HELENA — Top-ranked Bozeman flexed its muscles against Helena High on Tuesday night, defeating the Bengals 53-18 in a nonconference dual between the Hawks and Bengals.
Bozeman won eight matches and dropped only one on the mats, while taking advantage of a pair of Helena forfeits to earn the victory. The Hawks won five of their eight matches by pinfall.
Everest Klein opened the dual with a pin at 170 pounds, then watched from the Bozeman bench as Reece Stanish and Tom Walkup followed suit with pins of their own at 205 and 285 pounds, respectively, as the Hawks built a 24-0 lead after the first four matches. Helena forfeited the 182-pound match.
The Hawks had forfeits of their own at 103 and 113 pounds, putting Helena on the scoreboard, but the Bengals were open at 120 pounds, giving junior Tayt Rogers a forfeit victory. Then came the match of the evening.
The 126-pound bout featured a pair of defending champions in Isaac Romero, Helena High’s two-time defending champion who claimed the 113-pound title a year ago, and Bozeman’s Sterling Quinn, last winter’s 120-pound titlist. Following a scoreless opening period, Romero nearly earned an escape point in the final seconds of the second frame, but officials ruled off the point. Quinn did manage an escape late in the third, the lone point in the match, to earn a 1-0 victory while putting the Hawks ahead 33-12.
Top-ranked Leif Schroeder, a two-time defending state champion, made quick work of Cameron Wyant in a 19-3 major decision at 132 pounds, then Taylor Wiers added a pin one weight class up, before Connnor Lohss capped an 8-2 decision over Justice Seamons at 145.
Oklahoma State-bound Chance McLane was Bozeman’s final winner of the evening, securing a pin over Colby Howell in the 152-pound bout. Helena’s Devin Crawford earned the Bengals’ lone win on the mats by pinning Zac Renner at 160 pounds.
Helena High finishes its 2018 portion of the schedule on Friday by welcoming crosstown rival Helena Capital for a 7 p.m. dual. The Bengals will join Bozeman, Capital, Butte and Belgrade at the Belgrade Special Event Center on Saturday with matches slated to begin at 9 a.m.
Complete results from Tuesday’s dual can be found below.
170 pounds: Everest Klein (BOZ) pins Kaleb McKay (HHS), 6-0
182 pounds: Helena High forfeit, 12-0
205 pounds: Reece Stanish (BOZ) pins Nolan Bumgardner (HHS), 18-0
285 pounds: Tom Walkup (BOZ) pins Michael Gulden (HHS), 24-0
103 pounds: Bozeman forfeit, 24-6
113 pounds: Bozeman forfeit, 24-12
120 pounds: Helena High forfeit, 30-12
126 pounds: Sterling Quinn (BOZ) 1-0 dec. over Isaac Romero (HHS), 33-12
132 pounds: Leif Schroeder (BOZ) 19-3 major dec. over Cameron Wyant (HHS), 38-12
138 pounds: Taylor Wiers (BOZ) pins David Kemp (HHS), 44-12
145 pounds: Connor Lohss (BOZ) 8-2 dec. over Justice Seamons (HHS), 47-12
152 pounds: Chance McLane (BOZ) pins Colby Howell (HHS), 53-12
160 pounds: Devin Crawford (HHS) pins Zac Renner (BOZ), 53-18
