Polson eked out a one-point victory to win the team championship and five Northwest Montana grapplers claimed individual titles at the Western A divisional seeding tournament in Butte on Feb. 2.
The Pirates earned 221 total points, just ahead of defending champion Frenchtown (220). Columbia Falls (169 1/2) was a distant third.
Polson had two divisional champs in Bridger Wenzel (152) and Hunter Fritsch (170), and qualified 15 total wrestlers for the state tournament, Feb. 8-9 in Billings. The Mat Cats will send 11 wrestlers to the state meet, including divisional champ Colten McPhee (182), and Whitefish advanced 10 grapplers, led by 138-pound divisional titlist Dakota Flannery. Libby-Troy’s Trey Thompson, at 145, was Northwest Montana’s other tournament champ. The Greenchain qualified eight total wrestlers.
Other top-three finishers at the divisional tournament included Whitefish’s Nathan Sproul (3rd at 103) and Camren Ross (3rd at 152); Columbia Falls’ Allec Knapton (3rd at 170), Jakob Freeman (2nd at 205) and Taylor Gladeau (2nd at 285); Polson’s Rene Pierre (2nd at 113), Kedrick Baker (3rd at 120) and Logan Adler (3rd at 182); and Libby-Troy’s Buddy Doolin (2nd at 120), Zack Morrison (2nd at 132), Jeff Offenbecher (2nd at 138) and Hunter Hoover (2nd at 152).
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