Topic: Jug Beck Rocky Mountain Classic

[Wrestlin_Man]

Three new teams were invited to this year's Jug Beck Rocky Mountain Classic - the 30th anniversary of the famous wrestling tournament - but only one of the additions is causing a stir.

The Havre Blue Ponies, a Class A team from the eastern side of Montana, is shoulder blades down the best in the state right now.

Havre has won nearly everything it's entered this season and not always by slim margins.

 
The Blue Ponies beat Kalispell, the defending Class AA champion, in the season-opening Mining City Duals. They won the CMR Holiday Classic by 97 points and last week's Cut Bank Invitational by 110 points.

“Havre is loaded, top to bottom,” said Kalispell coach Jeff Thompson, whose team is the defending Rocky Mountain Classic champ. “They're one of the toughest teams I've seen in the state of Montana, now and in the past. They're just tough kids.”

The Blue Ponies are ranked No. 3 in the USA Wrestling Magazine's Northwest States poll. The Braves are No. 8. Havre won the only head-to-head dual with Kalispell, 44-26.

“They just beat you up,” Thompson said. “It'll be fun to compete against them again. It should get us tougher and get us ready for state.”

The Ponies should give every team a ride they won't forget.

“It's kind of like the Sidney of old,” said Libby coach Jay Graham, referring to the four-time Class A champs. “We'd have to all gang up to get them.”

The field was increased to 25 teams for the two-day meet. Bonners Ferry and Coeur d'Alene High, two Idaho schools, were added with Havre. Kalispell and recent RMC champs like Spokane's University High, Great Falls and Butte, will all battle with Havre for the crown. There's also Great Falls Russell, ranked 10th in the same magazine poll.

Action starts Friday at 11:30 a.m. at Sentinel High School and continues throughout the day. Competition resumes Saturday at 10 a.m. Finals are set for 4 p.m. The two-day meet brings some of the best wrestlers from around the region.

Eight former Rocky champs are in the field this weekend and there's seven unbeaten grapplers, too.

Brian Owen of U.High is a 2005 Rocky champ, who sat out last year's Classic with a back injury. He's undefeated in 17 matches this year. Owen will wrestle at 125, which also includes defending champ Nash Hallfrisch of CMR.

The 119-pound weight class is another loaded division. Kalispell's Brian Ham, an '05 champ, is the top seed there.

Other defending RMC champs include Frenchtown's Chad Hansen (105) and Josh Stedman (112), Butte's Nick Haynes (152) and Trever Hess (Hwt) and Libby's Jake Graham (215). Of that group, only Haynes and Graham are unbeaten. Coeur d'Alene's Braden Mowrey (105), Great Falls' Ty Vinson (171) and Havre's Evan Hinebauch (189) and Matt Schnittgen (Hwt) are the others.

Hinebauch and Schnittgen, who are a combined 55-0, are a big reason why Havre is having such a successful season.

“The Rocky is arguably the toughest tournament in Montana this year,” Thompson said. “I don't think they'll do that (run away with the title). They'll be challenged, even they're tougher guys. It's just the way the weights stack up. There's not one team that will blow away the rest of the field.”

Reporter Nick Lockridge can be reached at 523-5298 or by e-mail at nick.lockridge@lee.net.

Jug Beck Rocky Mountain Classic

Team list

The 25 teams competing with their abbreviations in parentheses.

Anaconda(Ana), Big Sky (BS), Bonners Ferry, Idaho (BF), Butte (But), C.M. Russell (CMR), Central Valley, Wash. (CV), Clarkston, Wash., (Clk) Columbia Falls (CF), Corvallis (Cor), Couer d'Alene, Idaho (CdA), Ferris High, Spokane, Wash. (Fer), Kalispell (Kal), Frenchtown (Ftn), Great Falls High (GFH), Hamilton (Ham), Havre (Hav), Hellgate (Hgt), Libby (Lib), Mead High, Spokane, Wash., (Med), Polson (Pol), Ronan (Ron), Sentinel (Sent), Superior (Sup), University High, Spokane, Wash., (UHi), Whitefish (Wf).

