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"Top 3 in Division! Top 3 in State!"

The Thompson Falls-Noxon wrestling team had their team goals plastered on a poster hanging in their wrestling room this winter. That poster provided a tangible goal, one that each and every Blue Hawk grappler believed in and was working towards.

Fighting to achieve those goals to the final whistle in each and every match they wrestled, another mighty fine Thompson Falls-Noxon wrestling season ended last week. Led by 132-pound individual champion Trae Thilmony (see other story), the Hawks placed a total of four wrestlers in the top five at the State B-C tournament in Shelby last week, scoring 70 team points and finishing a respectable ninth in final team scoring.

Not bad for a team that went into the tourney with only six wrestlers.

"I am very proud of this team. We put that poster up in our room and the kids bought in, we felt that if we wrestled our best we could accomplish those goals," coach Mike Thilmony said. "We didn't quite reach them but I can't take anything away from our kids, they all fought like crazy right up to the end."

And several Hawks earned State B-C medals which will now forever be cherished. Besides Trae Thilmony's first place win at 132, sophomore Elijah Ratliff won fourth place at 145, freshman Max Hannum won fourth at 160 and senior Dane Chojnacky locked down fifth place at 182.

From Noxon, junior Shane Reishus won his first round match at 152 and senior Josh Baldwin wrapped up his two-year mat career competing at 170, although neither ended up in the medal round.

Ratliff advanced to the semifinals before falling to eventual 145 champion Zach Valdez. Coming back through the wrestlebacks, Ratliff had to face nemesis Mathew Larson of Cut Bank in the consolation semifinals, and ended up winning the rubber match in that series. Ratliff lost to Brady Ellison of Columbus in the consolation final.

"Elijah had a great tournament. We felt he could win a state title but Valdez came out strong in that semifinal match," Thilmony said. "Elijah dominated Larson in the conso semis though."

"I knew I was going to have a tough match with Valdez," Ratliff said, "but I also knew my tournament wasn't over yet after that, and that I had to wrestle tough against Larson to get in for third and fourth."

Hannum, after winning fourth at 160 in the Western B-C, won fourth

Doree Thilmony

BRUTE STRENGTH - Falls senior Dane Chojnacky gets a leg up on his Malta opponent. Chojnacky won fifth place at 182 pounds in the State B-C meet.

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again on the much bigger stage of the State B-C. "Max had an outstanding tournament," Thilmony said, "and he has a very bright future ahead of him down the road."

Hannum lost to Camryn Mears of Fairfield in the 160 conso final.

For his part, Chojnacky also made his coaches proud, and rewarded them and himself with the hard-earned fifth place medal at 182.

After reaching the semifinals, Chojnacky's other big highlight of the tourney was defeating Wolf Point's Mason Garfield 6-3 in double overtime of the 182 fifth-sixth place match. Chojnacky had also defeated Garfield 6-2 in the championship quarterfinals earlier on.

"We are very happy for Dane, he has come so far in his four years in this program," Thilmony said. "He has a lot to be proud of himself, and we are proud of him too."