Wrestling Stays on a Roll

Down a few wrestlers, the Glasgow wrestling team still managed to pull out a pretty successful weekend, placing third at the Cut Bank Invitational and placing 8 of 9 wrestlers at its dual with Sidney.
For the second straight week the Scotties took on Havre, this time along with a host of other top teams at the Cut Bank Invitational on Saturday.  The Blue Ponies won again this weekend, beating the field of 26 teams from Montana and Alberta, Canada with a score of 269.5.
The Scotties placed third in the tournament with 194 points, placing as the top Class B-C school in the tournament, 46 points in front of fourth-place Chinook.
“That's a pretty good statement,” co-head coach Byron Hallock said. “Hopefully we don't get anymore injuries.”
Starring for the Scotties this weekend was Luke Zeiger, who after capturing the 130-pound weight class in the tournament, was named one of two outstanding wrestlers for the tournament. Zeiger, ranked No. 1 at 130-pounds in Class B-C, pinned Great Falls High's Dylan Mendenhall in 4:28 of the championship round.
Parker Miller was the only other Scottie to win his weight class. Miller won the 215-pound class with a 7-5 decision over Chinook's Jorrell Jones, the second time this season he has beaten Jones.
Six other wrestlers placed for Glasgow, three of which made it to the championship round.
Meeting for the third time this season, and the second week in a row, Tyrel Shumway lost a close 4-3 decision with Havre's Mitch Schnittgen, the top ranked heavyweight in Class A.  In a match between No. 1 and No. 2 in Class B-C's 189-pound class, Chaz Hopstad was pinned by second-ranked Trent Jones from Harlem. Braden Hallock, wrestling for the rest of the season at 119 pounds, lost in the championship round to Great Falls High's Cole Mendenhall, being pinned by the second-ranked wrestler in Class AA.
Also placing for the Scotties in Cut Bank were Simon Helland, Ryan Bergtoll and Tucker Holstein.
On Monday, the Scotties lost in their dual at Sidney, but performed well in wrestling with limited numbers.
Jacob Bethea, out most likely until divisionals in March, and Zeb Shawver, who was ill, were unable to go for the Scotties leaving Glasgow with only nine wrestlers in the dual.
Of the nine wrestlers, eight placed, making the dual a relative success despite the loss.
“Any time you do that, you have to be pretty happy with it,” co-head coach Brady Flaten said. “I don't think I've ever been involved in a tournament where you say we wrestled perfect. We had five (wrestlers) in the championship, three in for fifth and sixth. A couple kids placed that haven't placed this year and we're expecting big things from them at divisionals and state. So it was good to get them some confidence. We have a long way to go but we're very pleased with how the weekend went.”
Looking ahead the Scotties head to the Cowboy Invitational this weekend, a tournament as tough as ever with the Billings Skyview and Gillette, Wyo. on the list of teams wrestling at the event. Allowed up to four extra wrestlers, some teams will be wrestling with as many as 19 kids, numbers the Scotties can't match. Instead, the boys are looking at grabbing a top five finish while wrestling only 10 kids.
“We want to make sure we go there and make a statement,” Hallock said. “All we can do is wrestle as best we can and see where the chips lie … I think we'll be alright and hopefully get a top five (finish).”
In tougher tournaments like this weekend, the team feels like they have an advantage. With a handful of wrestlers that are among the best in the state, the Scotties are assured points at a few weight classes and can hope to catch the rest of the pack with good performances by the rest of the team.
“The tougher the tournament the better,” Flaten said. “Gillette and Billings Skyview are going to be tough, but after that there's I think there's a lot of people that will be vying for that third spot.
“It's the best tournament that we've gone to this year by far and it probably the best Cowboy that there's been in awhile.”
The event, held in Mile City, begins Friday and will be wrapped up on Saturday.