The Broadus Wrestling team traveled to Glasgow over the weekend for the Scottie Invitational, sleeping on the gym mats overnight. Coach Frankie Schoonover told us that sleeping on the mats was a great team building exercise that the kids loved, though he wasn’t nearly as enthused about the idea of sleeping on the cold hard mats, being 41 years old and more comfortable in a bed (the editor can definitely relate).
Frankie said that all in all the wrestlers did a great job coming together as a team at the tournament, supporting each other as they competed.
Schoonover also gave us a rundown of results and his thoughts on his team.
Tyler Jurica, an 8th grader, showed improvements over the previous week. He didn’t have any wins in the Scottie, but Schoonover is enthused about Jurica, as he may try to drop down to 103 pounds in coming tourneys.
AJ Schoenbeck, at 118 gained some mass over last year when he wrestled at lighter weights, and in his first tournament this year he’s still finding how to wrestle at the larger weight class. AJ went 0-2 in the tourney.
Bradyn Stoddard-Terrill wrestled at 132, with Frankie telling us he is a coachable young athlete, and he’s excited about his future. Braydn beat Berns Barker of Red Lodge by pin, and lost two matches.
Kail Irish, at 138 had a phenomenal tournament, Schoonover mentioned. “He wrestled the match of his career,” his coach commented on a match that would pit him against Miles City’s Jake Phalen. Though Phalen, a Class A wrestler, would ultimately win by a point, the match went down to the wire, and showed Kail’s tenacity and willingness to go the distance. Irish finised the match in 5th place, with five wins.
Raiden Aurand, a senior, wrestled his first matches at 138 lbs after dropping down. He had two wins in the tournament.
Jackson Knapp, at 175, had only wrestled part of last season, but was able to bring home a win by pin against Wally Iglehart of Colstrip. Frankie noted that they are working with Jackson on his pre-match routine, to help him “get in the zone” and find a way for the very athletic young man to find more wins.
In the Heavyweight division, Duke Blankenship wrestled in his first matches of his career. Duke is a senior, but came out for wrestling to get in better shape, and has done just that as the strong, physical Blankenship competed while dropping weight. “Duke has never complained in practice,” Schoonover said of his new team-member. That ability to deal with adversity and new challenges without complaint should serve the young man well in his future.
Kordell Schonenback pinned Trevor Knowles of Malta, while suffering a couple losses. Kordell is a coachable athlete who is giving up weight to a lot of the heavyweights, and is looking to drop down to 215 for coming tournaments.
The Broadus boys scored 23rd out of 29 teams, with 33.5 team points.
For the girls, Macyn McDowell, placed 6th at 125 lbs, winning three matches. One of her wins came against a Fort Benton wrestler who had beaten Macyn last season, at Divisionals. Schoonover said that the win this time around showed McDowell’s good attitude towards continuing to improve and win.
Isabell Schiffer won one match at the tournament. Frankie said that Schiffer showed a different side of herself this weekend, improving overall and listening well to her coaches.
Karlee Emmons won a match by a 15-3 decision over a Poplar wrestler. Her coach noted that while Emmons may seem soft spoken off the mat, she flips a switch when she dons her headgear, and becomes a physical, aggressive force on the mats.
Bonita Kinzer dropped down to 140 for Glasgow, and placed 5th with two wins. Schoonover said that “Bo”, as she is known, stays very relaxed and calm under pressure.
The Broadus girls scored 15th out of 26 teams, with 28.5 team points.
Broadus wrestles at Baker on Tuesday, and Huntley Saturday. After Christmas the team is expected to hold a meet in Broadus on January 4th (and possibly the 3rd) though exact details were still being ironed out at press time.
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