Making the west best again

Blue Hawks wrestle down 2nd in Choteau Classic

 

January 18, 2018

Angela Lovell Franck

JUST REWARDS - The Thompson Falls wrestling team and coaches pose for a photo after being awarded second place in team competition at the Choteau Classic Saturday. The Blue Hawks will host the annual Ted Kato Invitational at TFHS Saturday with mat action expected to begin at 9:30 a.m.

Is the west becoming the best?

If the Thompson Falls Blue Hawk grapplers and several other teams from west of the Continental Divide have anything to say about it, it is.

Those teams' performances at the Choteau Classic last week, led by the Hawks, may prove that the wrestling power shift has already occurred.

Malta won the 2018 Choteau Classic title with 180 points, Thompson Falls was second with 164.5, Whitehall (121.5) third, Plains-Hot Springs (119.5) fourth and Florence (103) fifth in the 31-team meet, giving the Western B-C three of the top five finishing spots in the tournament.

Clearly, the Montana wrestling worm is finally turning this way after decades of dominance by teams from the Northern and Eastern division teams.

Thompson Falls got its second place trophy during the Hawks' first full week without their salty 152-pounder Cody Garrison, who likely would have scored enough points to help push the Hawks to first place had he been able to wrestle.

Roman Sparks (103 pounds), Kaleb Frank (120) and Jase Sorenson (170) all earned individual Choteau Classic championships, Austin Cooper (205) won second place, Nathan Ostwald (120) placed third, Sam Ostwald (160) fourth, and Garrett Jones (103) fifth.

Coach Ian Taylor liked how his team performed last week and wonders what might have been had Garrison been able to go in Choteau.

"You have got to deal with what you've got. I think we would have won this thing with Cody," he said, "but I am real happy with how we did with what we had. We had only eight scoring wrestlers and still had the best team finish that Thompson Falls has ever had in this tournament, and that says something."

Doing their talking by walking the walk out there on the mat, Sparks, a freshman, and Frank and Sorenson, both seniors, all swept to Choteau individual titles.

Sparks pinned Boulder's Christian Davis in 45 seconds of his quarterfinal match, stuck Arlee's Jac Samue in 1:15 of the semis and finally scored a major 13-2 decision over Dawson Powers of Whitehall in the 103 championship match.

For his part, Frank pinned his first opponent in only 38 seconds and his second foe in only 37. After being awarded a forfeit win over teammate Nathan Ostwald in the semifinals, Frank defeated Conrad Vanderwall by major decision in the 120 championship.

Continuing his standout season, Sorenson pinned his way to the 170 title with four straight pin wins. After pinning his first two opponents, Sorenson flattened Florence's Dax Miller in 5:29 of the semifinals and then got the best of Valier's Dylan Monroe in 3:44 of the title fight.

Cooper enjoyed one of his better tournaments ever in wrestling down his second place Choteau medal at 205. Cooper's key win was a 13-11 decision over Boulder's Nick Workman in the semifinals. Cooper lost to Bigfork's Logan Kaminsky in the championship.

"Austin had a great tournament," Taylor said, "he keeps getting better all the time."

Nathan Ostwald earned his third place medal by winning a tough 6-5 decision from Western B-C rival Robert Dempsey of Mission-Charlo in the 120 pound consolation final.

Older brother Sam Ostwald had to wrestle six times to get his fourth place medal at 160. Sam won four of those matches, three by pin, before falling be a 13-6 decision in the 160 conso final.

Jones came back from a loss to win fifth at 103 pounds, pinning Stephen Schulze of Simms in 1:36 of the fifth-sixth place match.

Heavyweight Seth Alarcon was the other scoring team member for the Hawks in Choteau. Alarcon wrestled in four matches, all decided by pin, winning two and losing two before being eliminated.

Although the Hawks' second place win in Choteau is worth celebrating, Thompson Falls wrestlers will have little time for that as the Ted Kato Invitational Saturday, and a triangular match with Plains-Hot Springs and the Kalispell Flathead JV Friday, loom ahead.

See other story for details on this week's upcoming match action.

 

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