CJI's Swenson brings home a medal

BILLINGS - Over the years, teams from along the Hi-Line have performed pretty well at the All-Class state wrestling tournament in Billings and while the Havre High wrestling team had another solid showing, a number of other local teams found out they have some work to do.

While there were a total of four local teams in addition to Havre that had wrestlers competing at Rimrock Auto Arena at the Metra this past Friday and Saturday, by the time the placement rounds were taking place, there weren't many local Hi-Line wrestlers to be found.

Ruebin Swenson is the one who did place for Chester-Joplin-Inverness and that was his second consecutive podium finish after he took third at 205 pounds wrestling for Chinook in 2018. This time around, though, for the Hawks, he scored 12 points and managed to get his team a sixth-place finish overall. The team that came out on top in the Class C competition was Circle, which dominated with 102 points compared to 32 for second-place Alberton and 28 for third-place Valier.

Chinook, which took second last season, scored just five points in its latest trip to the Metra, while Fort Benton/Big Sandy also added eight points to finish in seventh place. Harlem also had one wrestler qualify for state in John Hughes, but he didn't score any points and Harlem scored zero as a team as Colstrip won the team championship in Class B, followed by Glasgow and Columbus.

As far as Swenson went, he got the weekend off to a good start with an opening-round win Friday over Wes Omsberg of Cut Bank, who he pinned in 2:43. However, Swenson lost an 8-5 decision to Mason Phipps of Glasgow, forcing him to go through the wrestle backs to place. And needing two wins to get on the podium, the CJI heavyweight delivered, knocking off Cody Best and Jacob Lapinski in order to ensure a top-six finish in his weight class. However, Swenson lost his next two matches, including a match for fifth and sixth to Carter Beer of Columbus.

While Swenson reached the podium again, it was the first time in a long time that no Chinook wrestlers did as Rebecca Stroh, who placed last season, was eliminated after two matches along with Favion Courturier. The other Sugarbeeter who earned a ticket to state was J.T. Hauer, and he scored all five team points for Chinook after he pinned Coltin Siphikas in the opening round Friday. Hauer lost in the quarterfinals but kept his tournament alive with a 10-6 decision over Dallen Hoover. However, needing just one more win to place, Hauer came up short Saturday morning as he was pinned by Austin Vanek of Cut Bank.

"I think we learned that we have some work to do," Chinook head coach Perry Miller said. "But that's alright. We have all of our kids back and they got some good experience. There is nothing like wrestling here under these bright lights, and just having that experience will make these kids."

Connor Schnabel and Hayden Axrtman of Fort Benton each scored four points each as they both won their opening match before losing the next two to get eliminated Friday.

Class B-C

Class B-C Team scores (Class B): Colstrip 233, Glasgow 130, Columbus-Absarokee-Park City 128, Huntley Project 109, Eureka 104.5, Townsend 70, Cut Bank 65, Malta 64.5, Forsyth 63, Whitehall 61, Florence-Carlton 55, Saint Ignatius-Charlo 49, Fairfield 48.5, Shepherd 48, Conrad 46, Thompson Falls 43, Choteau 37, Shelby 35, Jefferson 33, Plains-Hot Springs 22.5, Poplar 21, Manhattan 19, Deer Lodge 9, Anaconda 8, Baker 6

Team scores (Class C): Circle 102, Superior-Alberton 32, Valier 28, Simms 24, Cascade 12, Chester-Joplin-Inverness 12, Fort Benton-Big Sandy 8, Chinook 5, Arlee 3, Broadus 3

Individual results

103

First place: Krayle Stormer, Circle, major dec. Weston Timberman, Columbus/Absarokee, 11-2; Third place: Miguel Ramos, Fairfield, p. Leo Anderson, Jefferson, 2:30; Fifth place: Langdon Smith, Shepherd, p. Parker Craig, Huntley Project. 2:24

113

First place: Tanner Cook, Columbus-Absarokee, dec. Roper Mycke, Conrad, 5-0; Third place: Trae Thilmony, Thompson Falls, dec. Tugg Taylor, Circle, 12-7; Fifth place: Brady Ellison, Columbus-Absarokee, p. Jase Frederick, Poplar, 2:06

120

First place: Gunnar Smith, Eureka, major dec. Roman Sparks, Thompson Falls, 8-0; Third place: Camron Reilly, Forsyth, major dec. Riley Richtmyer, Townsend, 10-0; Fifth place: Zach Valdez, Colstrip, p. Cooper Cook, Columbus-Absarokee, 3:28

126

First place: Colten Fast, Glasgow, dec. Clayton Donally, Huntley Project, 1-0; Third place: Kyle Durden, Eureka, dec. Canyon Casterline, Circle, 4-2; Fifth place: Matt Connelly, Valier, dec. Dalton Brown, Conrad, 7-0

