Polson 93, Eureka 65

POLSON - It was the Kyle Bagnell show at Linderman Gymnasium tonight. The senior commit to Oklahoma State for baseball scored 12 points in the first quarter as Polson trounced Class B Eureka 93-65.

Bagnell would go on to score 22 points overall to become the game's leading scorer.

Things were relatively close after the first quarter with Polson leading 24-15, however the Pirates started the second quarter with a 20-0 run and it was basically garbage time after than. Senior Louis Mohr had 10 points in that period and finished with 14 (including a few dunks to wow the crowd).

At halftime, Polson led 52-23, Eureka would bounce back slightly by scoring 42 points in the second half but things were already sealed up. Five Pirates scored in double digits and Polson won its seventh straight game.

Eureka - 15 - 8 - 21 - 21 - 65
Polson - 24 - 28 - 16 - 25 - 93

Pirates scoring - Kyle Bagnell 22, Louis Mohr 14, Will Davey 14, Ian Laimbeer 13, Cody Fischer 11, Sheldon Fisher 7, Tyler Krell 6, Zach Camel 4, Riley Sampson 2

Here are some photos I took from the game...

Northwestern A Divisionals for Wrestling Video

Here's a video I took at the Northwestern A Divisionals last weekend in Whitefish, MT.

Getting ready for the state wrestling tournament

This is seriously the best time of the year for all you sports fans... when these postseason tournaments start to kickoff. The Daily Inter Lake has been absolutely blowing up the coverage of the wrestling, so let me give you a little rundown.

First, here's a rundown on the Pirates hope for state tournament glory. Check out the full article here, here's a little snippet.

The Polson Pirates, Northwestern A divisional champions, hope it will be them.

But the power in Class A is likely in the Central division.

Belgrade and Havre have been running first and second all season long in the Class A coaches poll.

Belgrade has been the top-ranked team for much of the season, but the Blue Ponies outscored the Panthers 280 to 263 at last weekend's Central A Divisional.

That bumped Havre into first in the poll.

"Right now, I'd put Havre in the driver's seat," said Polson coach Bob Owen.

"They beat Belgrade pretty bad in those divisionals. Belgrade had beaten them in every competition they'd been in all year," Owen said.

Eastern A champion Laurel was ranked third in the final poll and Southwestern A champ Corvallis was fourth. Polson was fifth.

As for the Pirates?

"We want to contend for a trophy. It's not going to be easy. Right now Corvallis has a little more depth probably. But strange things happen when you get there. You get a little help from somebody and you can be right in it," the coach said.

Okay, I will be the first to admit I'm a little shakey on my wrestling strategies, but what if Ronan and Polson formed an alliance or posse and rolled down to the state tournament together. That would be a bigger force than when The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin teamed up.

Now lets look at another Northwestern A team headed down there, namely Libby. Here's a feature on No. 1 ranked Kyle Leir, as he's kind of a big deal. Here's a snippet...

Here's a snippet...

LIBBY - Don't ask Libby junior Kyle Leir about his 2010-11 season wrestling record.

There are a lot of guys right now who wish they had his mark, but he'd rather not talk about it.

Leir is 33-1 this year with championships at two prestigious tournaments - the Tri-State Tournament in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, and the Rocky Mountain Classic in Missoula.

But the ‘and 1 part of 33 and 1' drives him nuts.

"Every time (he tells someone), they want to know who beat you," the 140-pounder explained.

The loss came early - Leir's second match of the season, but he can give the score (6-1), his opponent's name (Trevor Hampton of Bonners Ferry, Idaho), and describe the match in complete detail.

According to Leir, Hampton had him in a Russian tie and was pushing in. Leir did a 360 spin to a far-side single, but got into a scramble and gave up a takedown and nearfall.

Leir continued to push the tempo, and did get an escape at the end, but couldn't score enough points to rally.

He's concerned about one loss? Are you kidding me? This guy is more vengeful than the bad guy off of Die Hard. Wouldn't want to wrestle him in the state tournament...

Here's the full Leir story.

Bigfork football coach gets top honor

You would kind of expect it after they won the state title and the turnaround that the Vikings saw in their program. Here's the writeup from the Bigfork Eagle...

The man who helped lift the Vikings football team to its first state championship has earned an honor of his own for his efforts this season.

Bigfork High School head football coach Todd Emslie was named Class B Coach of the Year by the Montana Coaches Association.

The honor is voted on by all of the coaches in the division across the state and winners were announced by the MCA in an e-mail to media outlets at the end of January.

“It is very cool and very humbling,” Emslie said. “There are a ton of great coaches out there. You could make an argument for every coach in our district let alone all of the coaches in the state. So it is a really neat thing.”

Emslie’s players have no doubt that he is the right pick for the honor though.

“He stood right by our side and always lifted us up and motivated us,” senior lineman Jerry Rose said. “He never left our side and always made us feel like we could succeed. He spent a lot of time with his linemen and not just with his quarterback and receivers. I don’t know that a lot of head coaches do that.”

Full story here.

Toby Cheff motivational poster

Just getting ready for the state tournament this weekend in Butte...

Polson stays put in wrestling poll

(From the Daily Interlake)

There have been a few changes in the Class A coaches wrestling poll this week.

The Polson Pirates remain ranked No. 5, but things have changed at both the top and bottom of the poll.

Havre and Belgrade have flipflopped at No. 1 and No. 2 and the Columbia Falls MatCats have made an entrance at No. 10 while the Ronan Chiefs have dropped out.