Individual seeding

(The top six wrestlers in each weight class, barring scratches Friday morning.)

98 lbs

1, Chris Recio, Hav; 2, Cameron Neiss, Ron; 3, Shawn Lau, Kal; 4, Mike Budeski, CMR; 5, Tyler Stedman, Ftn; 6, Andrew Palmer, CDA.

105 lbs

1, Chad Hansen, Ftn; 2, Ryan Shelstad, Hav; 3, Braden Mowry, CDA; 4, Zach Robinson, Ron; 5, Cody West, CMR; 6, Levi Edwards-Myslicki, Lib.

112 lbs

1, Josh Stedman, Ftn; 2, Jake Love, Sent; 3, Tanner Teeples, CV; 4, Kelly Olds, CMR; 5, Tyler McLaughlin, But; 6, Tyson Noyes, Ron.

119 lbs

1, Brian Ham, Kal; 2, Seth Clary, Ron; 3, Kyle Richie, Sent; 4, Dustin Hanson, Ana; 5, Chase Ferrozzo, CV; 6, Lorren Mack, Hav.

125 lbs

1, Nash Hallfrisch, CMR; 2, Nick Cambron, CV; 3, Brian Owen, UHi; 4, Zach Mendenhall, GFH; 5, Myles Mazuckiewicz, Hav; 6, Ricky Janes, Kal.

130 lbs

1, Shane Ludwick, Pol; 2, Landon Della Silva, Cor; 3, Trenton Starkey, CMR; 4, Austin Zapata, Kal; 5, Beau LaSalle, Hav; 6, Dan Hamilton, Sent.

135 lbs

1, TC Decker, Kal; 2, Jeff Croskrey, CV; 3, Zach Gregoire, GFH; 4, Logan Torgison, Pol; 5, Isaak Lawlor, CDA; 6, Beau Nordahl, Ftn.

140 lbs

1, T.J. Renz, But; 2, Bobby Vinson, GFH; 3, Michael Hader, CF; 4, Matt Roberts, Lib; 5, Ryan Thiel, Kal; 6, Elliott Nay, UHi.

145 lbs

1, Taylor Nagel, Cor; 2, Ethan Hinebauch, Hav; 3, Spencer Bailey, CMR; 4, Brock Picard, Pol; 5, Bryce Stacy, Kal; 6, Richard Davidson, Lib.

152 lbs

1, Nick Haynes, But; 2, Tyler Wells, Kal; 3, Ken Swift, BF; 4, Max Galland, GFH; 5, Ben White, Ron; 6, Steve Gary, Lib.

160 lbs

1, Ted Morigeau, Pol; 2, Steve Bertelsen, Lib; 3, Brock Anderson, Ham; 4, Lyle Drapper, Clk; 5, Curtis Shandorf, Hav; 6, David Lau, Kal.

171 lbs

1, Bryce Picard, Pol; 2, Ty Vinson, GFH; 3, Tyler Espinosa, Ron; 4, Luke Fischer, Kal; 5, Beau Baltezar, But; 6, Bo Davenport, Cor.

189 lbs

1, Evan Hinebauch, Hav; 2, Jared Rohrback, CMR; 3, Steve Hystad, GFH; 4, Brady Anderson, Ham; 5, Justin Graham, Lib; 6, Levi Guenzler, Ron.

215 lbs

1, Jake Graham, Lib; 2, Tyler Cochran, CV; 3, Roy Pritchett, Hgt; 4, Nick Weller, Ftn; 5, Adam Taron, Sup; 6, Dennis Jessop, Cor.

Hwt

1, Trever Hess, But; 2, Matt Schnittgen, Hav; 3, Jared Stone, BF; 4, Andrew Voorhees, CMR; 5, Mike Trosper, Ron; 6, Tyler Thomas, Kal.

[Wrestlin_Man]

Kalispell pins back-to-back Jug Beck titles
By NICK LOCKRIDGE of the Missoulian

   

The Kalispell wrestlers didn't do much talking this weekend - they usually never do - but the team sure spoke volumes at the 30th annual Jug Beck Rocky Mountain Classic.