132

First place: Connor Johnson, p. Nathan Schmidt, Eureka, 0:46; Third place: Kolter Schipman, Malta-Whitewater, tech fall, Cole Becker, Circle, (TF 4:13) 19-2; Fifth place: Mike Wilkinson, Whitehall, won by DQ, Oden Hallock, Glasgow

138

First place: Jackson Currier, Colstrip, dec. Pete Henderson, Choteau, 5-2; Third place: Kaden Zimmerman, dec. John Cremer, Glasgow, 3-1; Fifth place: Josiah Vanderwall, Plains-Hot Springs, tech fall, Ron Barnhill, Conrad, (TF 3:11) 17-1

145

First place: Rylin Burns, Colstrip, over. Trey Taylor, Circle, inj. 3:44; Third place: Hank Dunn, Eureka, p. Andrew Andersen, Cut Bank, 2:33; Fifth place: Callan Mears, Malta-Whitewater, p. Darwin Adams, Saint Ignatius-Charlo, 0:58

152

First place: Michael Weber, Forsyth, major dec. Wyatt Brusven, Shelby, 14-6; Third place: Austin Vanek, Cut Bank, p. Ty Steele, Townsend, 0:58; Fifth place: Dylan Raihl, Columbus-Absarokee, p. Isaac DuMontier, Saint Ignatius-Charlo, 4:34.

160

First place: Ty Bradley, Colstrip, dec. Sam Schmidt, Huntley Project, 9-3; Third place: Avery Meizen, Florence-Carlton, p. Kyle Evans, Cascade, 1:00; Fifth place: Paden Vannattan, Forsyth, won by forfeit, Kameron Rauser, Townsend.

170

First place: Dylan Nieskens, Glasgow, p. Cody Blaede, Colstrip, 5:37; Third place: JR Seewald, Cut Bank, major dec. Isaiah Alik, Saint Ignatius-Charlo, 10-2; Fifth place: Dillon Anderson, tech fall, Stran Selman, Huntley Project, (TF 5:00) 17-2

182

First place: Nakoda Siegel, Colstrip, major dec. Nate Gorham, Shepherd, 15-4; Third place: Andres Lopez, Malta-Whitewater p. Trey Green, Superior/Alberton, 2:14; Fifth place: Justin Denton, Townsend, dec. Henry Koch, Huntley Project, 4-3.

205

First place: Spencer Jones, Florence-Carlton, dec. Beau Petersen, Colstrip, 8-2; Third place: Brett Monroe, Valier, dec. Lane Hinderager, Simms, 7-4; Fifth place: Jadon Lamb, Townsend, dec. Kolter Bouma, Fairfield, 7-3.

285

First place: Trey Yates, Colstrip, p. Journey Grimsrud, Huntley Project, 3:00; Third place: Mayson Phipps, Glasgow, p. Terry Spotted Wolf, 3:49; Fifth place: Carter Beer, Columbus-Absarokee p. Ruebin Swenson, Chester-Joplin-Inverness, 0:20.

Chinook Individual Results

113 - Rebecca Stroh

1st rd - pinned by Tanner Cook, COL, :43; 1st rd Consolation - pinned by Jeff Colesworthy, CON,. 1:32.

152 - J.T. Hauer

1st rd - pinned Coltin Siphkas, MAN, 5:45; Quarterfinals - pinned by Isaac DuMontier, SI, 5:02; Consolation 2nd rd - dec. Dallen Hoover, WTH, 10-6; Consolation 3rd rd - pinned by Austin Vanek, CB, 2:30.

150 - Favion Courtier

1st rd - pinned by Kyle Evans, CAS, 1:31; 1st rd Consolation - pinned by Ty Kittelson, GLA, 2:11.

Harlem Individual Results

132 - John Hughes

1st rd - pinned by Connor Johnson, WHT, :54; 1st rd Consolation - pinned by Conrad Vanderwall, PLA, 4:15.

Chester-Joplin-Inverness Individual Results

HWT - Reubin Swenson (6th Place)

1st rd - pinned Wes Omsberg, CB, 2:15; Quarterfinals - lost dec. Mason Phipps, GLA, 8-5; Consolation 2nd rd - maj. dec. Cody Best, WHT, 15-2; Consolation 3rd rd - pinned Jacob Lapinski, SUP, 4:36; Consolation Semi - lost dec. Terry Spotted Wolf, COL, 9-5; Fifth/Sixth - pinned by Carter Beer, COL, :20.

Fort Benton/Big Sandy Individual Results

138 - Connor Schnabel

1st rd - pinned Eli Reed, BOU, :49; Quarterfinals - pinned by Josiah Vanderwall, PLA, 2:47; Consolation 2nd rd - lost dec. Johnny Chamberlain, FLO, 6-3.

182 - Hayden Axtman

1st rd - tech fall Trey Green, SUP, 1:01; Quarterfinals - pinned by Henry Koch, HP, 1:02; Consolation 2nd rd - pinned by Carter Morgan, CHO, 2:26.