sproul takes fifth at State A wrestling championships

After four Whitefish wrestlers made it to the second day of competition, senior Nathan Sproul earned his spot on the podium in the 113-pound division at the Class A State Wrestling Tournament last weekend.

Sproul was the only Bulldog to place at state this year, but fellow senior Camren Ross, Rylee Creasey and Brian Sweeney all joined him to compete on the second day of competition. Whitefish finished 16th as a team.

Wrestling is usually an all class tournament, however, it was only Class A at Miles City due to COVID precautions.

“It was definitely pretty interesting with only Class A at Miles City — the kids really look forward to going and seeing all competition from all classes…” Whitefish head coach Danny Neff said. “But it is what it is with COVID going on right now. We were just excited to be able to have a season, period.”

In the Class A team results, Sidney took first with 326.5 points, Laurel was in second with 188 points and 182.5 for Lewistown in third. Whitefish in 16th place scored 29 points.

Sproul, who was the Western A divisional champion in his weight class, started off the tournament by beating Laurel’s Peyton Waldo on an 8-5 decision. He then lost in the quarterfinal round, but managed to win the next two consolation rounds.

In the consolation semifinals Sproul faced Damen McCord from Fergus-Lewistown and lost by technical fall. That set up the fifth place match, during which Sproul won by a 4-3 decision over Beau Contreraz out of Billings.

“Sproul competed pretty well,” Neff said. “He didn’t come out with the outcome he was hoping for, that we thought he could get, but taking fifth as a senior and ending on a high note is really good.”

Senior Camren Ross was a favorite from Whitefish to place at state in the 170 pound division. However things didn’t quite go his way as he was just one match away from a podium spot. Ross had two wins and two losses; in his last match he lost by sudden victory to Cole Younger from Laurel, which ended his bid for placing in the tournament.

“We really thought Camren could sneak onto the podium, he was one win away. He had a tough kid from Laurel and ended up losing in overtime 7-5 which was a bummer,” Neff recalled.

Rylee Creasey in the 160 pound division and heavyweight Brian Sweeney both made to Saturday as well. Creasey won his opening round of the tournament but lost by decision 11-8 to Columbia Falls’ Lucas Thacker, who ended up taking third at state, in the quarterfinal. He won one of the consolation rounds, but fell in the next.

Sweeney had a similar story, he started out with a pin in his first round and then went 1-2 over the next three matches ending up just shy of a podium spot. Sweeney has shown great improvement all season according to Neff, and will be back next year with even more eagerness to win.

“Of the four kids that made it to the second day, I was really excited to see how they competed,” Neff said. “Everyone left the mat with their heads held high and weren’t down on themselves; that’s always nice to see as a coach.”

On the first day of competition Whitefish’s Angelo Castro started with a bang. In 2:39 he pinned Kason Olson from Fergus-Lewistown, the second ranked wrestler out of the east at 126 pounds.

“Angelo had a really big upset in the first round,” Neff said. “He ended up beating the No. 2 kid from the east which was a shocker I think around the entire stadium, so that was really cool to see.”

Castro unfortunately lost his next two matches and was eliminated from the tournament.

“That’s not how we wanted to see him go out, but it was just great to have him on the team again. He’s a great kid and brings a lot of character to the team,” Neff added.

Jack Akey, Ashton Akey, Henry Bennetts, and Valen Lewis-Ingerson also competed on the first day of competition, but did not make the cut for the second day.

Neff says he’s already getting excited for next season and likes seeing where the team is headed. In the off season he wants to host many open mat nights and also keep the kids strong in the weight room, strength is an area of wrestling he thinks the team can improve on in the offseason.

“We’ve got a good crew coming up and we’re really looking forward to the next year already,” Neff said.

MHSA Class A State Wrestling Championships

Miles City

Friday-Saturday

Team Scores

1 Sidney/Fairview 326.5

2 Laurel 188.0

3 Fergus (Lewistown) 182.5

4 Frenchtown 162.5

5 Custer Co. (Miles City) 127.0

6 Havre/Box Elder 87.0

7 Columbia Falls 82.5

8 Dawson Co. (Glendive) 82.0

9 Park (Livingston)/ Sweet Grass County (Big Timber) 60.0

10 Browning 54.5

11 Libby/Troy 54.0

12 Corvallis 46.0

13 Polson 40.0

14 Hardin 39.0

15 Beaverhead Co. (Dillon)/Twin Bridges 32.0

16 Whitefish 29.0

17 Lockwood (Billings) 27.0

18 Ronan 26.0

19 Hamilton 24.0

20 Billings Central/Joliet 8.0

21 Stevensville/Victor 7.0

22 East Helena 0.0

Individual

113

Champ. Round 1 - Nathan Sproul (Whitefish) 27-4 won by decision over Peyton Waldo (Laurel) 16-7 (Dec 8-5)

