BILLINGS — The 2019 all-class state wrestling tournaments will officially begin at Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark on Friday morning, but fans can get an early preview of what to expect in each weight class. The Montana High School Association and TrackWrestling.com released the official state tournament brackets for all 39 weight classes — 13 each in Class AA, Class A and Class B/C.
Wrestlers advanced to the state tournaments via qualifying at the divisional and seeding tournaments on Saturday, with eight qualifiers held across the three classifications. To view the championship matches from each of those tournaments, with links to full stories and video highlights, please click here.
Among the storylines at the 2019 state wrestling tournaments are three individual wrestlers seeking championships for the fourth consecutive year. Havre’s Martin Wilkie, Colstrip’s Jackson Currier and Forsyth’s Michael Weber enter their respective weight classes as state favorites — Wilkie in Class A’s 145-pound division, Currier in Class B/C’s 138-pound class and Weber will wrestle in the 152-pound bracket in Class B/C.
Weber is the youngest of five brothers, with all five combining to win 17 individual state championships following Michael and Nathan’s titles last winter.
Kalispell Flathead, Sidney, Colstrip and Circle will enter the tournaments as defending state champions, though Bozeman is the State AA favorite. The Eagles, Colts and Wildcats are each favored to repeat as team champions.
In all, 18 defending state champions will again chase gold medals this weekend, including two-time defending champions Leif Schroeder of Bozeman, Isaac Romero of Helena High, John Mears of Belgrade and Jake Bibler of Frenchtown. Schroeder, Mears and Bibler are juniors, while Romero concludes his senior season this weekend.
To view the 2019 Montana state wrestling championships page at TrackWrestling.com, please click here. Mobile app users can click here.
