Three Bulldogs place at Western Montana Invitational

Whitefish athletes Kadin Brown, Henry Bennetts and Kai Nash all placed third in their respective divisions last weekend at the Western Montana Invitational in Ronan.

At the boys 113-pound division, Brown won his first two matches of the tournament before getting pinned in the semifinals. He fought back with a win in the consolation semis to earn a spot in the third-place match where he defeated Todd Whitescarver of Stevensville by major decision, 12-2.

“This was [Brown’s] first tournament back in two years…” Whitefish coach Danny Neff said. “He wrestled really well against a state placer from Frenchtown, really excited to see him ending up finishing third.”

Bennetts, in the 160 division, lost in the opening round to Columbia Falls’ Justin Windauer by technical fall. Although he fell early, Bennetts didn’t lose again in the tournament fighting his way back into the placing rounds. Bennetts pinned Branch Martin of Frenchtown in 1:53 to take third place.

Nash went 4-1 as well through the tournament, falling in the semifinals but finishing strong to make it to the third-place match. The Whitefish senior won over Hamilton’s Trevor Lewis by an 8-2 decision.

“Nash ended up dislocating his thumb but fought through it and got a win. That showed a lot of heart,” Neff added.

For the tournament, Whitefish finished ninth out of 17 teams with limited wrestlers competing.

Whitefish also faced Ronan in a dual on Friday. Though the Chiefs won the dual as a team, a highlight was Bulldog Landree Aurand winning his match over Koy McAllister by major decsison 16-8. He wrestled up a weight class as well.

“He ended up beating a kid from Ronan that placed third last year,” Neff said. “When Landree puts it all together he’s top of the state.”

Nash also won during the dual with Ronan, defeating Lomar Wandering Medicine.

Prior to heading south for the tournament, Whitefish hosted a triangular with Corvallis and Hamilton on Thursday. Corvallis won 44-29 and Hamilton won 39-30, but Neff says it's hard to compete for a team win when the team is not a full strength as several are healing injuries still.

“We were really looking forward to [these duals] as far as seeding criteria come divisionals… overall I was really happy with how we performed,” Neff said. “We’re still lacking a few weight classes just with injuries but we’re slowly healing up.”

Brown quickly pinned his opponents in both the duals on Thursday, as did Whitefish’s Sam Bennetts.

Representing the Whitefish girls team, Sam Bennetts pinned Hamilton’s Braden Anderson in 1:54 and then defeated Corvallis’ Taelynn Chavez.

“Sam Bennetts at 120 pounds, our one girl, she did really well winning both of her matches — beating a boy from Hamilton then another girl from Corvallis,” Neff said.

This week Whitefish will travel to a dual meet with Polson and Columbia Falls in Polson. Then will head to Missoula for the Jug Beck Rocky Mountain Classic. It’s one of the biggest wrestling tournaments in the state all season and they will see schools from all classes as well as some from Idaho and Washington.

“We’re going to see some unfamiliar faces which is always neat, get the kids out of their comfort zone,” Neff said. “When we get them out of their comfort zone and they compete well that’s kind of a determining factor of how well they’re going to do come divisionals and state.”

Results:

Corvallis 44, Whitefish 29

182 - Colton Snyder (Corvallis) over Kitar Olsen (Whitefish) (Fall 2:17)

113 - Kadin Brown (Whitefish) over Coby Smith (Corvallis) (Fall 1:17)

120 - Sam Bennetts (Whitefish) over Taelynn Chavez (Corvallis) (Fall 1:06)

132 - Landree Aurand (Whitefish) over Seth Allen (Corvallis) (Fall 5:25)

138 - Ted Melott (Corvallis) over Rylan McDaniel (Whitefish) (MD 8-0)

145 - Nate Davis (Corvallis) over Jackson Dorvall (Whitefish) (Fall 4:54)

160 - Jonny Williams (Corvallis) over Henry Bennetts (Whitefish) (MD 11-0)

Hamilton 39, Whitefish 30

182 - Clayton Beall (Hamilton) over Kitar Olsen (Whitefish) (Fall 3:35)

