46 YEARS AGO • FEBRUARY 20, 1975

ROD BYBEE WINS FIRST IN STATE

The Thompson Falls wrestlers placed eighth in the state tournament held in Miles City last weekend with 26½ points. Earning most of the points for the Hawks were Don Breitenbach and Rod Bybee.

Breitenbach, a freshman, came on strong at the latter part of the season and placed first at the divisional tournament held in Superior. At the state meet he was defeated only once and earned a spot in the consolation match.

Bybee along with Jim Kaphammer and Fren Warenka of Superior were the only three wrestlers from western Montana to place first. Bybee was undefeated this year in what you would call “his sport,” placing first at state for the second year in a row. Last year he captured the 138 lb. title his year he defended it successfully in the 145 lb. class defeating Don Le Veque of Cascade by a convincing 14-4 score.

Four other boys who qualified for the state matches from Thompson Falls were Rick Breitenbach, Jeff Miller, Ron Bybee and Mike Allen.

Breitenbach, Miller and Ron Bybee were all defeated in their first matches and eliminated from competition. Allen won his third match. This match put Allen into the second round which he lost.

Blue Hawk State Champion Wrestlers:

1974 – Rod Bybee, 138

1975 – Rod Bybee, 145

1977 – Don Breitenbach, 112

Chris Wollaston, 155

1979 – Ron Kazmierczak, 126

Steve Davis, 155

Larry Milner, 167

Shawn Allen, HWT

1980 – Mike Fisher, 132

1982 – Mike LaBrosse, 126

1987 – Jared Savik, 167

1991 – Jesse Kegel, 145

1996 – Randi Cunningham, 171

2000 – Jay Deal, 189

2012 – Ben Conover, 145

2020 – Trae Thilmony, 120

2021 – Trae Thilmony, 132

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

Missoula – was first called Missoula Mills because the town was built around flour and sawmills. The origin of the name Missoula has never been agreed upon, but several ideas have found their way into print: Salisbury says, “[Native Americans] used to call Hellgate Canyon ‘Issoul’ meaning horrible From this the growing city got its name.” Rowe insists it is a “Salish [Native American] word meaning ‘River of Awe;’ Duncan McDonald claimed it is from an [Native American] word meaning “sparkling waters;” according to Montana, a Guide Book, “Missoula takes its name from a Salish [Native American] word, ‘lm l sul a,’ meaning ‘by the chilling waters.’ And Stout agrees with Rowe that the name is from the Salish ‘In mis soulet ka,” which translates into English as the ‘river of awe.’ The scholarly Father Lawrence Palladino, revered priest of the Missoula parish, concluded that the words the Native Americans used to describe this place would seen to translate “at the stream of surprise or ambush.”The Missoula post office was established in 1866 with Charles Shaft as postmaster. The new town soon took much of the trade away from nearby Hellgate. The University of Montana, established in Missoula in 1895, greatly influenced the city’s economic and cultural growth.