Broadus wrestlers Riggin Schaffer (above, holding the Powder River sign), and Reuben Kinzer (carrying Schaffer), march in the "Parade of Athletes" at the Montana All Class State Wrestling Meet, last Friday in Billings. (State Wrestling photos courtesy Maddie York)
Reuben Kinzer at State.
Riggin Schaffer at State.
A pair of Hawks wrestlers marched in the 2023 All Class State Wrestling Tournament "parade of athletes", as teams from across the Big Sky State entered MetraPark in Billings last Friday.
Riggin Schaffer came into the tournament as the 6th seed from the Eastern Division at the B/C level at 145 lbs, while Reuben Kinzer was the 3rd seed from the East at 205.
"I was really impressed with both wrestlers," Broadus Head Wrestling Coach Frankie Schoonover spoke about the duo, during a Monday interview. "Everyone there is tough and comes to wrestle, but both of our guys gave 110% and I'm 110% impressed."
Schaffer started out his tournament facing Jace Oxarart of Boulder, the #3 seed from the West. Schoonover said that Riggin dominated every aspect of the match, besting his opponent 8-4 and moving on to face Tucker Kaczmarek of Huntley, the #2 seed from the East, who wrestles a similar style to Riggin.
The Huntley wrestler scored early and kept ahead to win by major decision 13-4 over Schaffer, putting Riggin into the consolation bracket. Kaczmarek would eventually go on to win third.
Riggin went on the offensive against Lucas Kovalsky of Superior in the next match, which would prove to be the final match of the season for Schaffer as he was beaten 3-2.
Reuben Kinzer's first match came against the West's #6 seed, Gus Lee of Choteau.
Schoonover said that Reuben was worked up going into the match and had a hard time relaxing and wrestling the match his style, and was pinned by Lee in 2:55.
Kinzer's next match came against Jaxson Gree, the #9 seed from the West, and this time Reuben found his groove and won 4-0.
Next up was Spencer Higareda from Huntley, who pinned Reuben at Divisionals. This time around, Reuben and the coaching staff had a plan, and Reuben overcame Higareda's offense to create a back and forth match that lasted into the third period. A broken scoring clock with 12 seconds remaining with a tied score and subsequent one point score from Higareda won the match, and finished off Kinzer's season.
Riggin and Reuben, 11th and 9th grade respectively, will return to the mats next season, along with the majority of the Broadus team, as the Hawks only graduate one wrestler. A contingent of AAU wrestlers have the opportunity to wrestle as 8th graders next year, so the wrestling program looks great for the future. A home AAU meet will take place March 3-4 in Broadus, for those looking to check out the upcoming wrestlers.
Coach Schoonover wanted to thank the wrestling parents for their help over the season, and raising their kids the right away, as well as his coaching staff for their help, and the school teachers for keeping the team on track.
Though Broadus wrestlers did not come home from State with a medal, Schoonover noted: "That was some of the best wrestling I've seen from Broadus kids at the State level in years. Riggin and Reuben showed that they had what it takes to compete at that level."
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