Three Whitefish grapplers place in first tournament of season
Whitefish wrestling started its season at the Owen Invitational in Polson last weekend.
The team was fewer in numbers than normal as some athletes couldn’t compete due to injuries and not enough practices yet. The athletes that could make the trip had solid performances.
“For the amount of kids that we brought, I was really excited to see the competition that they came out with,” Whitefish coach Danny Neff said.
For the boys, at 126 pounds, Landree Aurand went 3-1 through the tournament falling in the championship match to Tyler Gilfry of Columbia Falls. Gilfry won by an 11-4 decision in the match. Aurund had a good run in the earlier matches, pinning two opponents and a quarterfinal win over Frenchtown’s Cole Johnson on a 7-2 decision.
Neff said the championship match is one that will likely occur several times this season.
“That’s going to be a competitive match (Between Aurund and Gilfry) the whole year. But that’s where we expect Landree to be, competing with the best because he is one of the best in the state,” Neff said.
Also placing second was senior Kai Nash in the 205-pound division. Nash won the opening match over Browning’s Ashton Granados by fall and won the quarterfinal and semifinals by decision. In the championship, Nash faced Libby’s Jace DeShazer who defeated Nash by an 8-3 decision.
Nash is a good addition to the Bulldog team this year after he took a year off from wrestling last season.
“He’s looking really good physique-wise and came in really strong, competed well in the championship match against an individual who was a state champion last year,” Neff said.
At 138 pounds, sophomore standout Logan Heyne won his first match but lost in the quarterfinal. In a consolation match, Heyne forfeited the match with a neck injury and will sit out for at least a week to recover. Neff expects big things out of Heyne though, and looks forward to what he’ll do later on in the season.
“Logan Heyne, I love watching him wrestle. He brings in a lot of ability and technique… the kid has so much potential and I’m excited to watch him grow,” Neff said.
Bulldog Jackson Dorvall returned to the mat in his first high school wrestling meet. Dorvall wrestled when he was younger, but didn’t come out for the team during his freshman and sophomore years. Dorvall went 1-2 in the tournament.
This year is the first year Whitefish has a girls wrestling team. The Bulldogs have one athlete on the team, Sam Bennetts, who placed second in the 126-pound division at the Owen Invite as a freshman. Bennetts pinned three opponents to set up the championship match with Juliette Cheff from Ronan. Bennetts wrestled well, but Cheff won by fall in 3:57.
“She’s our only girl this year. It takes a lot of confidence to jump into a room full of guys and being the only girl she really steps up,” Neff said. “She is definitely a leader on the mat… she has a ton of potential.”
Neff says the team is growing and has a lot of promise this year when it comes to individual athletes. There is some youth on the team, and a lot of room for growth as well.
“We fill up most of our weight classes but we’ve got some youngsters stepping in…” Neff said.
Last year the Bulldog wrestling program took three freshmen and a sophomore to the Montana State Wrestling Tournament. This year those athletes are leaders and ones that the whole team is looking up to.
“It’s those individuals that on the mat are looked up upon by all the other athletes… As a coach looking at the future it’s very promising knowing that you’ve got these young kids coming out… that’s how we build this program,” Neff said.
The wrestling team will compete in a triangular in Corvallis on Friday and then head to the Bob Kinney Classic tournament in Superior on Saturday.
Owen Invitational - Polson
Whitefish results
Boys
126
1st Place Match - Tyler Gilfry (CFalls) 4-0 won by decision over Landree Aurand (Whitefish) 3-1 (Dec 11-4)
Semifinal - Landree Aurand (Whitefish) 3-1 won by fall over Sean Davis (Corvallis) 2-3 (Fall 1:19)
Quarterfinal - Landree Aurand (Whitefish) 3-1 won by decision over Cole Johnson (Frenchtown) 3-2 (Dec 7-2)
Champ. Round 2 - Landree Aurand (Whitefish) 3-1 won by fall over Cash Byrd (Columbia Falls) 0-2 (Fall 2:50)
138
Cons. Round 4 - Ted Melott (Corvallis) 3-2 won by forfeit over Logan Heyne (Whitefish) 1-2 (For.)
Quarterfinal - Chris Rathjen (Columbia Falls) 4-1 won by fall over Logan Heyne (Whitefish) 1-2 (Fall 3:41)
Champ. Round 1 - Logan Heyne (Whitefish) 1-2 won by fall over Zekiah Meyers (Libby) 2-2 (Fall 0:48)
145
Cons. Round 4 - Nate Davis (Corvallis) 5-1 won by fall over Jackson Dorvall (Whitefish) 1-2 (Fall 1:29)
Cons. Round 3 - Jackson Dorvall (Whitefish) 1-2 won by fall over Tate Bosker (Thompson Falls) 0-2 (Fall 2:02)
Quarterfinal - Caden Dutra (Lake City) 3-2 won by fall over Rylan McDaniel (Whitefish) 1-2 (Fall 0:41)
Champ. Round 2 - Rylan McDaniel (Whitefish) 1-2 won by fall over Jesse Racine (Browning) 0-2 (Fall 1:11)
Champ. Round 2 - Cael Schwindt (Libby) 3-1 won by fall over Jackson Dorvall (Whitefish) 1-2 (Fall 1:19)
205
1st Place Match - Jace DeShazer (Libby) 5-0 won by decision over Kai Nash (Whitefish) 3-1 (Dec 8-3)
Semifinal - Kai Nash (Whitefish) 3-1 won by decision over Brandon Role (Columbia Falls) 3-2 (Dec 9-5)
Cons. Round 3 - Felix Zambergs (Bigfork) 2-2 won by fall over JJ McKay (Whitefish) 0-2 (Fall 1:34)
Quarterfinal - Kai Nash (Whitefish) 3-1 won by decision over Brody Harris (Frenchtown) 1-2 (Dec 9-7)
Champ. Round 2 - Dallas Blair (Florence) 1-2 won by fall over JJ McKay (Whitefish) 0-2 (Fall 1:32)
Champ. Round 2 - Kai Nash (Whitefish) 3-1 won by fall over Ashton Granados (Browning) 0-2 (Fall 2:29)
Girls
126
1st Place Match - Juliette Cheff (Ronan) 3-0, Jr. over Sam Bennetts (Whitefish) 3-1, Fr. (Fall 3:57) Sam Bennetts
Semifinal - Sam Bennetts (Whitefish) 3-1 won by fall over Malorey Lawrence (Florence) 2-2 (Fall 0:40)
Quarterfinal - Sam Bennetts (Whitefish) 3-1 won by fall over Malia Gergen (Frenchtown) 4-1 (Fall 5:15)
Champ. Round 1 - Sam Bennetts (Whitefish) 3-1 won by fall over Lexi White (Eureka) 1-2 (Fall 1:21)