BROWNING — Ronan's boys and girls took home the Western A divisional wrestling titles Saturday.
The Chiefs prevailed by the slimmest of margins, edging second-place Frenchtown by one point in the team standings. The two-time defending state-champ Maidens, meanwhile, rolled to 259.5 points to easily bypass second-place Browning and third-place Polson.
Ronan's boys, behind individual titles from Ridge Cote at 132 pounds and Koda King at 165, scored 229 team points to 228 for Frenchtown. Libby came in third place with 216 points.
The Chiefs scored plenty of points due to depth, receiving second-place finishes from Brander McCollum at 110 and Jackson Davis at heavyweight, third-place showings by Brady Hout at 175 and Cooper Wayman at 190, and fourth-place finishes from Justus Orman-Bergman at 118, Jairyn Krause at 157 and Dominique McKay at 175.
Cote pinned Dillon's Logan Barnes in 3:58 to win the 132-pound final. King had a 13-4 major decision of Columbia Falls' Blaine Cronk in the 165-pound title bout.
Frenchtown's lone title winner was Landon Hansen at 103. Hansen scored an 18-2 tech fall over Corvallis' Chase Davis in the title round. Jordan Warner at 138 and Brody Hardy at 190 each had runner-up finishes for the Broncs.
Ronan's girls were propped up by individual titlists River Cote at 105, Marie Cheff at 110, Saellah Nomee at 115, Aaliyah Stewart at 125, Leona Dodson Howe at 155 and Tirza Two Teeth at 235.
Two Teeth is chasing her third consecutive state girls wrestling crown.
For full results, visit trackwrestling.com.
The Class A state wrestling tournament begins Thursday, Feb. 13, at First Interstate Arena at MetraPark in Billings.
