Still wrestling for Coach Kenny

P-HS grapplers honor Marjerrison with effort

 

January 25, 2018

DAN THE MAN - Undefeated so far this season, Plains senior Daniel Uli won the 126 pound championship in the Kato Invitational Saturday. Uli is pcitured wrestling Mission-Charlo's Bailey Weible in the Kato title match.

Short time! KLM 1983-2017

Kenny Marjerrison might not be here in body but his indomitable spirit lives on with his beloved Plains-Hot Springs wrestling team. And not just because his favorite shout of encouragement from the sidelines and his initials are emblazoned on P-HS's team jackets and hoodies this season.

You can almost feel it when "his" kids are out there wrestling – they are not competing just for their school, themselves and their current coaches, they are out there doing their best for coach Kenny, too, trying to make their former mentor proud. Wrestling, competing and carrying themselves the way that he would want; the way he taught them to.

Plains-Hot Springs head coach Jeff Kujala, who graciously volunteered to come on board with Savage Horsemen wrestling to try replace Marjerrison before the season began, and his assistants Kenneth Beech, Rocky Wagoner and Jake Lile know where the credit for the Savage Horsemen wrestling program really lies.

"It's all because of Kenny, he built this program into what it is today through his hard work and dedication," Kujala said. "We are blessed to have what we have with this team. It's almost like a family and we owe it all to him.

"Our job is to carry it on the way he would have wanted us to," he added.

Doing just what Kenny would have wanted, the Savage Horsemen wrestled their collective hearts out Saturday and won third place in the Ted Kato Invitational in Thompson Falls.

Daniel Uli and Josiah Vanderwall led the Horsemen with championship runs at 126 and 132 pounds, Austin Stafford (145) and Luke Lile (160) earned second place medals, Peter Carey (113) won third and Robert Mathers (152) fourth.

The Savage Horsemen ended up with 114 points and finished third behind Thompson Falls (184) and Mission-Charlo (125) in the 10-team Kato Invite.

Uli and Vanderwall struck gold in their Kato championship matches, both with pin wins. Uli flattened Bailey Weible of Mission-Charlo in 5:19 of the 126 final and Vanderwall stuck Cole Gilleard of Mission-Charlo in 2:44 of the 132 title match.

Stafford and Lile earned championship matches but eventually fell in those matches. Stafford lost to Florence's Jethro Thorne in the 145 final and Lile lost by a 12-6 decision to Kyler Alm of Florence in the 160 chipper.

Carey also won his Kato conso match at 113 with a pin of Kalispell

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Glacier's Bridger Beach in 4:18 of that match, and won an earlier match by pin.

Conrad Vanderwall, at 120, was eliminated from the medal round one match away from placing in the top four. Bert DeTienne and Jesse Uski both wrestled hard for the Savage Horsemen at 138 pounds in the Kato, and Steven Yother competed well at 285.

Uli and Josiah Vanderwall are among the best in the state at their weights this winter. Uli improved to 35-0 for the season and Josiah to 36-1 with their winning efforts in the Kato. Lile is now 24-12 for the season at 160 pounds and Stafford is 23-12 at 145.

Mathers' medal win at 152 was the second-year senior's first ever in a tournament, and seemed to be one of the highlights of the day for the other P-HS wrestlers and their fans, judging by the excited support he received in Thompson Falls.

Whatever the final outcome was from the Kato tourney, coach Kenny would have been proud of his entourage in Thompson Falls, and that seems to be what P-HS wrestling is all about now, living up to the ideals set by Marjerrison during his time with the program.

It is almost like he is physically there again when one of his kids is wrestling, as Kujala, Beech, Wagoner and Jake Lile take turn coaching the matches as the rest of the Savage Horsemen grapplers surround the mat in support of their teammates. The only thing missing seems to be him sitting in the coach's chair or kneeling by the mat, yelling out his trademark "Short time!" encouragement to his grapplers.

"It almost seems like he is there when the kids are wrestling," Kujala said. "And, in a way, he is still here. We all carry his memory with us and try to honor him that way."

LOOKING FOR THE PIN - Plains-Hot Springs' Conrad Vanderwall in action at the Ted Kato Invitational in Thompson Falls Saturday.

Plains-Hot Springs has a mixer match scheduled for Saturday in Plains but Kujala was not sure if that event would be wrestled or not at press time. "We are not sure if we will have it or not," he said. "We have seen all the teams that would have been coming a lot already this season, and I have not heard a confirmation from the other teams as to whether they are coming or not."

Beyond this week, the post season is already here as the Western B-C divisional tournament will be held in Superior Feb. 3, with the State B-C in Billings Feb. 9-10.

The Savage Horsemen also competed in a triangular dual match in Thompson Falls Friday, defeating the Kalispell JV 42-15 and falling to Thompson Falls 36-33.

Josiah Vanderwall, Stafford, Mathers and Lile won their matches by pin against Flathead, and Stafford and Lile also won by pin against Thompson Falls. Conrad Vanderwall won a decision at 120 pounds in that match.

 

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