Chiefs place 5 of 8 wrestlers at State
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BILLINGS – The Ronan Chiefs wrestling team had a day to remember Feb. 11 at the Class B-C State Wrestling Meet in Billings, as the young team placed five of its eight wrestlers to finish the meet in fifth place. Despite losing a large portion of the team after Christmas break, the Chiefs rallied to win the Divisional Tournament one week prior, before capping the season off with a bang.
The team had no appearances in the championship round, however, they brought home two third-place finishes, along with a pair of fifth-place victories and one sixth-place finish.
“The boys did well; I’m proud of them,” head coach Dustyn Azure said. “They peaked at the right time.”
Getting to the top wasn’t easy for the Chiefs, though, as the competition at State is always incredibly tough, Azure said.
“There was some great competition,” he said. “I thought we went out and competed. Everyone went out and scored team points.”
Trae Garcia, 98 pounds, went one-and-two on the weekend, while 112-pound grappler Chase Rhine also won one of his three matches. In the 125-pound category, Brandon Dumont secured fifth place after going 4-2 over the two-day event. Connor Benn lost both of his matches at State in the 130-pound class.
Senior Dustin Goldsby had his best finish at State in his career at Ronan, going three-and-two to finish fifth overall in the 152-pound category.
“Dustin has improved tons; he’s come a long way freshman year,” Azure noted. “Last year was the first time he qualified for State, (but) was one round out of placing. This was his first time placing at State.”
Fellow 152-pound grappler Shelby Grant wrestled Goldsby in the fifth-sixth place match, with Goldsby edging his teammate 4-2 in overtime. The loss gave Grant a sixth-place finish.
The top performances of the meet went to Ronan’s biggest grapplers, as both Quentin Denton (160 pounds) and Colby Roberts (189) both took third place in their weight categories.
Denton defeated Cole Werdal of Choteau-Augusta in a 3-1 decision in the third-place match, while Roberts defeated Tanner Yates of Colstrip by technical fall in 4:16.
Despite losing a large portion of his team early in the season, Azure says the season went well overall. And with Goldsby being the only senior on the team, Azure says his team should be strong next year.
“We improved leaps and bounds every week this season,” Azure said. “I’m really proud of how we came along and improved. Next year we’ll have really high expectations.”
