Three Panthers made the awards podium as the Jefferson High wrestling squad finished 16th out of 57 teams — and tied for first among Class B/C schools — at the very tough CMR Holiday Classic Tournament in Great Falls Dec. 15 and 16.
The CMR tourney is an all-class competition with many of the best teams from Class AA, A and B/C participating. This was a varsity-only event, and the Panthers opted to leave their eighth graders and freshmen at home for the weekend, so only eight JHS wrestlers were entered.
This included Dylan Mikesell at 120 pounds, Leighton LaFromboise at 126 pounds, Dayton Brown at 132 pounds, Jeyce Sullivan at 138 pounds, Cooper Mikesell at 145 pounds, Mike Richard at 152 pounds, Brady Armstrong at 205 pounds and Kolbe Michaud at 285 pounds.
In the first round of the 64-team brackets only Dayton Brown, at 132 pounds, Jeyce Sullivan, at 138, and Mike Richard, at 152, had matches, with Brown and Richard advancing.
In the second round, Dylan Mikesell, at 120, Brady Armstrong, at 205, and Kolbe Michaud, at 285, advanced. In the third round, only Armstrong won qualifying for the quarterfinals.
Meanwhile Dylan Mikesell, Brown, Sullivan, Cooper Mikesell, wrestling at 145, Richard and Michaud won in the consolation bracket. In the next consolation round, though, Brown, Sullivan, Cooper Mikesell and Richard were eliminated.
In the final consolation round of the day, Dylan Mikesell and Michaud, won, qualifying for day two of the tournament. And Armstrong won to make the semifinals.
Saturday’s action started out with Mikesell and Michaud winning to guarantee themselves medals. They both lost in the next round, but they won their final matches to place seventh. Armstrong won his semifinal match to make the 205-pound finals — but he lost in his final match, settling for second.
Jefferson scored 86 points which is their best since returning to this tournament in 2018. The Panthers tied with Glasgow for the top team amongst B/C squads.
The wrestlers who were eliminated on Friday plus a few extra Jefferson matmen were entered into a tourney on Saturday at Great Falls High School. This included Leighton LaFromboise, Nik Richard, Brown, Sullivan Cooper Mikesell, Mike Richard and Cole Christoferson. No team scores were kept, but several Panthers finished on the awards podium: Brown was first at 132 pounds, Mike Richard 2nd at 152, Cooper Mikesell 3rd at 145, Nik Richard 5th at 126 and Sullivan 5th at 138.
Coach’s comments: This trip was a great experience for us. We wrestled against the best competition out there and really competed well. To place as high as we did as a team was a great accomplishment and it is quite humbling to know that we beat several Class AA and Class A varsity teams.
Michaud was selected by his coaches as the JHS Panther Wrestler of the week for the CMR Tourney. Brown was chosen as the Wrestler of the week for the Great Falls High Tourney.
Cooper Mikesell had the quick pin of the weekend, pinning his opponent in 12 seconds at the Great Falls High Tourney.
The next action for the Panther Wrestling team is a mixer at Florence on Thursday, Dec. 21 at 5:00 p.m. This will be the final competition for Jefferson before the Christmas break.
