Columbia Falls Gets Long-Wanted Wrestling Title

BILLINGS — For decades, most Western A teams traveling to Billings for the All-Class Wrestling Tournament might as well have turned back around if they were expecting to win the thing.

Over the past 20 seasons entering this year, only Corvallis in 2012 had been able to outlast all of many Eastern A wrestling forces that dot the landscape at First Interstate Arena at MetraPark. But with no clear frontrunner in the title race going into this weekend, it left an open gap for whatever program got red-hot at the right time.

Columbia Falls answered the call — and the Western A now has a rare wrestling state champion because of it.

The Wildcats won their first Class A crown since 1990 and broke a 10-year run of dominance from two separate five-year title reigns (first by Havre, then by Sidney) in the process, spurred on by an epic Friday performance and an unbeaten individual champion in 160-pounder Justin Windauer, who edged out Hardin’s Miles Wells 7-6 in the final to cap his senior year at a dominant 48-0.

With numerous Class A coaches expecting beforehand for the team race to be razor-thin with low scoring, Columbia Falls instead scored 201 points in all and made the finals drama-free at the top by sending nine wrestlers to the semifinals and three to title matches.

A first day full of upsets from the “MatCats” set the groundwork, though, and after 17 years at Columbia Falls, coach Jessie Schaeffer has finally been able to burst his program in Flathead County through in a class that’s often ruled by beasts from the east.

“Every time we’ve come into the room, every time we’ve come into a competition … they’ve bought in,” Schaeffer said. “For me, it’s just been an honor being able to sit in the coach’s chair and just be a part of what they’ve created for themselves. It’s them. This is their baby and it’s been fun to be a part of that.”

Tyler Gilfry (126), Chris Rathjen (138) and Windauer were the finalists for the Wildcats, who tied for the most among a single school in the Class A brackets along with the same two programs that had ran the show in the division for a decade — Sidney and Havre.

Windauer’s win in particular, however, put a cherry on top of Columbia Falls’ spectacular weekend. Last year’s champion at 138 pounds and a three-time state placer overall, the senior avoided Wells’ upset charge to complete his perfect year, though when asked which felt better — the undefeated individual title or the team title — he knew his answer right away.

“I won one last year, so I’d say this year the team title means a lot more to me,” Windauer said. “It’s something I’ve wanted since as long as I can remember. Team title’s the main thing, and then an individual title to go on top, it’s pretty cool.”

Miles City (152 points) was closest to Columbia Falls, doing the best it could with the hand it was given as Cowboy and Wildcat wrestlers only squared off a handful of times throughout the tournament.

Heavyweight Holden Meged won himself a state title and numerous others on the team additionally made deep runs, but the momentum Columbia Falls got from the event’s first day left Miles City too far behind to mount a Saturday challenge, coach Mike Etchemendy said once the Wildcats’ win was a formality. 

“We placed eight guys, and usually that’s enough to do it,” Etchemendy said. “I’m happy with what the boys did. … I think that (Columbia Falls) probably got the better of us when we (matched up), but we really didn’t match up that much, so it was out of our hands. There’s really nothing we could’ve done to stop them.”

Some bad luck also impacted Sidney (who finished fourth with 144.5 points) as it saw its title streak snapped, which is saying something considering it still had a pair of state champions in 132-pounder Reece Graves and 145-pounder Zander Dean, both of which were repeat winners (Graves his second straight, Dean his third).

Where misfortune struck the Eagles was at 138 pounds as Owen Lonski, who entered the tournament with a chance to join an exclusive club of four-time state champs in their careers, was battling a lingering case of mononucleosis throughout the event.

Rathjen defeated Lonski in the first round on the Wildcat’s way to the state title match, but an exhausted Lonski — who was almost pulled from the tournament completely following his Friday matches, per Sidney coach Guy Melby — stormed back to capture a heroic third place, winning the consolation final over Miles City’s Currey Brown despite being far from recovered from his illness.

“Well, if anybody knows his story, they wouldn’t be shocked by it at all,” Melby said of Lonski. “That’s the kind of kid he is. … For him to come back like that is amazing. That’s what Sidney wrestling is all about. Sometimes you don’t have control over what happens to you and you’ve just got to fight through it.”

Laurel, led by 170 champ Camden Johnson, filled the gap in third between Miles City and Sidney with 146 points, while Western A’s Frenchtown closed out the top five with 131 points and got a first-place individual of its own in 103-pounder Isaac Stewart.

Elsewhere, Lockwood (which finished seventh) had two milestone moments in its young program’s history as Brody Ketterling (120) and Cole Krutzfeldt (126) nabbed the first two individual crowns ever for the Lions, with both noting they pushed each other to succeed all year being at similar weights and ended up being better off for it.

“Considering we only had five wrestlers last year to having over 20 this year and two state champions … we definitely stepped it up this year,” Krutzfeldt said. “We’ll continue to grow, and it’s just a great opportunity for Lockwood.”

As a young team with numerous underclassmen competing at the state tournament, Lockwood may be bound to join the tier of eastern Class A elites in future seasons. But for now, its first-place trophy will rest in the west.

For Columbia Falls and the other top Class A programs of the region, they’re going to savor it — after all, it’s been a long time coming.

“It’s been a long 17 years,” Schaeffer said. “It’s nice to see that all of the work, all the community support finally came together and we’re able to bring one home for our community and our school.”