Scotties Wrest Dual from Mustangs

The Glasgow Scotties hosted a dual against the Malta Mustangs the Tuesday before Christmas break. Under the light, the Scottie Varsity team wrested a 46-21 victory from the visiting Mustangs.

The first five bouts went by quickly as each team notched a number of wins by forfeit.

Malta's Malin Beck won in the 103 lb. class via forfeit, as did Kohner Shipman in the 132 lb. class. Glasgow had forfeit wins in the 120 lb. class and 126 lb. class as Jake Kuka and Shalynn Pedersen, respectively, raised their arms in victory. Jack Cornwell was also awarded a forfeit win the 138 lb. class as was Hunter Crum in the 205 lb. class.

The 113 lb. class saw a double forfeit as neither team sent a grappler to the mat.

Malta took the first match in which two grapplers faced off. Shawn Gilbertson pinned Glasgow freshman Michael King in 3:03.

Mason Donaldson pinned Malta's Colton Honey in just 31 seconds. He earned 6 points for Glasgow in short order wrestling in the 152 lb. class.

Devon Nesbitt also pinned his opponent in the first period of the 160 lb. class match. Nesbitt earned another 6 points for the home team when he won by fall in 1:33 over Colton Mears.

Damien Nesbitt earned 4 points in a major decision over Spencer Gibbs. He won by a 10-2 score wrestling at 170 lbs.

Austin Hughes lost his match-up to the number two ranked wrestler in the state, Camryn Mears, despite a strong finish. Mears won with a 12-5 decision in the 182 lb. class.

Also ranked number two in his 285 lb. weight class, Kyler Hallock defeated Tye Jones by fall in 1:10.

In addition to the 13 official varsity matches, wrestling fans were treated to seven exhibition matches.

Malta's Shipman defeated Pedersen via fall, 1:17, in the bonus match at 132 lbs. He was later defeated by Cornwell in the 138 lb. class. Cornwell won by fall in 0:52.

King bounced back to win his extra match, also at 145 pounds, against Taylin Johannesen. King won by fall in 1:01. Donaldson won another match by fall in the 152 lb. class. He defeated Colton Mears in 2:00.

Devon Nesbitt won by fall over Gibbs at 160 lbs. The fall came at 2:38. Malta's Reese Brown defeated Gabe Munroe by default after the match was called for injury.

In a tough match-up, Hallock hit the mat against Camryn Mears. Each was the number two ranked wrestler in their respective weight classes, 205 and 182. The two took their match to all three rounds with Hallock winning a 6-2 decision.

Head coach Jory Casterline said Malta deserved credit after their dual. "That Gibbs kid [Spencer] at 170 is tough ... [Camryn] Mears is tough ... they've got some young heavyweights that are going to be tough." He went on to say of his own team, "But overall, I think we're just a bit deeper."

The Mustangs are in the process of growing and rebuilding with some new coaches. "I don't see them being down for long," Casterline said.

Of his own team, Casterline is looking for more consistency and for his Scotties to wrestle to their full potential. He noted a number of highlights already from this season when speaking to the Courier Dec. 22.

"Devon Nesbitt this past weekend at Great Falls wrestled to his full potential outside of one match," he said. A post-match talk between coach and athlete highlighted the need to "compete at a higher level against the good guys."

The Scottie coach highlighted the performances of Hallock and Donaldson as well. "[Donaldson]pinned the three-ranked kid in the state [in Great Falls] and moved up a spot so he's ranked three now," Casterline said. "If he can hold that, he'll be alright."

From the Malta dual, Casterline said Hughes "did a good job there, not giving up a major at the end [against Camryn Mears]."

His lone wrestler on the girls roster, Shalynn Pedersen, also earned accolades from the coach. "She'll wrestle boys, she'll wrestler girls. She doesn't care. She just wants to wrestle," he said. I'm proud of her for getting over the hump there a bit. She had a good tournament in Great Falls, taking fourth there. That was a really good weekend for her. She wrestled a lot of matches that Saturday."

Casterline was looking forward to both the holiday break and returning after. This week, he said his team was going to be hitting the mats hard with a focus on the technical aspects of their sport. He was planning "individual practices where they work on their specific stuff – whatever their best mov is – we're going to break that down."

Following the break, the Scotties open with the Rotary tournament in North Dakota.

"It's going to be nice to get back over there [Bismarck] to that tournament. That's a rough, tough tournament and it's also got a great JV tournament," Casterline enthused. "It's as close as we get to the state tournament during the season and that's one of the many reasons I like it."

Glasgow will go through weigh-ins and skin checks in an auxiliary building before heading to the Bismarck Event Center where 12 mats will feature nonstop grappling action.

"Lots of benefits with that tournament as opposed to going elsewhere," the coach said. "Then there's the Cowboy [in Miles City], then a few weeks and we're in the postseason."

The Scotties travel Bismarck, N.D., Friday and Saturday, Jan. 7-9, 2022, for the Rotary Tournament at the Bismarck Event Center.