The Braves placed 13 out of their 15 wrestlers and stormed to a second consecutive win at the prestigious two-day meet.

“We're very surprised, very pleasantly surprised,” Kalispell coach Jeff Thompson said. “We expected it to be a dogfight. We didn't expect to run away with it, but for this team it's nice.

 
“It kind of gives us a little bit of bragging rights around the state, show that maybe we can compete with any team in the state. We've arrived.”

The Braves, ranked No. 1 in Class AA, scored 268 points and won their third Rocky title in four years, despite winning just one of three individual championship bouts.

“It feels great,” said Kalispell junior Brian Ham. “We have a lot of young guys that just keep coming up and working hard and filling in big places for us and that's what it takes.”

The Classic was not as close as many had hoped, especially given the addition of three new teams, including Havre. The Blue Ponies beat the Braves in the season-opening Mining City Duals.

“This really shows that this team has really improved,” said Thompson, whose squad is also the defending State AA champ. “Maybe we're making bigger steps than other teams around the state, but we're very happy with where we're at. We have to continue to improve though and focus on that state tournament.”

Havre (216) was second in its first Rocky appearance and Great Falls Russell (190) was third. The Blue Ponies went 4-for-4 in the finals, led by senior 189-pounder Evan Hinebauch, who was voted the meet's most outstanding wrestler.

Great Falls High put four wrestlers in the finals and won three of them. Butte also put four in the finals, but won just one individual title. The Bison (170) and Bulldogs (167fi) rounded out the top five.

Frenchtown, which had two champions, was the only other school to have more than one winner. The Broncs (119fi) finished ninth.

Havre's other winners were Chris Recio (98 pounds), Beau LaSalle (130) and heavyweight Matt Schnittgen. Hinebauch, who improved to 32-0, and Schnittgen, 31-0, were just a few of the wrestlers to extend their unbeaten seasons.

“We did fine,” said Havre coach Scott Filius. “It's a nice tournament. The kids that did well, did well. We had some kids that didn't do real well - kids that had the ability, but left it somewhere in the gym. That happens.”

Polson's Ted Morigeau earned the quick pin award. He had four pins in a combined 10 minutes, 14 seconds en route to the 160-pound championship. In the finals, Morigeau stuck Sentinel's Austin Lord in 1:31.

“He's pretty much a badass,” said Lord.

Kalispell's Brian Ham was in line for the quick pin award, but couldn't get a fourth pin in the championship. The two-time Rocky champ beat Seth Clary of Ronan 12-1.

“A win's a win,” Ham said. “We always try to pin, but I came out on top and we did our best. That's all the team can ask for.”

Ham was third a year ago after winning a RMC title as a freshman in 2005.

“Brian Ham wrestled the tournament of his life,” said Thompson. “He's on fire right now.”

Brian Owen of University High in Spokane was another former Rocky champ that won. Owen, who sat out 2005 with a back injury beat Great Falls' Zach Mendenhall 7-1 for the 125-pound title. Ham and Owen wrestled in two of the toughest weight classes at the tourney.

Butte's Nick Haynes (152) defended his Rocky title with a major decision over Ken Swift of Bonners Ferry. Frenchtown's Josh Stedman (112) was the other defending champ to win. Only two of the six returning RMC champs repeated.

“We did pretty good,” said Stedman, who saw one of his teammates, Chad Hansen, lose in his RMC defense. “We could have done better. Some of our top people got put out.”

Stedman was joined by teammate Nick Weller (215) on the first-place stand. Weller made the finals when Libby's Jake Graham, a defending RMC champ and '05 state champ, had to forfeit in the semis because of illness. He was 22-0 before that.

The most surprising win of the tourney goes to Missoula Big Sky's Don Widdicombe, who entered as an unseeded wrestler at 145 pounds and wound up beating Kalispell's Bryce Stacey 6-4. It was the third seeded wrestler he'd beaten at the meet.

“I'm speechless,” Widdicombe said. “I don't know what to say. I'm just so happy.”

The other RMC winners to stay unbeaten included Coeur d'Alene's Braden Mowry (105), who improved to 25-0, and Great Falls' Ty Vinson (171), who is 26-0. Zach Gregoire (135) and Bobby Vinson (140) also won for the Bison.

