Hawk Wrestlers compete at home

Broadus hosted a Wrestling Mixer on Saturday, with teams from Colstrip, Baker, and Forsyth descending on the PRCDHS gym. Broadus Head Wrestling Coach Frankie Schoonover told us that whenever these tough teams come to Broadus, the level of competition is sure to be great. As an example, Schoonover told us that 6 wrestlers competing in Broadus on Saturday had placed at State. The level of competition made for some excellent matches, not just from the Broadus wrestlers but between the other teams as well. One of the highlight matches of the afternoon was between Dawson Buckalew of Colstrip and Jesse Brawley of Baker, who wrestled a physical, intense match, with injuries and blood drawn, and which came down to a close 10 to 8 win for Buckalew.

Schoonover told us that perhaps because of this level of competition and wrestling in front of the home crowd, the Broadus team came out overly fired up. "We needed to slow down and wrestle our style, but we were so amped up we were missing points trying to go for the takedown or pin."

In the 138 lb class, Zaden Heck of Colstrip beat Riggin Schaffer of Broadus, 17 to 2. Riggin was also pinned by Garrett Buckalew of Colstrip in 3:42. Schoonover said that Riggin is still working on his level of intensity and continuing to improve, despite the losses on Saturday.

Alex Edwards pinned Jalen Kinzel of Colstrip in the 152 lb weight class in 3:28, for his first career win. Alex then wrestled Zack Valdez of Colstrip, falling 12-3. Schoonover commented that Edwards stayed focused and capitalized on mistakes during the first match, and he's happy to see the level of improvement Alex has achieved thus far in his young career.

At 160 lbs, Ian Willoughby of Colstrip beat Cale Emmons of Broadus, 13 to 1. Dawson Buckalew of Colstrip then pinned Emmons in 1:16. Schoonover said that Cale was overamped coming into the match, and missed some opportunities for points, but Cale has been great at scrambling, and Frankie is looking to capitalize on that side of Emmons' game. He commented: "A good scrambler is the toughest opponent to wrestle, as the other competitor doesn't have a chance to wrestle the match their way. Cale has some great potential as a scrambler."

Dakota Holbrook, wrestling at 170 lbs, pinned Zach Cox of Colstrip in 5:48.

Schoonover said that Dakota came out and immediately dictated the direction of the match. "Dakota listens to his coaches, and when he's out of position he listens to us and regains control."

Also wrestling at 170, Kyle Minow pinned TJ Fulton of Forsyth in 1:14. Minow then wrestled Zach Cox of Colstrip, winning 11 to 1. "Kyle showed how serious of a wrestler he is this weekend," Schoonover said. "He controlled every bit of his matches, and in his second match he was on the offense the whole time."

Seth McDowell suffered an injury in practice, and did not compete in the match, but is expected to be back this week. Gavin Severeide didn't have any competition in his weight class over the weekend, and was able to wrestle in front of the home crowd for Senior Night with Dakota Holbrook, in order to gain some much needed experience in front of a crowd; Holbrook won the match by points.

As of Monday, Broadus didn't have a match planned for this weekend, while next weekend the Hawks will go on a long road trip to wrestle in Glasgow and Malta.