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Shorthanded Beeters, Wildcats fought hard in the Metra
Chinook's Tate Niederegger, left, goes for a pin of Colstrip's Ty Bradley during the Class B-C 145-pound consolation final at the All-Class State Tournament Saturday in Billings. On Friday, Bradley upset Niederegger's run at a third state title, but the Chinook senior battled back to finish third, including avenging the loss to Bradley.
Harlem's Curtis Humphreys, right, goes for a pin during a Class B-C heavyweight match at the Class B-C state tournament Friday in Billings. Humphreys won the match, while Harlem scored 13.5 points in the meet.
Harlem's Gavin Horn, left, battles in the 113-pound first round of the Class B-C state tournament Friday morning in Billings. Horn won one match for the Wildcats.
Harlem's Reece Hutton, left, looks to throw a Wolf Point opponent during a Friday match at the state tournament in Billings.
Chinook's JT Hauer, left, battles in the first round of the B-C state tournament Friday in Billings.
Tate Niederegger, left, fights his way to third place Saturday at the B-C state tournament in Billings.
Tate Niederegger after finishing third at 145 pounds Saturday night at the state tournament in Billings.
The Harem Wildcats enter the Metra during the Parade of Athletes Friday morning at the state tournament in Billings.
Chinook enters the Metra during the Parade of Athletes Friday morning at the state tournament in Billings.
Billings - The Chinook wrestling team went to the All-Class State Wrestling meet hoping to repeat the magic it had in past seasons. And while that didn't quite happen, Tate Niederegger made sure the Sugarbeeters closed out the tournament and his career in an appropriate fashion.
Going into the tournament, the Beeters had a slim hope of defending their Class C championship with just two wrestlers. Yet any hope of winning a team trophy went by the wayside when Niederegger lost in the quarterfinals Friday and J.T. Hauer was eliminated later that day.
However, with the heart of a true champ, Niederegger refused to end his career on a sour note. He rallied to win four consecutive matches over two days inside the Rimrock Auto Arena at the Metra and wound up finishing third at 145 pounds. With those points, Chinook finished with 18.5, well behind Hot Springs, which captured the Class C state championship. Fairfield/Simms finished second and Charlo ended up third.
Other local teams that scored points at the meet in the Class B-C competition were Harlem, which finished with 13.5 and Fort Benton that finished with nine. Gavin Horn (113), Reece Hutton (205) and Curtis Humphreys all won matches for the Wildcats, while Connor Schnabel (120) and Landon Taylor (145) both notched victories for the Longhorns.
"Things didn't quite go as we planned," Chinook head coach Perry Miller said. "But it's not our wins that we learn from, it's our losses and how we come back from them. And I think the way Tate came back from his just shows the kind of person he is and the heart that he has."
After winning his first match Friday, Niederegger took on Ty Bradley in the quarterfinals and the two waged a battle for six minutes. For most of the third period, Niederegger held a 1-0 advantage. But with just three seconds left, Bradley notched a two-point takedown and the two-time state champ from Chinook didn't have enough time to answer.
"Unfortunately," Niederegger said. "I just made a few mistakes and I wasn't able to overcome them."
Pushed into the consolation bracket, Niederegger had two choices: fold or persevere. He chose the latter.
First, he won an 8-1 decision over Whitehall's Braxtyn Armstrong to get to Saturday. Then he worked his way into the consolation finals, following wins over James Dunn (5-0) of Eureka and Trey Taylor of Circle (18-2). That set up a rematch with Bradley for third place.
The second time around, Niederegger was out for payback and he got it. He scored first with a two-point takedown, then notched an escape to go up 3-0 heading into the third period. In the final minutes, one last takedown sealed the 5-0 victory.
"I have been waiting for this for a long time," Niederegger said. "You know, my last match. It wasn't the situation I wanted it to be, I wanted to be in the finals. But I was glad I was able to redeem myself."
When asked how he recovered from his defeated Friday, Niederegger said: "I think it set me free a little bit. There was no longer that added pressure to go out and make it to the finals. I could just go out and focus on wrestling."
Despite not winning his third individual title, the senior will still leave an impressive legacy behind, as he ended his career with two first-place finishes, a second-place showing and now a third.
"It's not exactly how I wanted to end it," Niederegger said. "But it feels good to end it after coming back from that loss. It was a lot of wrestling. After the (consolation semis) I was dead. But I am glad I found the energy to come back and finish this one."
As far as where Niederegger ranks among the greats in Chinook wrestling, head coach Perry Miller had this to say about the four-time medalist: "Over the years, I have coached a lot of great wrestlers. But Tate, he's right up there with all of them. He's a wonderful young man."
Eureka captured the B-C state championship with 198 points. Defending champ Colstrip was second while Ronan was third. Harlem was 30th, Fort Benton was 32nd, while Chinook was 28th in the overall Class B-C standings.
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