BILLINGS — Zach Morse and every other wrestler in this year’s state championship matches will have nearly 24 hours or so to think about their chances.
It’s unlike other years at the all-class state wrestling tournament when competitors won their semifinal matches on the final day, had a few hours to regroup, and then took to the mats again for the championship.
Under the tournament’s new three-day format, wrestlers started their semifinals late Friday afternoon at First Interstate Arena at MetraPark and have until around 3:20 p.m. Saturday to decide their fate.
Results: 2025 Class AA boys state wrestling - Day 2
For Morse, he has a bit more to think about than the others. The 118-pound Billings West senior is the lone wrestler going for a fourth-straight state title. If he accomplishes it by beating Billings Skyview’s Danny Green, Morse will become the 42nd wrestler in state history to accomplish the feat.
He’d also be joining teammate Keyan Hernandez, who made the list last season. Morse credited his West coaches with helping him get this far.
“You know, the pep talks, just telling me it’s going to be OK, telling me that I’ve worked this hard so I can’t just let it go," Morse said after his 19-3 tech fall semifinal win over Helena Capital's Wyatt Shull.
If Morse can win his fourth straight, he’ll have to earn it against Green, a defending state champion himself.
Green won the 103-pound title last year as a freshman, and he reached this year’s final by pinning Kalispell Flathead’s Kellen Downing, who entered the state tournament as the top-ranked wrestler in the weight class.
To Green, he wasn’t too keen on the idea of waiting a day to wrestle in a championship when he first heard of the tournament change. He’s kind of warmed up to it.
“But now that it’s over with, I feel way better,” he said. “You don’t have to worry about anything until your match tomorrow afternoon.”
When asked how he’d sleep overnight, Green thought he’d fare well.
Morse, on the other hand, wasn’t so sure.
“I’ll have to take some melatonin or something,” he said.
Morse and his Golden Bears teammates should rest pretty easily, though, when it comes to the team race.
West, which is gunning for its third straight team title, scored 233 points and holds nearly a 100-point lead over second-place Kalispell Flathead, which came in at 149.5 points. Great Falls is third at 134.5, followed by Billings Senior and Butte with 127 points each.
Here are the finalists for Saturday’s matches:
103 – Keegan Hunt, Butte, vs. Hunter Beeman, Billings Senior. Hunt has won all his matches in quick pins by a combined time of 1:42. Beeman received byes in his first two rounds and won his next two by fall.
110 – Jackson Roby, Billings West, vs. Cody Westlake, Belgrade. Westlake was a runner-up last year at 103. Roby was fourth at 103 pounds last year.
118 – Danny Green, Billings Skyview, vs. Zach Morse, Billings West.
126 – Nolan Brown, Belgrade, vs. Cale Floerchinger, Great Falls. Floerchinger, a sophomore, won the 113-pound title last year. Brown won by pin in his first match, and outscored his opponents by a combined 33-1 in his next two.
132 – Bayden Fandrich, Billings Senior, vs. Chris Grossman, Billings Skyview. Grossman fell to Morse in last year’s 120-pound final. Fandrich won all three of his matches by pin.
138 – Gage Clothier, Great Falls, vs. Makael Aguayo, Billings West. Aguayo is pursuing his third straight state title in his junior season. He also won titles at 103 and 132 pounds. Clothier reached the 138 finals for the second year in a row. He fell to Billings Senior's Chrisopher Acuna in last year's title match.
144 – Bodee Hazlett, Butte, vs. Aiden Downing, Kalispell Flathead. Hazlett’s three wins put him over the 30-victory mark for the season. Downing was third at 132 pounds last season, and he defeated the top-ranked wrestler at 144 pounds, Devin Grossman of Billings Skyview, in Friday’s semifinals.
150 – Jerrin Coles, Kalispell Glacier, vs. Christopher Acuna, Billings Senior. Acuna won the title at 138 pounds last season. Coles, a freshman, is 22-1 on the season.
157 – Will Stepan, Butte, vs. Kale Baumann, Great Falls. Stepan is the top seed from the Western AA and he defeated Teagan Dixon of Great Falls 12-10 in a tough semifinal. Baumann lost in the 157-pound final last season. This will be his fourth championship appearance.
165 – Niko Coles, Kalispell Glacier, vs. Boden Bentley, Billings West. Coles won the 152-pound title last season. Both wrestlers enter the match undefeated; Coles is 23-0, while Bentley is 27-0.
175 – Loki Bigras, Kalispell Flathead, vs. Gabe Rosales, Billings West. Both are divisional champs, with Bigras winning the Western AA and Rosales the Eastern AA.
190 – Cole Graham, Helena Capital, vs. Anthony Garcia, Billings West. Graham won the 182-pound title last season. Garcia is in his first final.
215 – Woodrow Shirley, Billings Senior, vs. Colby Reichenbach, Billings West. Shirley has had quite a tournament run. He entered as the No. 8 seed from the Eastern AA but has earned three victories on his way to final, two by scores of 8-5 and 9-6. Reichenbach has just one loss on the season at 29-1.
285 – Isaac Tolen, Great Falls, vs. Christian Allies, Billings West. These two met up in last weekend’s Eastern AA final, with Allies picking up the victory.
