This year’s Jefferson High wrestling team overachieved all season, and the state tournament was no different, Coach Troy Humphrey said after Saturday’s final rounds of the two-day State All-Class Wrestling Tournament in Billings.
Along the way, they compiled more points than at any time in two decades of JHS wrestlng, earned All-State honors for three of the team members (the most in 16 years), and competed in two matches remarkable enough to go down in school and state lore.
With a divisional title under their belts and fourteen qualifiers making the trip to Billings, the team entered the Metra with high hopes. Thirty-eight other teams also competed in the BC state tourney, all hoping to set records and capture the crown.
Taking to the mats for the first round for Jefferson were Emma Brown and Dominick Davis at 103 pounds, Michael Mitchell at 113 pounds, Cody St. Clair and Eric Lufkin at 120 pounds, Jacob Travis at 138 pounds, Nate Brunett at 160 pounds, Brett Hale and Asher Oliver at 170 pounds, Derek Nygaard and Drake Schake at 182 pounds, Nick Workman and Dakota Dorn at 205 pounds and Nathan Rasch at 285 pounds.
Travis, Brunett, Hale, Oliver, Nygaard, Workman and Rasch all earned opening round wins by pin. Next up was the quarterfinals where winners would advance into the semifinals and be assured of a spot on the awards podium. The Panthers wrestled with a lot of grit and determination, but only Brunett and Workman were able to win, with both doing so by pin.
Those wins guaranteed Jefferson would go home with at least two All-State wrestlers, Brunett and Workman.
With the rest of the JHS squad competing in the “wrestle backs,” or consolation rounds, they still had a chance to get back onto the awards stand. In the first consolation round Mitchell and Schake were eliminated while Brown, Davis, St. Clair, Lufkin and Dorn advanced. After two rounds of wrestling the Panthers still had twelve of fourteen wrestlers alive in the tournament.
Next up was the second round of consolation where a win would qualify the wrestler for the second day of competition. Wins would be hard to come by for Jefferson as only Emma Brown and Jacob Travis won by pin to advance to day two.
At the end of the first day of competition Jefferson was in fifth place with 50 points.
Eight wrestlers remained in each weight class for the second day of competition. Emma Brown and Jacob Travis each needed one more win to assure themselves a spot on the awards podium.
Emma Brown was a part of history as she was paired up against another female wrestler from Chinook. Class BC has never had a female wrestler place at state, and with two girls wrestling in the match one was about to be the first. The Chinook wrestler, Rebecca Stroh, had already entered state wrestling history by winning her first round match, the first all-female match in state tournament history.
Brown wrestled hard, but was defeated 5-1 in a very close match that eliminated her rise through the tournament ranks but cemented a spot for her in JHS and Montana wrestling history. Stroh went on to finish sixth in the weight class, the first female wrestler on the awards stand at state.
Travis meanwhile faced a competitor from Whitehall whom he had defeated twice earlier in the season. This time would be no different as Travis secured the pin in the first period to become the third All-State Panther wrestler this season.
Returning to the championship bracket, Nate Brunett made short work of his semifinals opponent. That made him the first Panther wrestler to reach the finals since Cody George did so in 2008. Nick Workman was not as fortunate and was defeated by the eventual champion.
Next up was the consolation semifinals. Both Travis and Workman were defeated and would be wrestling for fifth and sixth. In these matches Travis nearly pinned his opponent, but would have to settle for sixth place. Workman was able to get a first period pin to finish in fifth place.
The finals were up next and Nate Brunett faced off against an opponent from Baker. Brunett found himself in an evenly matched bout when tragedy struck. Late in the first period Brunett went down to the mat, hit his forehead and was momentarily knocked out.
Although he recovered rather quickly, the senior standout wrestler had to forfeit by injury default, bringing an end to an inspiring high school career that included three individual divisional crowns and a spot as a leader of the steadily improving JHS team.
By the end of the tournament, Jefferson had slipped back some in the team standings from day one, but still managed to place tenth with 75 points. Colstrip took top honors in Class B/C with 196 points, followed by Eureka with 127.5 and Glasgow with 120.5.
“Having three state placers is the most since 2002, and scoring 75 team points is the most that Jefferson has had since they placed third in 1998,” said Coach Humphrey.
“We put Jefferson on the map as a wrestling power in the Class BC ranks and week after week I received compliments on how well we wrestled and how well-mannered the athletes were. The wrestling team represented their school well and I am super proud of them,” he concluded.
