Trae takes title in Choteau

It was a successful weekend at the Choteau Classic for the Blue Hawk wrestlers, who came home with a champion and two second-place finishers. Senior Trae Thilmony, on a quest for his third straight state title, won the 145-pound bracket as junior Eli Ratliff placed second at 152 and Max Hannum was second at 170.

The Blue Hawks placed fifth as a team and coach Mike Thilmony was very happy with that finish. The team had five of their eight wrestlers make it to the second day of the two-day tournament, including Westin Brown, who came up short in his first match but then was able to win two matches in the consolation bracket.

The Hawks went three-for-four in the semifinal matches and were able to get a good look at competition from throughout the division at the Choteau Classic.

Trae Thilmony battled his way to a championship in one of the toughest wrestling tournaments of the year. Thilmony pinned his first two competitors in the first period of each match before meeting John Armstrong of Jefferson in the semifinal match. That didn’t phase Thilmony as he beat Armstrong in a 18-3 technical fall in the third period. Thilmony then met Brady Ellison of Columbus in the championship match, pinning him in 3:31.

Eli Ratliff and Shane Reishus wrestled well at 152 for the Hawks, with Ratliff taking second place. Ratliff pinned his way to the championship match, taking Conner Lamb of Townsend to the mat in 58 seconds, pinning Shayden Friedlander of Mission/Charlo in 1:32, and beating Drake Berreth of Chinook in 1:30 in the semifinal match. Ratliff then met Riley Richtmyer in the championship match, losing to the Townsend wrestler 3-1. Coach Thilmony said the championship match was close and could have gone either way, but Richtmyer got a takedown in the last 20 seconds of the match. Coach Thilmony said his team has had good battles with Richtmyer over the years. The history with Townsend wrestling and Thompson Falls run deep, as both teams’ coaches wrestled against each other in high school and college. Reishus also won his first two matches by pin, first beating Marty Snow of Harlowton in 1:06 and then pinning Conrad’s Chris Graham in the second period. Reishus then lost a 10-4 decision to Richtmyer, pushing the Noxon senior to the consolation bracket.

Hannum’s quest for second place started with a pin in 1:36 over Whitehall’s Karson Klapan. Hannum then met Shelby’s Bryant Mertz, pinning him in 1:18. The Thompson Falls wrestler then pinned Jefferson’s Brady Armstrong in 1:16 before losing the championship match 10-0 to Chinook's Tyler Schoen. “I think that’s a match Max can win,” Thilmony said of the matchup with Schoen, from the eastern division. “Max wrestled a very competitive match against him.”

Levi Wenz was unable to come home with a win from the Choteau Classic, but wrestled a tough tournament, Thilmony said. Ryan Bucher lost his first match, but won in the consolation bracket at 160 pounds. Coach Thilmony said the younger wrestlers are stepping up, with those wins helping in the team scoring. Blue Hawk girls Veronica Bewick and Desani Bewick were unable to get a win in Choteau but were able to see some good competition in the girls tournament.

Getting a look at wrestlers from throughout the state in Choteau, Thilmony said his team is hoping to finish in the top three or four at the divisional tournament in Butte in February. “We know the western division is going to be a tough grind and very competitive,” he added. The Blue Hawks had not competed since before Christmas break due to weather cancellations earlier this month, so they were ready for action.

This week, the Blue Hawks traveled to Superior for a mixer on Tuesday before getting ready for a weekend of home-mat action. Thompson Falls will host Fairfield, Cascade and Priest River for three rounds of duals on Friday night before welcoming 14 teams to the annual Ted Kato Memorial tournament on Saturday. Thilmony said the depth of the brackets has drawn more teams to the competition. “It’s making the Ted Kato a tougher tournament. It will be very competitive and we have teams excited to come.” The Blue Hawks are hoping to see a hometown crowd in the stands for the competition both Friday and Saturday. The Friday duals start at 5 p.m. and the tournament Saturday begins at 9:30 a.m., with the championship round starting around 4 p.m. “Getting to have tournaments this year again is a highlight for the fans, wrestlers and the community,” said Thompson Falls Athletic Director Jake Mickelson. “We have competition coming in that we don’t normally see throughout the year. The Ted Kato is just a fun meet.”