205 - Derrick Saltzman (Hamilton) over Kai Nash (Whitefish) (Fall 3:59)

285 - Trevor Lewis (Hamilton) over JJ McKay (Whitefish) (Fall 1:33)

113 - Kadin Brown (Whitefish) over Camron Beall (Hamilton) (Fall 1:56)

120 - Sam Bennetts (Whitefish) over Braden Anderson (Hamilton) (Fall 1:54)

132 - Jesse Anson (Hamilton) over Landree Aurand (Whitefish) (Dec 4-0)

145 - Jackson Dorvall (Whitefish) over Adam Loveless (Hamilton) (Fall 1:23)

Western Montana Invite

Friday-Saturday

Ronan

Girls

Champ. Round 1 - Samantha Bennetts (Whitefish) over Temree Payne-taylor (Glacier) 10-5 (Fall 1:46)

Boys

113

3rd Place Match

Kadin Brown (Whitefish) over Todd Whitescarver (Stevensville) (MD 12-2)

Cons. Semi - Kadin Brown (Whitefish) over Tyler Jorgenson (Glacier) (Fall 3:56)

Semifinal - Corbin Long (Frenchtown) over Kadin Brown (Whitefish) (Fall 3:39)

Quarterfinal - Kadin Brown (Whitefish) over Todd Whitescarver (Stevensville) (TF-1.5 4:31 (17-1))

Champ. Round 1 - Kadin Brown (Whitefish) over Isaac Nicoson (Florence) (Fall 1:57)

145

Champ. Round 1 - Koda King (Ronan) 15-5 won by fall over Jackson Dorvall (Whitefish) 2-2 (Fall 3:35)

Cons. Round 1 - Jackson Dorvall (Whitefish) 2-2 won by decision over Daniel O`Roake (Polson) 6-9 (Dec 6-3)

Cons. Round 2 - Jackson Dorvall (Whitefish) 2-2 won in sudden victory - 1 over Teegan Fielding (Missoula Sentinel) 0-2 (SV-1 5-3)

Cons. Round 3 - Billy Gustafson (CFalls) 11-6 won by decision over Jackson Dorvall (Whitefish) 2-2 (Dec 8-2)

160

3rd Place Match

Henry Bennetts (Whitefish) 4-1, Jr. over Branch Martin (Frenchtown) 10-8, So. (Fall 1:53)

Cons. Semi - Henry Bennetts (Whitefish) 4-1 won by fall over Chance Bockman (St. Ignatius/Charlo) 8-6 (Fall 4:45)

Cons. Round 3 - Henry Bennetts (Whitefish) 4-1 won by fall over Jeffery Berryman (Stevensville) 3-5 (Fall 0:47)

Cons. Round 2 - Henry Bennetts (Whitefish) 4-1 won by fall over Drake Wofford (Libby) 0-2 (Fall 4:35)

Champ. Round 1 - Justin Windauer (CFalls) 19-0 won by tech fall over Henry Bennetts (Whitefish) 4-1 (TF-1.5 6:00 (15-0))

182

Cons. Round 2 - Cole Dalke (Ronan) 7-12 won by fall over Kitar Olsen (Whitefish) 0-2 (Fall 1:56)

Quarterfinal - Walker Spurlock (Townsend) 3-2 won by fall over Kitar Olsen (Whitefish) 0-2 (Fall 3:03)

205

3rd Place Match - Kai Nash (Whitefish) 4-1, Sr. over Trevor Lewis (Hamilton) 11-7, Jr. (Dec 8-2)

Cons. Semi - Kai Nash (Whitefish) 4-1 won by fall over Gunner Rathjen (CFalls) 3-2 (Fall 2:08)

Semifinal - Derrick Saltzman (Hamilton) 17-2 won by fall over Kai Nash (Whitefish) 4-1 (Fall 1:54)

Quarterfinal - Kai Nash (Whitefish) 4-1 won by fall over Brody Harris (Frenchtown) 7-10 (Fall 3:16)

Champ. Round 1 - Kai Nash (Whitefish) 4-1 won by fall over Jacob Wallace (Stevensville) 0-2 (Fall 0:12)