Montana’s high school wrestling season is off to a fast start with a handful of tournaments already in the books. Teams like Great Falls High, Bozeman and Sidney have showcased early dominance, with the Bison winning the Havre Invite and prestigious Mining City Duals and the Eagles capturing the team crown at the 23rd Scottie Invitational in Glasgow.
Bozeman defeated Great Falls High in dual action on Tuesday, 37-30.
Three wrestlers opened their senior seasons as three-time defending state champions, chasing opportunities to become the 33rd, 34th and 35th four-time individual medalists. Havre High’s Martin Wilkie, Colstrip’s Jackson Currier and Forsyth’s Michael Weber have stood atop the podium each of the past three Februarys and could join an elite club on Saturday, Feb. 9, 2019 in Billings.
Meanwhile, Kalispell Flathead, Sidney, Colstrip and Circle are the defending team champions and each program brings back a strong contingent to defend those titles.
Eighteen defending champions return to the mats this winter with Bozeman and Colstrip leading the way with three each (Sterling Quinn, Leif Schroeder and Chance McLane for the Hawks; Currier, Ty Bradley and Nakoda Siegel for the Colts), while Forsyth has two in Weber and Camron Reilly.
Schroeder joins Helena High’s Isaac Romero, Belgrade’s John Mears and Frenchtown’s Jake Bibler in chasing three consecutive titles. Mears and Bibler, both juniors, hope to keep their four-time aspirations alive this season.
Below is a list of the returning state placers from last year’s Montana high school state wrestling tournament. Athletes are listed by school, place, weight bracket and this season’s class standing. Please feel free to correct any errors you may notice by emailing them to richie@ktvh.com.
2018-2019 returning state wrestling placers
Class AA
Billings Senior
-Alejandro Madrid, 1st, 103 (senior)
-Matthew Dewitt, 4th, 120 (junior)
-Jayden Ramirez, 4th,126 (junior)
Billings Skyview
-Gentry Lamb, 2nd, 103 (junior)
-Caleb Partridge, 5th, 126 (sophomore)
-Jose Rodriguez, 5th, 132 (junior)
-Trent Helman, 6th, 170 (senior)
-Brenner Bushfield, 5th, 182 (junior)
Billings West
-RJ Low Dog, 6th, 113 (sophomore)
-Jace Rhodes, 1st, 152 (senior)
-Levi Malcolm, 3rd, 285 (senior)
Bozeman
-Tayt Rogers, 3rd, 103 (junior)
-Jaiden James, 2nd, 113 (junior)
-Sterling Quinn, 1st, 120 (senior)
-Leif Schroeder, 1st, 126 (junior, 2x defending champ)
-Brock Rodrigues, 3rd, 138 (junior)
-Chance McLane, 1st, 145 (senior)
-Coy Cohenour, 2nd, 160 (sophomore)
Butte
-Carl Anderson, 3rd, 160 (senior)
-Kobe Moreno, 4th, 170 (junior)
-Kameron Moreno, 6th, 182 (junior)
Great Falls CMR
-Carter Carroll, 3rd, 126 (senior)
-Kai Stewart, 1st, 138 (senior)
Great Falls High
-Dre Coles, 6th, 103 (junior)
-Easton Shupe, 5th, 113 (junior)
-Braeden Lomas, 4th, 132 (senior)
-Caden Hilliard, 5th, 145 (senior)
Helena Capital
-Tyler Coddington, 3rd, 120 (junior)
-Hayden Azure, 6th, 120 (sophomore)
-Lee Lambrecht, 5th, 138 (senior)
-Seth Jensen, 4th, 205 (senior)
Helena High
-Isaac Romero, 1st, 113 (senior, 2x defending champ)
Kalispell Flathead
-Brendan Barnes, 5th, 103 (junior)
-Dominic Battello, 5th, 120 (senior)
-Jaden MacNeil, 2nd, 132 (senior)
-AJ Ekanger, 6th, 132 (junior)
-Tanner Russell, 4th, 145 (junior)
-Garrett Rieke, 5th, 160 (junior)
Kalispell Glacier
-Tilynne Vasquez, 4th, 103 (junior, transferred from Kalispell Flathead)
-Colby Martin, 5th, 170 (senior, transferred from Kalispell Flathead)
Missoula Big Sky
-Trevin Welzien, 3rd, 113 (junior)
-Hunter Meinzen, 2nd, 138 (sophomore)
-Mason Corcoran, 6th, 160 (senior)
Missoula Hellgate
-Bridger Hall, 6th, 145 (junior)