Frenchtown, which was No. 3, has fallen to No. 7. Laurel has moved up one spot to No. 3 and Corvallis climbed two spots to No. 4. Miles City is No. 8 and Lewistown remains at No. 9.

Libby's Kyle Leir (140) is the only local wrestler to be ranked No. 1 in his weight class.

Other locals honored are: Carlos Quinones, Polson, at 98 and Lucas Polk, Polson, also at 98, Dylan Moll, Polson, No. 2 at 105, Craig Feistner, Polson, No. 3 at 112, Sal Baccaro, Columbia Falls, No. 3 at 119, Justin Whitman, Columbia Falls, No. 5 at 125, Jacob Young, Polson, No. 4 at 135, Mike Devlin, Polson, No. 4 at 152, Dylan Berget, Libby, No. 5 at 160, Mark Hader, Columbia Falls, No. 6 at 160 and Josiah Clairmont, Polson, No. 4 at heavyweight.

Coaches A Poll
Feb. 8
Teams
1. Havre, 2. Belgrade, 3. Laurel, 4. Corvallis, 5. Polson, 6. Glendive, 7. Frenchtown, 8. Miles City, 9. Lewistown, 10. Columbia Falls.

Individuals
98: 1. Karson Kukes, Laurel, 2. Carlos Quinones, Polson, 3. Josh Venema, Corvallis, 4. Colton Cox, Hamilton, 5. Bryant Dorn, Hardin, 6. Lucas Polk, Polson.

105: 1. Dillon Tennant, Glendive, 2. Dylan Moll, Polson, 3. Glenn Hensley, Frenchtown, 4. Lyle Degen, Belgrade, 5. Tyler Forcella, Glendive, 6. Nate Kennelly, Havre.

112: 1. Tyler Kimm, Glendive, 2. Levi Gengerich, Corvallis, 3. Craig Feistner, Polson, 4. Gilbert Bora, Havre, 5. Cody Lemon, Frenchtown, 6. Jon Verlanic, Laurel.

119: 1. Dual Stadell, Havre, 2. Bryce Weatherston, Belgrade, 3. Sal Baccaro, Columbia Falls, 4. Tim Allsop, Corvallis, 5. Tyler Orchard, Glendive, 6. Andrew Teigen, Ronan.

125: 1. Kolter Kukes, Laurel, 2. Cody Ishler, Frenchtown, 3. Joe Yaeger, Fergus, 4. Jordan Stevens, Sidney, 5. Justin Whitman, Columbia Falls, 6. James Debose, Corvallis.

130: 1. Marty Etchemendy, Miles City, 2. Zach Westre, Frenchtown, 3. Jeremy Quinterro, Belgrade, 4. Nate Brooks, Ronan, 5. Shawn Tezak, Dillon, 6. John Chamberlin, Fergus.

135: 1. Travis Davis, Corvallis, 2. Brennan Gorder, Sidney, 3. Brendon Gifford, Hardin, 4. Jacob Young, Polson, 5. Dillon Seely, Havre, 6. Robert Nalawaja, Miles City.

140: 1. Kyle Leir, Libby, 2. Tommy Cooper, Laurel, 3. Jayme Kelly, Sidney, 4. Devon Williams, Corvallis, 5. Ethan Storling, Belgrade, 6. Jim Malone, Fergus.

145: 1. Eli Hinebauch, Havre, 2. Riley Nagel, Corvallis, 3. Rex Martin, Fergus, 4. Davis Peller, Miles City, 5. Dustin Goldsby, Ronan, 6. Dilan Starnel, Dillon.

152: 1. Shane Cooley, Miles City, 2. Brad Nordahl, Frenchtown, 3. Kameron Pribyl, Havre, 4. Mike Devlin, Polson, 5. Quincy Jessop, Corvallis, 6. Colton Devers, Belgrade.

160: 1. Connor Malone, Fergus, 2. Dylan Kramer, Laurel, 3. Jordan Malarchick, Belgrade, 4. Kyle Thomas, Corvallis, 5. Dylan Berget, Libby, 6. Mark Hader, Columbia Falls.

171: 1. Casey Schaub, Havre, 2. Cole McArthur, Ronan, 3. Matt Merenz, Dillon, 4. Troy Capp, Hamilton, 5. Ryan Gosselin, Laurel, 6. Justin Ricker, Belgrade.

189: 1. Toby Cheff, Ronan, 2. Levi Cade, Belgrade, 3. Forest Fortney, Hamilton, 4. Trevor Howe, Laurel, 5. Skyler Carrol, Livingston, 6. Randy Green, Sidney.

215: 1. Trevor Conrad, Glendive, 2. Josh Salapich, Havre, 3. Zeke Koslowsky, Dillon, 4. Austin Reyher, Belgrade, 5. Jess Padden, Laurel, 6. Austin Boucher, Laurel.

Hwt: 1. Allen Neuleib, Sidney, 2. Chris Kurkowski, Miles City, 3. Devanti Wilson, Frenchtown, 4. Josiah Clairmont, 5. Zac Rossman, Belgrade, 6. Dan Morstein, Dillon.

NWA Divisional wrestling tournament photos

Here are photos from the Northwestern A Divisional wrestling tournament yesterday...

Photos from the Class B/C Wrestling Divisionals in Arlee

Everyone is probably watching the Super Bowl pregame right now, I'm also working on the Northwestern A wrestling divisional photos as we speak. Here are photos from the Class B/C Wrestling Divisionals in Arlee yesterday...