Reporter Nick Lockridge can be reached at 523-5298 or by e-mail at nick.lockridge@lee.net.

Jug Beck Rocky Mountain Classic

At Sentinel High School

Saturday's results

Team scores (Abbreviations in parentheses) - Kalispell (Kal) 268; Havre (Hav) 216; C.M. Russell (CMR) 190; Great Falls High (GFH) 170; Butte (But) 167fi; Central Valley, Spokane, Wash., (CV) 137; Ronan (Ron) 128; University High, Spokane, Wash., (UHi) 120; Frenchtown (Ftn) 119fi; Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, (CDA) 102fi; Polson (Pol) 101; Sentinel (Sent) 99; Corvalis (Cor) 98fi; Hamilton (Ham) 81l; Big Sky (BS) 76; Anaconda (Ana) 60fi; Columbia Falls (CF) 59; Bonners Ferry, Idaho, (BF) 55fi; Libby (Lib) 52; Mead, Spokane, Wash., (Med) 45; Clarkston, Wash., (Clk) 33; Whitefish (Wf) 32; Hellgate (Hgt) 26; Ferris, Spokane, Wash., (Fer) 25; Superior (Sup) 14.

Individuals

98 lbs

Finals - Chris Recio, Hav, dec. Shawn Lau, Kal, 7-3.

Semifinals - Recio, Hav, tech fall Tyler Stedman, Ftn, 19-3; Lau, Kal, dec. Cameron Neiss, Ron, 7-3

Third-fourth place - Mike Budeski, CMR, dec. Justin Rowlings, But, 8-2.

Fifth-sixth place - Neiss, Ron, pinned Stedman, 2:32.

105 lbs

Finals - Braden Mowry, CDA, dec. West, CMR, 10-6.

Semifinals - West, CMR, dec. Chad Hansen, Ftn, 4-3; Mowry, CDA, dec. Ryan Shelstad, Hav, 5-0.

Third-fourth place - Shelstad, Hav, dec. Hansen, 5-3.

Fifth-sixth place - Dan Jenkins, Kal, pinned Zach Robinson, Ron, 4:23.

112 lbs

Finals - Josh Stedman, Ftn, dec. Jake Love, Sent, 10-5.

Semifinals - Stedman, Ftn, maj. dec. Kelly Olds, CMR, 10-0; Love, Sent, dec. Tyson Noyes, Ron, 7-1.

Third-fourth place - Tanner Teeples, CV, maj. dec. Tanner Beaman, Kal, 14-2.

Fifth-sixth place - Olds, pinned Noyes, Ron, 4:32.

119 lbs

Finals - Brian Ham, Kal, major dec. Seth Clary, Ron, 12-1.

Semifinals - Ham, Kal, pinned Dustin Hanson, Ana, 1:22; Clary, Ron, dec. Kyle Richie, Sent, 5-1.

Third-fourth place - Hanson, Ana, dec. Mitch Rohrback, CMR, 10-5.

Fifth-sixth place - Kevin Kaltschmidt, Wf, injury default over Kyle Richie, Sent.

125 lbs

Finals - Brian Owen, UHi, dec. Zach Mendenhall, GF, 7-1.

Semifinals - Mendenhall, dec. Nash Hallfrisch, CMR, 3-0; Owen, UHi, pinned Micky Cheff, Ron, 5:59.

Third-fourth place - Hallfrisch, CMR, dec. Myles Mazurkiewicz, Hav, 6-1.

Fifth-sixth place - Ricky Janes, Kal, dec. Cheff, 4-2.

130 lbs

Finals - Beau LaSalle, Hav, dec. Landon DellaSilva, Cor, 9-5.

Semifinals - LaSalle, Hav, tech. fall Jeremy Savage, CV, 18-3; DellaSilva, Cor, pinned Trenton Starkey, CMR, 4:48.

Third-fourth place - Cody Kolodejchuk, CF, dec. Austin Zapata, 4-3.

Fifth-sixth place - Starkey, CMR, maj. dec. Savage, CV, 13-2.

