Braves take stacked lineup to divisionals
Months of sacrifice, hard work and dedication will reach their peak next weekend at the state wrestling tournament in Billings. Individuals and teams will meet for the great clash to see who comes out on top.
But the road to the title really begins today for class AA schools with the divisional seeding tournaments. The Flathead Braves will compete with teams from Butte, Missoula and Helena for the best position heading into state. The Western schools wrestle today and Saturday in Missoula.
Squads are allowed to take two wrestlers per weight class to the seeding tournament, but many schools don't have enough wrestlers to fill the spots. The Braves, on the other hand, had a huge turnout this year with nearly 70 athletes. Putting together two full teams is no problem for Flathead.
And the Braves will need to qualify as many wrestlers as possible to make a run for the state title. Billings Skyview, Butte and Bozeman all have legitimate shots to bring home the first-place hardware.
Flathead's varsity lineup is strong, with 12 ranked wrestlers. Two of them, Brian Ham (105 pounds) and Scott Cassel (189 pounds), are sitting at the top of the poll. Cassel moved into the No. 1 spot after beating Helena High's Ryan Featherson last weekend.
Ham has been ranked first most of the year and has defeated the No. 2 wrestler from Great Falls twice this season.
Every grappler on the divisional team has a winning record.
There are some weak spots in the roster, though. The 130-pound slot is void of any real threats for Flathead, and in spite of good seasons, Dan Jenkins (98 pounds) and David Lau (160 pounds) will have to have career performances to place high at state.
The Braves went 16-1 in dual action this year. The team's only loss came against class A powerhouse Sidney.
Flathead's brawlers finished ranked 38th in the nation and placed eighth at this year's National Duals in Rochester, Minn., during the Christmas break.
Flathead has nine wrestlers who placed at state last year, including state champion T.C. Decker (112 pounds) and runners up Ham and Mikey Kuehne (152 pounds).
The Flathead Braves' 2006 Divisional Team
98 - Dan Jenkins (28-10), Zach Reimnitz (13-3); 105 - Brian Ham (26-2), Tanner Beaman (11-5); 112 - T.C. Decker (20-6), Ryan Thiel (21-4); 119 - Ricky Janes (20-7), Jordan Nelson (14-6); 125 - Austin Zapata (22-5), A.J. Stoick (10-9); 130 - Steven Mantel (14-8), Shadow Lemay (18-8); 135 - Duran Flaget (25-3), Jonah Franchl (13-11); 140 - Ryan Nelson (24-4), Colter Lane (16-5); 145 - Luke Fischer (25-7), Tucker Hankinsan (21-7); 152 - Mikey Kuehne (20-2), Tyler Wells (19-4); 160 - David Lau (19-10), Josiah Nelson (13-9); 171 - Levi Holt (19-8), Drew Watkins (22-7); 189 - Scott Cassel (24-3), Andy Noel; 215 - Casey Poier (17-2), Damien Farrier (17-7); 275 - Dan Ogden (18-1), Brent Smith (8-5).