Quarterfinal - Isaac Beardsley (Custer Co. (Miles City)) 16-9 won by major decision over Nathan Sproul (Whitefish) 27-4 (MD 10-2)

Cons. Round 2 - Nathan Sproul (Whitefish) 27-4 won in sudden victory - 1 over Corbin Long (Frenchtown) 21-6 (SV-1 10-8)

Cons. Round 3 - Nathan Sproul (Whitefish) 27-4 won by fall over Sheldon Rod (Dawson Co. (Glendive)) 10-8 (Fall 4:12)

Cons. Semi - Damen McCord (Fergus (Lewistown)) 30-11 won by tech fall over Nathan Sproul (Whitefish) 27-4 (TF-1.5 4:34 (18-2))

5th Place Match - Nathan Sproul (Whitefish) 27-4 won by decision over Beau Contreraz (Lockwood (Billings)) 16-9 (Dec 4-3)

126

Champ. Round 1 - Angelo Castro (Whitefish) 19-9 won by fall over Kason Olson (Fergus (Lewistown)) 34-8 (Fall 2:39)

Quarterfinal - Maysn Cowell (Polson) 15-6 won by fall over Angelo Castro (Whitefish) 19-9 (Fall 3:15)

Cons. Round 2 - Gavin Knutson (Polson) 17-16 won by fall over Angelo Castro (Whitefish) 19-9 (Fall 4:35)

145

Champ. Round 1 - Kendall Pleninger (Havre/Box Elder) 15-9 won by fall over Jack Akey (Whitefish) 15-14 (Fall 0:43)

Cons. Round 1 - Nate Hill (Laurel) 11-6 won by fall over Jack Akey (Whitefish) 15-14 (Fall 1:36)

152

Champ. Round 1 - Grady Nelson (Sidney/Fairview) 34-7 won by major decision over Henry Bennetts (Whitefish) 19-10 (MD 11-0)

Cons. Round 1 - Espyn Hostetler (Dawson Co. (Glendive)) 7-5 won by fall over Henry Bennetts (Whitefish) 19-10 (Fall 2:55)

160

Champ. Round 1 - Kade Graves (Sidney/Fairview) 36-1 won by fall over Valen Lewis-Ingerson (Whitefish) 12-15 (Fall 0:27)

Cons. Round 1 - Brennyn Running Crane (Browning) 14-10 won by fall over Valen Lewis-Ingerson (Whitefish) 12-15 (Fall 1:58)

Champ. Round 1 - Rylee Creasey (Whitefish) 13-7 won by decision over Tommy Reske (Dawson Co. (Glendive)) 5-4 (Dec 4-3)

Quarterfinal - Lucas Thacker (Columbia Falls) 19-5 won by decision over Rylee Creasey (Whitefish) 13-7 (Dec 11-8)

Cons. Round 2 - Rylee Creasey (Whitefish) 13-7 won by decision over Brennyn Running Crane (Browning) 14-10 (Dec 7-5)

Cons. Round 3 - Camden Johnson (Laurel) 21-7 won by fall over Rylee Creasey (Whitefish) 13-7 (Fall 3:35)

170

Champ. Round 1 - Camren Ross (Whitefish) 25-6 won in sudden victory - 1 over Cody Todd (Billings Central/Joliet) 14-15 (SV-1 5-3)

Quarterfinal - Orion Thivierge (Havre/Box Elder) 20-3 won by fall over Camren Ross (Whitefish) 25-6 (Fall 2:49)

Cons. Round 2 - Camren Ross (Whitefish) 25-6 won by fall over Jace Augare (Browning) 12-8 (Fall 1:54)

Cons. Round 3 - Cole Younger (Laurel) 25-6 won in sudden victory - 1 over Camren Ross (Whitefish) 25-6 (SV-1 7-5)

205

Champ. Round 1 - Trey Schepens (Sidney/Fairview) 32-7 won by fall over Ashton Akey (Whitefish) 15-16 (Fall 3:59)

Cons. Round 1 - Zane Cox (Park (Livingston)/ Sweet Grass County (Big Timber)) 6-11 won by fall over Ashton Akey (Whitefish) 15-16 (Fall 2:17)

285

Champ. Round 1 - Brian Sweeney (Whitefish) 13-5 won by fall over Seth Benge (Billings Central/Joliet) 9-12 (Fall 2:52)

Quarterfinal - Philip Herald (Frenchtown) 26-7 won by decision over Brian Sweeney (Whitefish) 13-5 (Dec 1-0)

Cons. Round 2 - Brian Sweeney (Whitefish) 13-5 won by fall over Aaron O`Roake (Polson) 16-12 (Fall 1:52)

Cons. Round 3 - Gabe Hernandez (Laurel) 13-5 won by fall over Brian Sweeney (Whitefish) 13-5 (Fall 1:16)