Missoula Sentinel
-Justin Kovalicky, 6th, 126 (junior)
-Reece Eckley, 3rd, 132 (senior)
-Camrin Doty, 4th, 182 (senior)
Class A
Belgrade
-John Mears, 1st, 132 (junior, 2x defending champ)
Billings Central
-Ethan Boyce, 4th, 132 (senior)
Browning
-Wacey Zuback, 4th, 285 (senior)
Columbia Falls
-Jakob Freeman, 6th, 205 (senior)
-Taylor Gladeau, 3rd, 285 (junior)
Dillon
-Cooper Hoffman, 4th, 152 (junior)
Frenchtown
-Eli Warner, 4th, 103 (sophomore)
-Landen Stewart, 6th, 103 (sophomore)
-Walker Dyer, 6th, 113 (junior)
-Jake Bibler, 1st, 120 (junior, 2x defending champ)
-Jesse Mecham, 6th, 285 (senior)
Glendive
-Nelson Crisafulli, 3rd, 182 (junior)
-Keegan Mires, 2nd, 285 (senior)
Hamilton
-Michael Golden, 3rd, 126 (senior)
-Bridger Williams, 3rd, 138 (junior)
Havre
-Mick Chagnon, 5th, 103 (sophomore)
-Cameron Pleninger, 4th, 113 (junior)
-Quinn Reno, 6th, 120 (junior)
-Marc Ramirez, 6th, 126 (junior)
-Lane Paulson, 3rd, 132 (senior)
-Martin Wilkie, 1st, 145 (senior, 3x defending champ)
-Connor Harris, 3rd, 152 (junior)
-Mason Dionne, 5th, 170 (junior)
Laurel
-Keagan Campbell, 4th, 126 (junior)
Lewistown
-Wyatt Mager, 2nd, 103 (sophomore)
-Cooper Birdwell, 1st, 113 (sophomore)
-Trevyn Nave, 5th, 138 (junior)
-Landon Farrar, 6th, 160 (sophomore)
Libby
-Buddy Doolin, 2nd, 113 (senior)
-Jeffery Offenbecher, 6th, 138 (junior)
Livingston
-Shane Gibson, 6th, 182 (senior)
Miles City
-Damian Leidholt, 2nd, 120 (sophomore)
Polson
-Rene Pierre, 5th, 113 (senior)
-Bridger Wenzel, 2nd, 132 (senior)
-Hunter Fritsch, 3rd, 170 (senior)
Ronan
-Trapper McAllister, 3rd, 103 (sophomore)
-Justin Mays, 5th, 182 (senior)
Sidney
-Kaiden Cline, 1st, 103 (junior)
-Kade Graves, 3rd, 120 (sophomore)
-Christian Dean, 2nd, 126 (senior)
-Jace Winter, 2nd, 138 (senior)
-Jett Jones, 3rd, 160 (senior)
-Trevor Dean, 4th, 170 (senior)
Stevensville
-Kyler Pancake, 5th, 145 (senior)
Class B-C
Chester-Joplin-Inverness
-Reubin Swenson, 3rd, 205 (junior, transferred from Chinook)
Chinook
-Rebecca Stroh, 6th, 103 (sophomore)
Choteau
-Pete Henderson, 5th, 132 (senior)
Circle
-Krayle Stormer, 3rd, 103 (sophomore)
-Trey Taylor, 2nd, 138 (senior)
Colstrip
-Dawson Buckalew, 4th, 120 (sophomore)
-Rylin Burns, 4th, 132 (sophomore)
-Jackson Currier, 1st, 138 (senior, 3x state champ)
-Ty Bradley, 1st, 152 (senior)
-Cody Blaede, 3rd, 160 (senior)
-Nakoda Siegel, 1st, 170 (senior)
-Trey Yates, 2nd, 205 (junior)
Columbus
-Dylan Raihl, 5th, 145 (senior)
Cut Bank
-JR Seewald, 5th, 160 (senior)
Eureka
-Gunnar Smith, 1st, 113 (sophomore)
-Nathan Schmidt, 2nd, 120 (junior)
-Hank Dunn, 2nd, 132 (junior)
-James Fehr, 6th, 152 (senior)
Florence
-Avery Meinzen, 4th, 138 (junior)
-Spencer Jones, 2nd, 182 (senior)
Forsyth
-Michael Weber, 1st, 145 (senior, 3x state champ)
-Camron Reilly, 1st, 103 (sophomore)
Glasgow
-Colten Fast, 3rd, 120 (sophomore)
-Keagan Thompson, 5th, 120 (junior)
-Oden Hallock, 2nd, 126 (senior)
-Kaden Zimmerman, 3rd, 126 (junior)
-Dylan Nieskens, 2nd, 170 (sophomore)
Huntley Project
-Clayton Donally, 2nd, 103 (junior)
Malta
-Luke Lawless, 6th, 205 (junior)
Plains-Hot Springs
-Josiah Vanderwall, 6th, 132 (senior)
Poplar
-Trey Pribbernow, 4th, 285 (junior)
Shelby
-Wyatt Brusven, 6th, 145 (senior)
Shepherd
-Tanner Cook, 2nd, 113 (junior)
-Kameron Powell, 6th, 160 (senior)
St. Ignatius-Charlo
-Walker Murphy, 6th, 113 (junior)
-Darwin Adams, 5th, 138 (junior)
Townsend
-Sam Lane, 4th, 103 (sophomore)
-Easton Held, 5th, 126 (junior)
-Kameron Rauser, 3rd, 152 (senior)
Valier
-Matt Connelly, 4th, 113 (senior)
Whitehall
-Dawson Powers, 5th, 103 (sophomore)
Wolf Point
-Trisetan Kemp, 5th, 113 (senior)