135 lbs

Finals - Zach Gregoire, GF, dec. Logan Torgison, Pol, 3-1.

Semifinals - Torgison, Pol, dec. TC Decker, Kal, 5-1; Gregoire, GFH, dec. Jeff Croskrey, CV, 15-10.

Third-fourth place - Isaak Lawlor, CDA, pinned Decker, 2:17.

Fifth-sixth place - David Love, Ham, dec. Croskrey, CV, 8-5.

140 lbs

Finals - Bobby Vinson, GFH, dec. TJ Renz, But, 2-1.

Semifinals - Renz, But, pinned Matt Roberts, Lib, 1:20; Vinson, GFH, dec. Michael Hader, CF, 7-6.

Third-fourth place - Hader, CF, dec. Elliott Nay, UHi, 2-0.

Fifth-sixth place - Kyle Flood, CMR, dec. Roberts, Lib, 5-3.

145 lbs

Finals - Don Widdicombe, BS, dec. Bryce Stacy, Kal, 6-4.

Semifinals - Stacy, dec. Taylor Nagel, Cor, 3-0; Widdicombe, BS, dec. Spencer Bailey, CMR, 4-0.

Third-fourth place - Nagel, Cor, dec. Bailey, CMR, 1-0.

Fifth-sixth place - Ethan Hinebauch, Hav, pinned Thomas Kissell, But, 1:33.

152 lbs

Finals - Nick Haynes, But, major dec. Ken Swift, BF, 15-2.

Semifinals - Haynes, But, pinned Maxx Galland, GFH, 5:52; Swift, major dec. Tyler Wells, Kal, 16-4.

Third-fourth place - Wells, Kal, dec. Galland, GFH, 7-5.

Fifth-sixth place - Jesse Nielsen, CDA, tech. fall Marcus Lussy, Ana, 15-0.

160 lbs

Finals - Ted Morigeau, Pol, pinned Austin Lord, Sent, 1:31.

Semifinals - Morigeau, Pol, pinned Dan Jordan, UHi, 1:45; Lord, Sent, dec. Brock Anderson, Ham, 9-2.

Third-fourth place - Anderson, Ham, pinned, Jordan, UHi, 4:30.

Fifth-sixth place - David Lau, Kal, injury default over Steve Bertelsen, Lib.

171 lbs

Finals - Ty Vinson, GFH, injury default over Beau Baltezar, But.

Semifinals - Baltazar, But, pinned Bryce Picard, :55; Vinson, GFH, dec. Tyler Espinosa, Ron, 9-6.

Third-fourth place - Picard, Pol, dec. Luke Fischer, Kal, 3-2.

Fifth-sixth place - Espinosa, Ron, dec. Greg Mitchell, 7-2.

189 lbs

Finals - Evan Hinebauch, Hav, pinned, Jared Rohrback, CMR, 5:56.

Semifinals - Hinebauch, Hav, pinned Brady Anderson, Ham, 5:06; Rohrback, CMR, tech. fall Steve Hystad, GFH, 17-2.

Third-fourth place - Jake Neumann, CV, dec. Drew Watkins, Kal, 5-1.

Fifth-sixth place - Anderson, Ham, dec. Hystad, GFH, 6-2.

215 lbs

Finals - Nick Weller, Ftn, dec. Tyler Cochran, CV, 4-3.

Semifinals - Weller, Ftn, illness default over Jake Graham, Lib; Cochran, CV, dec. Zach Deffinbaugh, GFH, 5-2.

Third-fourth place - Deffinbaugh, GFH, pinned Billy McGlasson, UHi, 4:11.

Fifth-sixth place - Chris Buskirk, Hav, illness default over Graham, Lib.

Hwt

Finals - Matt Schnittgen, Hav, dec. Trevor Hass, But, 3-1.

Semifinals - Hass, But, pinned Joe Tobol, Hgt, 1:02; Schnittgen, Hav, pinned Dan Gadley, CV, 1:59.

Third-fourth place - Gadley, CV, pinned Tyler Thomas, Kal, 1:34.

Fifth-sixth place - Andrew Voorhees, CMR, pinned Tobol, Hgt, 1:41.