Chiefs place 3 wrestlers at Rocky Mountain Classic
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MISSOULA – The Ronan Chiefs are down to 16 of their original 28 wrestlers, but according to head coach Dustyn Azure, his experienced team still has a good chance of excelling come the divisional tournament, beginning Feb. 4. Last week, Ronan sent eight of its wrestlers to the Rocky Mountain Classic, where Shelby Grant (152), Quinton Denton (160), and Colby Roberts (189) placed among the top wrestlers in surrounding states.
“I’m definitely proud of our boys coming out and placing,” Azure said. “But I’m not satisfied.”
To Azure, all the meets and mat time before Divisional and State are just practice for the big dance. This bodes well for Ronan as they head into a busy week traveling to the Eureka Quad before hosting Big Sky at home and finishing the week at a two-day Class B duals at Conrad.
“I’m excited for the Conrad duals because we will get a lot of Class B competition,” Azure said. “I’m excited to go over and see what we’re made of.”
At the Rocky Mountain Classic, Grant went 3-2 before injuring his knee and forfeiting in the seventh/eighth place match to prevent further injury.
“We sat him so no serious injury would be done,” Azure said. “He’ll be fine.”
Grant defeated Sean White of Coeur d’Alene High by a 12-4 decision. He then went on to win by technical fall against Darren Damon of Clarkston, Wash., 15-0. In the quarterfinals, Grant was pinned by Eli Hinebauch in 1:59.
Moving to the wrestle-back bracket, Grant defeated Bryce Akers of Belgrade before falling to Quincy Jessop of Corvallis.
Denton got off hot, beating John Fairbanks of University High (Spokane Valley, Wash.) via pin in 1:59. In the second round, Denton fell to Shane St. Onge of Glacier in 1:37. With the loss, Denton moved to the wrestle-back bracket, where he defeated Jack Martinich of Hellgate High. He then downed Robert Thomas of Mead.
With the win, Denton faced Dylan Berget of Libby, which he won. Denton was taken out of the tournament by Riley Nagel of Corvallis.
Roberts began his tournament with a loss to Garrett Demers of Coeur d’Alene High in an 11-4 decision. The loss moved him to the wrestle-back bracket, where he first defeated Zach Bauer of Hellgate. Roberts then beat Kyle Murphy of Clarkston, Wash., and Gunnar Moe of Libby. Roberts was taken out of the tournament after he was defeated by Lane Armstrong of Glacier.
Earlier in the week, Ronan traveled to St. Ignatius, where the Chiefs took on Mission in an all-out battle. Mission came out strong, earning three wins by pin, one by decision and five more by forfeit.
Dumont (125) picked up a win over Pasco Green in 42 seconds, while Conner Benn (135) downed Casey Nitschke in 1:27.
Ronnie Cullis pinned Cody Couture in 4:36, while Shelby Grant won by a 16-8 decision.
Ronan won 171 and heavyweight by forfeit.
