By Tiffany L. Rehbein
The Chinook Sugarbeeters' matmen scored a 57 at the Cut Bank Invitational during the weekend.
"We were banged up a little bit," said head coach Perry Miller. "I don't know that were were all focused on what we were doing."
At 125 pounds, Casey Reid finished second, losing a 7-5 overtime decision to Ronan's Jamie Muir.
Michael Maddox won a 6-4 decision over Havre's Willie Hulett at 171 pounds. Maddox finished third at the meet.
The Sugarbeeters wrestled with heavyweight Chris Skoyen, who is out with an injury, and without star grappler Kyle Butcher, who was out due to sickness.
"We are just going to focus on Choteau, and look ahead, not look behind at this tournament," Miller said. "Some of the younger kids performed really well, and we got a couple of wins from them. We didn't lack any desire, they went out there and they wrestled as hard as they could."
The Cut Bank Invitational boasted the four top Class A teams in the state, and the top four Class B teams.
"We know where we are going to end up when we are not full strength," Miller said.
The 'Beeters travel to Choteau next weekend, and will compete against all the Class B-C schools.
"This will be a prelude to what the state tournament might look like. We are going to go in the (wrestling) room and we are going to work hard."
