Flathead qualifies 29 for state wrestling

The Daily Inter Lake

MISSOULA - Flathead qualified 29 wrestlers on Saturday for the upcoming Class AA state tournament at the Western AA seeding tournament.

The Braves advanced 12 wrestlers to the finals and had five individual champions in Brian Ham, 105; Mikey Kuehne, 152; Levi Holt, 171; Casey Poier, 215; and Dan Ogden, heavyweight.

It was the third seeding tournament title for Kuehne.

The seven runners-up for FHS were: Dan Jenkins, 98; Austin Zapata, 125; Duran Flaget, 135; Ryan Nelson, 140; David Lau, 160; Scott Cassel, 189; and Damien Farrier, 215.

Placing third for the Braves: Tanner Beaman, 105; Ricky Janes, 119; Shadow Lemay, 130; Colter Lane, 140; Luke Fischer, 145; and Josiah Nelson, 160.

There were no team totals kept in this two-day event.

Butte had the second most qualifiers. The Bulldogs will have 26 wrestlers in action at state in Billings this weekend.

"Overall, we feel like we had a great tournament," said FHS coach Jeff Thompson.

"This sets us up nicely for seeds at state."

Thompson said the junior varsity kids for FHS really stepped it up at this event. Beaman was just one example as he dominated Mike Pfaff of Missoula Big Sky 16-4 in the battle for third place. Pfaff finished fourth at state a year ago.

"A lot of kids wrestled way above their seeding," said Thompson.

Results are on Page B8.