The Jefferson High School wrestling team traveled to Cascade for a mixer on Thursday, Jan. 5. Wrestling for Jefferson was Dylan Mikesell, Leighton LaFromboise and Nik Richard all at 120 pounds, Cooper Mikesell and Mike Richard at 132 pounds, Jace Oxarart at 145 pounds, John Armstrong and Cole Jeske at 152 pounds, Hunter Steele at 170 pounds, Brady Armstrong at 182 pounds, Jeyden Sullivan, Kolbe Michaud and Luke Jackson at 205 pounds and Dylan Stevens at 285 pounds.
Jefferson collected wins from LaFromboise, both Mikesells, Mike Richard, Oxarart, both Armstrongs, Jeske and Steele.
The Panther wrestling team got on the bus the next morning and traveled to Cut Bank to compete in a two-day tournament on Jan. 6 and 7. This tournament had 27 teams participating with several AA and A schools attending.
The Panthers were competing with the same 14 wrestlers as the previous evening, plus Dayton Brown at 126 pounds. All but two Panther wrestlers advanced past the first round. The second round found LaFromboise, both Mikesells, Brown, Mike Richard, Oxarart, both Armstrongs, Steele, Sullivan and Stevens advancing with all doing so by pin. Next up was the quarterfinals where a win would assure the athlete a spot on the podium. The Mikesell and Armstrong brothers won their matches while Brown, Oxarart and Sullivan did so as well. This put seven Jefferson wrestlers into the semifinals and guaranteed them at least sixth place. In the consolation bracket Jackson and Michaud were eliminated while Nik Richard and Jeske claimed victory and advanced to the second day. Jefferson was able to qualify 13 wrestlers for the second day of competition. As a team they had 131 points which put them in first place out of 27 teams. Class A Havre was right behind the Panthers with 126 points; however, the rest of the teams were a distant 50 points behind.
In the first consolation round on Saturday Nik and Mike Richards and Hunter Steele lost to eliminate them from the tournament. Leighton LaFromboise, Cole Jeske and Dylan Stevens advanced and would need one more win to put them into the top six in the 32-man bracket. Unfortunately, all three Panthers were eliminated.
Next up was the semifinals, where Dylan Mikesell and John and Brady Armstrong won to advance them into the championship. The next round was the consolation semifinals where Jace Armstrong and Dayton Brown found victory while Cooper Mikesell and Jeyden Sullivan were defeated. In the placing matches, Cooper Mikesell was sixth and Sullivan was fifth while Oxarart and Brown finished fourth. In the finals, Dylan Mikesell and John Armstrong where crowned champions with Brady Armstrong finishing in second place. Former Jefferson standout Leo Anderson had been the lone Panther to ever win this tournament, so championship victories have been elusive in Cut Bank. As a team, Jefferson finished with a team record 200.5 points, which put them in second place out of 27 teams, the Panthers’ highest finish ever.
Coach Humphrey’s comments: The team wrestled 96 matches this week against some very tough competition. We dominated the competition at Cascade and showed we are certainly a force to be noticed at Cut Bank. After placing third last season and bringing home a trophy for the first time at this tournament, we bested that performance by placing second and earning 200.5 points – which is also a team record in Cut Bank. The wrestlers are stepping up to the challenge and gaining confidence each week.
John Armstrong has been selected by his coaches as the JHS Panther Wrestler of the week. Armstrong went a perfect 6-0 over the weekend with all being pins. John completely dominated his opponents at the Cut Bank Tournament and showed the competition that he is a title contender.
Jace Oxarart had the JHS Panther Quick Pin of the week by dispatching his opponent in 21 seconds during the Cascade Mixer.
Jefferson will have another tough test ahead of them when they compete at the Choteau Classic Tournament on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 13 and 14. This tournament will feature 30 Class B and C schools.
