Sixteen teams hit the mats on Saturday for the annual Ted Kato Memorial wrestling tournament. Thompson Falls and Plains/Hot Springs tied for seventh place, earning 86 points each. A big crowd of spectators watched intently as wrestlers fought hard. Both Blue Hawk and Savage Horsemen wrestlers sported medals and came away with accomplishments.

Coach Jesse Jermyn said that the Plains/Hot Springs team went into the tournament looking to succeed on an individual basis and wrestled their weight class, to help prepare for divisionals, rather than bumping up or down in weight class.

John Waterbury was the champion for the 132-weight class, beating his teammate Drew Carey in their final match of the day. A wrestling enthusiast from the stands said that it looked like they were dancing, doing head and arm wrestling in the first two periods before the final pin. Waterbury pinned his way to the championship match, where he beat Carey 9-5. Carey had two pins and a technical fall prior to the championship match.

Jacob Schulze, who is ranked sixth in the 126-weight class, wrestled Decker Milender from Superior, ranked third, in the championship match for a second-place finish. "Jacob had a good match with a top competitor," said Jermyn.

"Donny Nelson and Mason Elliott had good showings this weekend," said Jermyn. Elliott placed third in the 145-weight class beating out his teammate Nelson in the first period of the consolation final. Elliott lost his first match of the day to Cascade's Asher Nelson, then pinned his way to the third-place finish, while Nelson pinned Tate Bosker of Thompson Falls in his first match of the day before falling in the semifinal round and wrestling back to his fourth-place finish. In the 160-pound weight class, Brady Schrenk pinned his first two challengers before losing in the semifinals and missing the podium by one match.

In the 138-pound class, Beau Crabb won his first round in a tough match against Sam Doughty of Superior before falling to Brock Ryan of Thompson Falls and losing out in the consolation bracket.. Lillian MacDonald was defeated in her two matches in the 138-pound weight class.

Jermyn said that Gabe Rasmussen scored well, pulling off his first medal. Rasmussen placed fourth in the 182-pound weight class, pinning two wrestlers before losing in the semifinal round. In the consolation bracket, Rasmussen won a 4-1 decision over Wlliam Buchanan of Superior.

Thompson Falls had four wrestlers place at their home tournament. Senior Eli Ratliff kept his championship streak going with a title at 160 pounds. Ratliff beat Cade Ball from Fort Benton in the second period. The Hawk senior started the day with a first-period pin before beating two competitors by technical fall to make it to the championship match. Max Hannum won the 170-pound weight championship, beating McCoy Banner of Fairfield in the championship 12-7. Hannum took his competition to the mat earlier in the day, pinning David Chapman of Plains, Sentinel's Tobias Jacobson and Cascade's Colby Crowell before the match against Banner.

Placing fourth for the Hawks was Diego Long at 126 pounds and Noa Stevens at 152 pounds. Stevens pinned his first two competitors before falling in the semifinal match and wrestling back to a fourth-place finish. Mason Park also wrestled for the Hawks at 152, but didn't get a win in the Ted Kato. Sisters Desani, Jaden and Veronica Bewick represented the Blue Hawk girls in the home tournament but were unable to get a win at home. Westin Brown and Trevor Peterson competed for the Hawks at 132 pounds, with Brown getting one pin during the home action and Peterson two pins.

Jennifer Curran

Blue Hawk Max Hannum wrestles at the Ted Kato Invitational.

"I thought both Eli and Max wrestled very well in the championship session," said Coach Michael Thilmony. Thompson Falls will be hosting a duel with Mission on Thursday starting at six and will travel to Whitefish for duels on Friday.