Are Scottie Wrestlers Peaking At The Right Time? Could Be

It finally happened, as their coach put it. At the Harlem Invitational on Saturday, the Glasgow Scotties wrestling team gelled.
Coach Byron Hallock felt it, the traveling Scottie fans loved it, and the Class B-C wrestling dynasty ended up in a familiar place: on top. GHS won the 13-team invite with 103 points, three more than runner-up Malta and 12 ahead of the scrappy hosts.
“We turned the corner, came together as a team at that tournament,” Hallock told The Courier. “It finally happened. Hopefully, it’s not too late.”
Actually, the timing could be sweet – if the Scotties keep focused with the Eastern Divisional and State coming up fast.
Next up: The Malta Mixer on Friday and Malta Invitational on Saturday.
“The Malta Invitational will be a huge seeding tournament for the Divisionals,” Hallock said. “Some guys still have a little work to do to get there.”
Namely, Hallock said Travis Austin “needs to step it up” at 160 pounds in Mustang country this weekend. The mat mentor also said the promising trio of Robbie Henville at 189, Killian Gregg at 215 and heavyweight Joe Doney need solid showings to sow their own seeds.
Then there are, at this point, the Big 5 that Hallock is projecting to earn high seeds at Divisional: Ben Kountz in the top four at 135, all-everything Luke Zeiger at No. 1 at 140, Kevin Frigon in the top four at 145, and the 152 running mates Ryan Bergtoll at No. 2 and Jacoby Chase-Collins in the top four.
At Harlem, Bergtoll and Zeiger pinned their way to individual titles and Gregg earned a second. Taking thirds were Kountz, Frigon and Chase-Collins. (See invitational results at end of story.)
The invite concluded a busy three days for the Scotties that opened with a Senior Night dual on Thursday with against Sidney. The Eagles won, 54-28, but Glasgow didn’t break out of the gates until after forfeits at 98, 105, 112, 119 and 125.
“We knew we wouldn’t win the dual,” Hallock said.
But the Scotties held their own. In the 10 matches that were wrestled, the teams split. (See results at end of story.)
GHS also tuned up for the post season at Friday’s Chinook Mixer. 
“We did all right,” Hallock said. “We went out there trying to get some match-ups that we need because Divisionals is only 2 1/2 weeks away. Some of them we won, some we didn’t.”
Some team stars, Hallock said, can be found outside the wrestling circle. He commended managers Emily Frigon, Megan Storkson and Kelsie Meland as meaningful contributors to the Scotties’ success, filming matches and keeping books.
“It’s nice to have them in our corner,” the coach said.
HARLEM INVITATIONAL RESULTS
TEAM SCORES
Glasgow 103, Malta 100, Harlem 91, Chinook 90, Cut Bank 85, Wolf Point 75, Shelby 63, Fort Benton 53, Chester-Joplin-Inverness 42, Poplar 41, Circle 35, Havre JV 27, Heart Butte 0.
FINALS
98 – Maestro Martinez, WP, d. Joe Rappold, Mal, 11-5. 105 – Shay Snider, Har, md. Gus Taylor, Har, 9-1. 112 – Kylan Berkram, CB, p. Rabe Whitford, 2:44. 119 – Teague Jones, Har, d. Travis Vermulm, 5-1. 125 - Rico Stormer, Cir, d. Riley DeBruycker, 12-6. 130 – Garrett Horsman, WP, d. Chris Doney, 8-4. 135 – Nolan Simonton, Mal, p. Flynn Stormer, 5:07. 140 – Luke Zeiger, Gla, p. Chris Snupe, Har, 1:31. 145 – Leonard Puglsey, CJI, d. Riley Brown. 152 – Ryan Bergtoll, Gla, p. Nathan Carlson, Mal, 1:36. 160 – Riley Trindle, FB, d. James Holen, Pop, 3-1. 171 – Cord Anderson, Chi, d. Austin Burshia, Pop. 189 – Ben Stroh, Chi, p. David Hopson, WP, 1:05. 215 – Jorrell Jones, Chi, p. Killian Gregg, Gla, 1:48. Hwt – Cody Nelson, She, p. Shalon Norvick, CJI, 5:44.
THIRD PLACE
98 – Slade Martinez, WP, p. Randon Anderson, 1:25. 105 – Reid VandenBoz, CB, p. Austin Connors, 1:38. 112 – P.J. Ayers, FB, p. Henry Ramirez, Mal, :49. 119 – Brenden Johnson, Har. 125 – Geoff Qualls, Chi, d. Derek Stewart, She, 8-7. 130 – Gunnar Aageson, Hav, p. Michael Kraft, CB, 2:32. 135 - Ben Kountz, Gla, placed third in a 4-1 decision. 140 – Robert Jennings, CB, d. Erik Kelly, CJI, 6-4. 145 – Kevin Frigon, Gla. 152 – Jacoby Chase-Collins, Gla, p. Keane Stewart, She, 2:44. 160 – Garrett Pronto, WP, p. Lucas Brauchle, She, 3:40. 171 – Jace Billy, Hav, p. Ron Kinyon, She. 189 – Cody Blackcrow, Har, d. Robbie Henville, Gla, 8-6. 215 – Hank Olyer, Mal, p. Duran Jackson, Pop, :46. Hwt – Seth Adams, Har, p. Joe Doney, Gla, 4:50.
GLASGOW-SIDNEY DUAL
SIDNEY 54, GLASGOW 28
130 – Brody Rooks (S) pin Chaz Kolski (G)
135 – Ben Kountz (G) pin Braden Rooks (S)
140 – Luke Zeiger (G) pin Jace Buxbaum (S)
145 – Joe Barsott (S) pin Kevin Frigon (G)
152 – Ryan Bergtoll (G) pin Cody Christian (S)
160 – Spencer Brost (S) pin Jacoby Chase-Collins (G)
171 – Dave Fisher (S) pin Travis Austin (G)
189 – Robbie Henville (G) dec Raymond Jolly (S) 10-0
215 – Killian Gregg (G) pin Jory Stevens (S)
285 – Allen Neulib (S) pin Joe Doney (G)