SPORTS

AA Wrestling: Great Falls High seeks four-peat

Grady Higgins
ghiggins@greatfallstribune.com

BILLINGS – The Great Falls High and C.M. Russell High wrestling teams are set to take the mat for the last time this season, heading for the bright lights of the All-Class Wrestling Tournament at the Billings Metra on Friday and Saturday.

The three-time defending Class AA state champion Bison may not be the odds on favorite this season, but after qualifying 18 grapplers at last weekend’s Eastern Seeding Meet in Bozeman, veteran head coach Steve Komac said his team is confident heading into the weekend.

“I absolutely think we’re a team that can compete for a trophy,” Komac said. “Eighteen is a good number and is right up with the front-runners, but I think the state tournament is as level as it’s been in a while. It’s going to come down to the three teams that wrestle the best this weekend.”

Headlining the GFH lineup are divisional champs Tommy McMillen at 160, Jordan Komac at 145 and Rylan Moldenhauer at 205, as well as runners-up Walker Ferda at 170, Chase Short at 152 and Kainan LaCasse at 160.

McMillen, a two-time state champ who took third last season, is undefeated on the year.

Ferda, a state title winner two seasons ago, took third last season, and Jordan Komac, son of the head coach, was runner-up for the Bison last season as a freshman.

“We feel we have a handful of kids who can compete for state titles,” Komac said. “That’s a good feeling going in.”

Senior Tyler Meyer took third in Bozeman last Saturday at 145 and Jensen Poirier, Caleb McMillen and Jack Dressel all took fourth.

Seniors Chase Perry, Blade Massey and Jacob Miller all also grabbed qualifying spots for state along with junior Terrell Mitchell.

Braden Lomas, Russell Wienholz, Caden Hilliard, and Kole Writingbird round out GFH’s state squad.

Eight of the Bison’s qualifiers are underclassmen, including Jordan Komac, Poirier, Caleb McMillen, Dressel, Wienholz, Lomas, Hilliard, and Writingbird.

Komac said the experience they gain at state will be invaluable.

“The experience piece is great,” he said. “We’re pretty pleased with the younger kids’ effort last weekend, they wrestled hard and won some big matches. We’re going to bring a lot of this team back next year.”

The Rustlers of head coach Aaron Jensen qualified 15 athletes for the state tourney, up from 10 a season ago.

Jensen said while he’s happy with the number of qualifiers, the hardest work has yet to be done.

“We’ve been averaging around 10 (state qualifiers) a year,” Jensen said. “Looking around the state, 15 is a competitive number. But now that we’ve got the numbers, we have to do something with them. We can’t be satisfied by just getting to the Metra. We’ve got to look to score points and do what we can.”

Seniors Noah Danielson (285) and Nick Nordell (205), who have both consistently led the Rustlers all season, placed first and second, respectively, at the Divisional Meet. Jensen said he feels good about his leaders heading into state.

“I think they’re both focused,” Jensen said. “They’re veterans and the stage shouldn’t affect them. They both have some big wins and some crushing losses. They’re not going to see anything they haven’t seen before.”

Nordell took fifth at state last season.

Freshman Kai Stewart earned a fourth-place finish last weekend at 138, while Carter Carroll, Luke McEntee, Grayden Irish and Andrew Paradise all took fifth for CMR.

Rounding out the state roster for the Rustlers are Deven Altenburg, Tanner Farren, Seth Schimerowski, Tony Walter, Tyler Gentry, Eryck Otto and KC Buday.

Altenburg, a junior, took sixth at state last year and recently returned to action at the dual against GFH after sitting most of the season with an injury.

The Rustlers boast five underclassmen heading to state in Stewart, Carroll, Paradise, Buday and Otto, who Jensen said he has urged to seize the opportunity.

“We’re excited to get there and get the experience,” Jensen said. “But just because you’re a freshman or sophomore, you can’t be content and say ‘well, I’ve got a few more years.’ The time is now, because you only get four cracks at it.

“But first and foremost, you’ve got to have fun. Embrace it, but be focused.”

Billings Senior and Missoula Sentinel, the top-two ranked teams for most of the season, figure to be the favorites heading in.

The Broncs qualified the most grapplers at the Eastern Divisionals with 19, finishing with two winners in Clay Smith at 132 and Brandon Vladic at 138, as well as runners-up Garreth Erhardt at 103, Dylan Veis at 138, Tyger Frye at 145 and Jarret Leinwand.

The Spartans qualified 20 wrestlers for state last weekend, earning four top spots at the Western AA tourney in Jake Hegel at 132, Jace Kovalicky at 138, Chance Stack at 160 and Jake Rebish at 285 while Cameron Hegel, Dylan Duffalo, Chandler Paulson and Bryar Newbary all finished in second.

Kalispell Flathead grabbed the most state qualifiers with 22, highlighted by winners Hunter Rush at 103 and Trae Vasquez at 120 and runners-up Payton Hume at 138 and Payton Boyce at 205.

Missoula Big Sky, which took second at the Holiday Classic at CMR in December, are sending 17 athletes to Billings, earning three divisional champs in Jon Conklin at 113, Kyle Gordon at 126 and Logan McGreevey at 145.

Butte and Billings Skyview were next, qualifying 15 and 14 wrestlers, respectively.

Bozeman followed with 13 placers at divisionals, but had five finalists, including winners in Chance McLane at 103, Bjorn Schroeder at 113 and Caleb James at 126.

“I see Sentinel and Senior as the favorites,” Komac said. “But I see teams like Big Sky, Flathead, Skyview and ourselves as the next group of teams that will be pushing.”