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Wrestling

Eight Flathead Wrestlers Continuing to College Ranks

Four boys and four girls from Flathead High School will continue brawling at the next level of competition

By Micah Drew
Flathead’s Noah Poe-Hatten wrestles Hunter Meinzen of Izzy Moreno of Missoula Big Sky / Loyola Sacred Heart in the 160 pounds final’s match at the AA state wrestling tournament at Flathead High School Kalispell on March 6, 2021. Meinzen won by decision. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead Beacon

Flathead High School wrestling coach Jeff Thompson announced on Facebook that eight athletes in the program committed to competing at the collegiate level. Flathead’s wrestling programs are the most successful in the state in recent years, and several athletes are planning to take that success to the next level.

State champion Noah Poe-Hatten spent four years chasing a victory at the state tournament and now is taking his first-place talents to the collegiate ranks at North Idaho College. He’ll be joined there by Flathead teammates Gabe Lake and Forest Howell. Tynan Krause will join the Argos at the University of Providence.

On the girls side, Minot State University will add Bravettes Reina Koehler, Skye Shelmerdine and Trinity Boivin to the roster, while Lily McMahon will join Simpson University in Iowa.

Both Flathead teams were unable to defend their back-to-back state titles this year, but the Braves have earned more state titles than any other team in the state this century (2004, 2006-2010, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022). The Bravettes won the first two state titles after girls wrestling was first sanctioned in 2021.