The Jefferson High School Panther wrestling team made the trip to Great Falls to compete in the CMR Holiday Classic Tournament on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 16 and 17. The tournament was an all-class competition with many of the best teams from Class AA, A and B/C present.
This was a varsity-only event, so the Panthers had eight wrestlers entered, including Dylan Mikesell at 120 pounds, Dayton Brown at 126 pounds, Mike Richard at 132 pounds, Jace Oxarart at 145 pounds, John Armstrong at 152 pounds, Hunter Steele at 170 pounds, Brady Armstrong at 182 pounds and Jeyden Sullivan at 205 pounds.
In the first round only Jace Oxarart and Hunter Steele had a match and they both were defeated. In the second round Mikesell, John Armstrong and Brady Armstrong advanced. In the third round Mikesell, John Armstrong and Brady Armstrong won on the championship side of the bracket, which put them into the quarterfinals and qualified for the second day of action. Meanwhile Brown, Richard. Oxarart and Sullivan won in the consolation bracket. In the next consolation round Brown, Richard and Steele were eliminated. In the final consolation round of the day a wrestler would need to win to advance into the second day of competition. Oxarart would win and qualify for day two, but unfortunately Sullivan was eliminated from the tournament. The final round of the day was the quarterfinals in which Mikesell and both Armstrongs were defeated and would need to fight their way back to find a place on the podium.
The Jefferson wrestlers finished the first day of competition with 67 team points and were 22nd out of 53 teams – a very respectable place considering the level of competition. The Panthers also advanced four wrestlers into Saturday’s competition, which meant they were in the top twelve of their individual weight classes. This included Dylan Mikesell, Jace Oxarart, John Armstrong and Brady Armstrong.
Saturday’s action started out with Dylan Mikesell being eliminated. Jace Oxarart, John and Brady Armstrong won to guarantee themselves a medal. John and Brady Armstrong won their next match to place in the top six. In the consolation semifinals John Arnstrong won while brother Brady lost. In the final round Oxarart placed seventh, Brady Armstrong was fifth and John Armstrong placed fourth. The Panthers ended up placing 18th out of 53 teams when the tourney concluded.
The wrestlers that 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, Dayton Brown, Mike Richard, Cooper Mikesell, Cole Jeske, Hunter Steele, Luke Jackson and Jeyden Sullivan. The Panther wrestlers definitely made their presence known as several finished on the awards podium at the end of the day. No team scores were kept. Placing for Jefferson were Leighton LaFromboise – first at 120 pounds, Dayton Brown – second at 126 pounds, Cooper Mikesell – first at 132 pounds, Mike Richard – fourth at 132 pounds, Luke Jackson – second at 205 pounds and Jeyden Sullivan – first at 205 pounds.
Coach Humphrey’s comments: This trip was a great experience for us. We wrestled against the best competition out there and really competed well. The wrestlers turned some heads and made people take notice. To place as high as we did as a team was a great accomplishment and it is quite humbling to know that we beat seven Class AA and five Class A varsity teams. We finished third among Class B/C teams.
Brady Armstrong has been selected by his coaches as the JHS Panther Wrestler of the week for the CMR Tourney.
Leighton LaFromboise has been selected by his coaches as the JHS Panther Wrestler of the week for the Great Falls High Tourney.
Dayton Brown had the quick pin of the weekend for the Panthers when he pinned his opponent in 11 seconds at the Great Falls High Tourney.
The next action for the Panther Wrestling team is a mixer at Bigfork on Thursday, Dec. 22 at 3:00 pm. This will be the last action for Jefferson before the Christmas break.
