With one of the best outcomes in years,
years, the Jefferson High wrestling team staged an outstanding comeback at the Southern BC Divisional Wrestling Tournament in Anaconda Saturday. When all was said and done, nine team members had finished in the top four of their weight class and earned a spot at the State Tournament set for Billings this weekend.
One, Nate Brunett, earned a divisional title for the second year in a row. According to Coach Troy Humphrey, the Panther matmen were in a good position when the tournament started, suiting up fourteen competitors.
“This was the largest Panther team assembled at a division tournament in over two decades,” he said. “With the large roster size, certainly Jefferson would be a factor in the team standings.” That prediction appeared headed for realization as the Panthers rolled through the first round.
Nine wrestlers – Cody St. Clair at 120 pounds, Derek Nygaard at 152, Nate Brunett at 160, Brett Hale at 170, Noah Anspach at 170, Drake Schake at 182, Asher Oliver at 182, Nick Workman at 205 and Nathan Rasch at 285 – won their matches and qualified for the divisional semifinals.
Unfortunately, said the coach, “the semifinal round was brutal for the Panthers as only Brunett advanced into the finals and punched his ticket to state.” After two rounds of consolation matches, Eli Hauptman at 120, Tyler Dryer at 126 and Dakota Dorn at 205 were eliminated from the tournament.
Next up was the consolation semifinals, where a win would advance the winner to the state tournament. Michael Mitchell, wrestling at 113, and Jacob Travis at 138 found themselves falling in the round. Travis, who had earned his way to the state tourney twice before, had seen limited action this season and could not overcome his opponent to earn trip three. Mitchell finished the divisional with a pin that earned him fifth place, narrowly out of state qualifying. Travis finished the day in sixth place. But things started to turn around for the determined Panthers. St. Clair secured a pin to finish in the top four and advance to state.
Starting at 152 pounds, the Panthers got another state qualifying pin from Nygaard and went on a seven-match win streak, all pins. Hale, Anspach, Oliver, Schake, Workman and Rasch joined Brunett, St. Clair and Nygaard on the road to state. In the consolation finals to decide third and fourth, the Jefferson wrestlers again flexed their muscles, with St. Clair, Hale, Oliver, Workman and Rasch pinning their opponents to take third. Nygaard finished in fourth. At 170 and 182 pounds, it was an all-Jefferson affair, pit- ting Hale against teammate Anspach and Oliver against teammate Schake. Hale and Oliver won to take third, but all four Panthers will advance to Billings.
Next up on the mats were the finals. Nate Brunett got a quick takedown and then pinned his opponent in the first period to repeat as the 160-pound divisional champion. Coach Humphrey said the nine-state qualifiers was the second most state qualifiers ever for the Panthers. In 1998 Jefferson sent 11 wrestlers to state and brought back a third place trophy, he said.
Despite the great individual performances Saturday, the Panthers came up just short of a team trophy. They finished fourth out of 12 teams with 119 points. Whitehall edged out the Panthers with a 124.5-point, third place team finish.
“I am really proud of the way the guys wrestled,” said the coach. “Last year we had five state qualifiers and scored 76 points, so we are definitely showing improvement.” While “it was a bit disappointing to let the team trophy slip out of our hands,” Humphrey said the Panthers “certainly got noticed by the other teams competing against us.” One of the most amazing facts about this team of JHS wrestlers is that none of them are seniors.
“Without any seniors on the team, this will be an exciting group of wrestlers to watch next year,” said the coach. After all, nine of them will have experience competing on the biggest stage, the state tourney.
The State All-Class Wrestling Tournament will be Friday and Saturday, February 10 and 11, at the Metra in Billings.
