TF adds Kato girls' tourney

While the boys were battling it out at the Ted Kato Memorial Tournament in Thompson Falls Saturday, the girl grapplers were hitting the mat at Plains, where eight teams from Montana and Idaho wrestled for some three hours.

The Thompson Falls Lady Hawks had five girls from eighth grade to senior competing in the meet. The Lady Hawks had five wins and six losses for the day. There were nearly 40 wrestlers, including Thompson Falls, along with the Arlee Scarlets, Darby Lady Tigers, Whitefish Lady Bulldogs, Powell County Wardens, Mission/Charlo, Sandpoint Bulldogs, and the Priest River Spartans. Together, there were 43 matches in three rounds.

Plains High School graduate Lily McDonald, who wrestled for the Plains-Hot Springs wrestling team last year, sang the Star-Spangled Banner for the opening of the matches. She also gave tips to several of the wrestlers during the meet.

Lady Hawk Desani Bewick, a senior, was in the lead 8-7 when she pinned Spartan Ezra Vollendorff in 4:32 in the 100-pound weight class in the second match of the day. In round three, she was pinned by Gracy Wood of Darby in 28 seconds, the fastest pin of the day.

Competing in the 107-pound class, Jaden Bewick, a sophomore and Desani's sister, pinned Jean Marshell in 1:38. She lost to Hunter Edmondson of Sandpoint by pin in round two and was pinned by Scarlett Anola Naugle in round three.

The score was tied 4-4 in the match of Lady Hawk freshman Alayna Hockhalter, wrestling in the 145-pound class, against Sandpoint's Kaysha Kimura, when in overtime she picked up two points in a take down and won 6-4. "I knew that I was going to win. I just needed to pull her closer to get her to the mat," said Hockhalter, who added that she has a lot of stamina and knew her opponent was tiring. She lost her second match when pinned by Aubry Sharbono of Mission/Charlo.

Lady Hawk Veronica Vega, an eighth-grader competing in the 100-pound weight class, lost her first round to Wood, but in round three she pinned Spartan Ezrah Vollendorf in 1:22. Freshman Lexi Volk of Thompson Falls won her first match 7-0 against Vollendorf, but in her second face off, she lost to Sandpoint's MacKenzie Donfeld 4-2.

"I thought they wrestled really good. They showed a lot of improvement," said Jase Sorenson, a volunteer coach with Thompson Falls. Sorenson said they need to work on moving off the bottom.