Couguskies grab second at divisonals

Absarokee wrestlers Billy Raville and Robbie Coleman took first place in the Southern B-C Divisional Tournament in Whitehall on Feb. 6.
Nine other members of the Columbus-Absarokee co-op wrestling team placed at the tournament, contributing to the team’s 144 points and a second-place finish behind the Class B Townsend Bulldogs’ 146. Eleven teams competed.
“Not many people at the tournament were expecting us to place that high as a team,” Couguskie head coach Mike Moodry said. “I was pleasantly surprised.”
All told, nine of the team’s wrestlers will go on to the Class B-C state tournament at the Metra Park Rimrock Arena in Billings on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 12-13. Both Raville and Coleman went to state last year.
Looking ahead, Moodry sees a lot of young wrestlers from which to build a championship team.
“This is our third Southern B-C divisional trophy in four years,” he said. “All our freshman came in unseeded and worked their butts off to get to state.”
Raville, a senior wrestling at 152 pounds with a 23-5 record, started with a bye in the quarterfinal in the divisional, then defeated Michael Ayers of Highwood by fall in 2:49 in the semifinal and defeated Brevlin Thompson of Anaconda by a 9-1 major decision for first place.
“Billy’s been wrestling since he was young,” Moodry said. “He did really well considering he’s been out half the season after he injured his knee before Christmas. He’s a team leader and a hard worker.”
Coleman, a junior wrestling at 138 pounds with a 22-15 record, defeated John Freeze of Anaconda by fall in 0:51 in the quarterfinal, defeated Mike Roach of Cascade by fall in 2:47 in the semifinal, and then won the first-place match over Doug DiAngelis of Cascade by disqualification.
Coleman was down 7-0 in the third round of the final match, but he slowly came back as DiAngelis got called for locking hands four times, making it 7-4, and then twice for stalling, Moodry said. Eventually DiAngelis, who was probably tired and worn out, was disqualified.
“Robbie’s also been wrestling since he was young,” Moodry said. “He was the runner-up at 132 pounds at the divisional last year.”
Other local wrestlers who placed included:
• Columbus sophomore Nate Goddard, 22-20, placed second at 126. He defeated Zach Gwin of Anaconda by fall in 1:46 in the quarterfinal, defeated Wyatt Powers of Whitehall by fall in 3:11 in the semifinal, then lost to Tyler Groh of Townsend by fall in 1:51 in the first-place match. Goddard went to state last year as a freshman.
• Columbus junior Dustin Stepper, 16-13, second at 205. He had a bye in the quarterfinal, defeated Nick Workman of Boulder by fall in 1:00 in the semifinal, then lost to Dillon Hoerauf of Whitehall by fall in 4:23 in the first-place match.
• Columbus freshman Dylan Raihl, 23-10, third at 126. He defeated Titus Ogle of Townsend by fall in 1:05 in the quarterfinal, lost to Tyler Groh of Townsend by a 6-4 decision in the semifinal, defeated Gage Young of Deer Lodge by technical fall in 4:42 in the consolation semifinal, then defeated Wyatt Powers of Whitehall by technical fall in 4:42 for third place.
• Columbus senior Michael Sherwood, 15-18, third at 132. He defeated Columbus freshman Nate Palmer by fall in 0:28 in the quarterfinal, lost to Brandon Bisch of Anaconda by fall in 0:58 in the semifinal, got a bye in the consolation semifinal, then defeated Palmer by fall in 0:45 for third place.
• Columbus senior Marc Dorendorf, 5-18, third at 170. He defeated Holden Bailey of Boulder by fall in 3:04 in the quarterfinal, lost to Shiloh Rainey of Drummond by fall in 0:34 in the semifinal, got a bye in the consolation semifinal, then defeated Kayden Howser of Whitehall by fall in 2:12 for third place.
• Nate Palmer, 10-19, fourth at 132. After losing to Sherwood in the quarterfinal, Palmer got a bye in the first consolidation round, defeated Joel Neel of Townsend by fall in 1:54 in the consolation semifinal, then lost to Sherwood in the third-place match.
• Columbus freshman Colton Getz, 16-26, fourth at 145. He defeated Kyle Evans of Cascade by fall in 0:51 in the quarterfinal, lost to Braxtyn Armstrong of Whitehall by fall in 1:26 in the semifinal, defeated Brennan Kulaski of Anaconda by fall in 0:52 in the consolation semifinal, then lost to Cole Bergstad of Townsend by fall in 1:42 in the third-place match.
• Columbus freshman Clay Haverland, 11-24, placed fifth at 113, and Columbus sophomore Connor Goddard, 8-9, placed sixth at 138. Only wrestlers in the top-four places go on to the state tournament.

Southern B-C at Whitehall team results:
Team scores: Townsend 146, Columbus-Absarokee 144, Whitehall 129, Anaconda 114, Jefferson 76, Cascade 62, Great Falls Central 53, Drummond-Philipsburg 30, Highwood 8, Deer Lodge 3, Lone Peak 0.