BILLINGS — On Saturday at First Interstate Arena at MetraPark, Billings Senior and Ronan carved a place for themselves in the short but burgeoning history of girls high school wrestling in Montana.
Senior won its first Class AA title at the state tournament, scoring 202 points to outpace second-place Butte (156 points) and two-time reigning champion Kalispell Flathead (127). The Broncs did not have any individual champions, but placed eight wrestlers, including second-place finishes by Paige Gershmel at 145 pounds, Kendal Tucker at 152 and Rylee Kogolshak at 165.
Ronan, meanwhile, took home the first team championship awarded to Class A-B-C. The Maidens had four individuals reach the medal podium, including state champion Tirza Two Teeth at 235 pounds.
Individually, Billings Skyview 185 pounder Kassidee Savaria capped her career with a third consecutive title when she pinned Havre's Clara Laird in just 39 seconds. In the three-year history of girls championship wrestling, Savaria is the lone competitor to win three titles.
"It's kind of bittersweet knowing that was going to be my last high school match," Savaria said. "But also, I was excited to have it in mind that I was going for my third and I just wanted to get get there as fast as I could.
"I'm really happy. My freshman year when I had to wrestle boys I didn't do too well and I got down on myself a lot. But once they did implement girls wrestling, it was just amazing to be able to be a part of."
The other individual girls championships were won by Poplar's Angelina Escarcega at 100 pounds, Lewistown's Rebecca Birdwell at 107, Kalispell Glacier's Kaura Coles at 114, Helena Capital's Taylor Lay at 120, Skyview's Brynn Brower at 126, Simms' Lili Schubarth at 132, Huntley Project's Gretchen Donally at 138, Bozeman's Kaitlyn Thorn at 145, Custer-Hysham's Trinity Barrus at 152, and Belgrade's KyLee Lindsley at 165.
For full results click here.
