Savage Horsemen third in Eureka

The Savage Horsemen wrestlers placed third at the Buzz Lucey tournament in Eureka, finishing with 153.5 points behind first-place finisher Libby and second-place Eureka. David Schulze kept his undefeated season going, improving to 17-0 as he brought home the title at 138 pounds.

It was an unusual championship match for Schulze as he met teammate Will James Courville. “It was cool to have those kids in the final for first and second,” said Coach Shane Angle. “That doesn’t happen very often.” He added that the duo went out and had a Greco Roman throw fest for two periods before Schulze pinned Courville in the third to add another championship to his undefeated season.

Drew Carey also took first place at the Buzz Lucey, at 132 pounds, as he improved his record to 17-1 for the season. “Those two are really working hard to keep their good records going,” Angle said. Courville and John Waterbury finished second for the Savage Horsemen. Waterbury lost the championship match at 126 due to an injury. August Courville (103), Brady Schrenk (145) and Spur Ryan (160) took third for the Horsemen in Eureka. “The Eureka tournament has always been a tough competition for us,” Angle said.

At 103 pounds for the Savage Horsemen, August Courville placed third and Gavin Schrenk finished one match away from placing in Eureka. Courville beat Polson’s Breadon Iliff in a 17-6 major decision to move on to the semifinals, where he was pinned by Eureka’s Blake Lancaster. Courville wrestled his way back to the podium by pinning Riley Osborn of Libby in 4 minutes and then beating Iliff once again 9-5. Schrenk pinned Osborn in his first match in 5:32, but then lost to Polson’s Ryley Knutson and Iliff.

At 126 pounds, Waterbury made it to the podium with an 11-5 decision over Brian Lyles of Polson and a pin in 2:31 over Lakeland, Idaho’s Austin Howell. With no separate girls’ brackets, Taylor Angle also wrestled at 126 pounds, with two losses in the tournament.

Carey’s championship started with a pin over Clifford Nance of Glacier High School, then a technical fall over Lakeland’s Scott Glass. In the semifinals, Carey pinned Columbia Falls’ Blake Hoerner in 5:33 and won the 132-pound championship match 14-10 against Thomas Putnam of Glacier. Brynn Courville also wrestled for the Savage Horsemen at 132 but was unable to get a win in the Buzz Lucey.

At 138 pounds, Will James Courville beat Jacob Varner of Lakeland, pinning him in 47 seconds, then won a major decision 12-1 over Korbin Baldwin of Glacier. In the semifinal round, Courville pinned Libby’s Elijah Edwards in 1:31. Schulze’s tournament started with a pin in 2 minutes over Colin Killian of Lakelane and a pin in 3:01 over Connor Benson of Libby. Sky Van Der Gang also wrestled at 138 pounds. After being pinned by Libby’s Benson, Van Der Gang pinned two opponents in the consolation bracket before being put out of the tournament by Libby’s Edwards.

Brady Schrenk lost his first match of the Buzz Lucey to Eureka’s Dominic Peltier before wrestling his way back to third place. In the consolation bracket, Schrenk pinned three opponents in a row before a rematch with Peltier in the consolation semifinal, which Schrenk won 8-6. “That kid handled him in the first round,” Angle said. “What a great match to come back and win the rematch and work your way back to third. Hands down to that kid. He finished really well. That was a highlight turnover for him.” Schrenk then went on to pin Michael Watters of Eureka in 1:24.

Lillian MacDonald lost her first match as well, but was able to get a win by pin in the consolation bracket in 2:40 against Libby’s Sam Rosling.

Spur Ryan lost his first match in Eureka, but then came back to pin Nathan Fink of Columbia Falls in 53 seconds and Blaze Allen of Columbia Falls in 51 seconds to finish third. “Spur did really well, wrestling back for his first placement in a tournament this year,” Coach Angle said.

Angle noted that he has been working to add more matches to the schedule for the Savage Horsemen, including getting more competition for the girls for they are ready for the postseason. The Savage Horsemen headed to Bigfork on Tuesday for a mixer with Bigfork, Eureka and Browning, then will be on break until January 4.