MISSOULA – The Butte High girls’ wrestling program enjoyed, perhaps, its best tournament showing in its short history over the weekend.
The Bulldogs placed second in the team standings at the Hellgate Girls’ Invitational, missing first place by only half of a point. Class A Ronan won the team title with 169 points while Class AA Butte High, led by weight-class champion Mattie Stepan, was second with 168.5 in a tightly packed group of leaders. Flathead High of Kalispell placed third with 160 points and Frenchtown was fourth in the 31-team field with 145.5.
Seven Bulldogs earned place-winnings in the tourney held in the Hellgate High gym. It was one of three high school wrestling tournaments being held in Missoula over the weekend.
Stepan led the way with a 13-9 decision over Leona Dodson Howe of Ronan to capture the crown at 155 pounds. Stepan pinned her other three opponents en route to the championship match.
(Complete tournament results are available on the trackwrestling.com Web site.)
Butte High also got a runner-up finish from Peyton Liva at 100 pounds and a third-place finish by Adalie Hazlett at 120 to go with fifth-place performances by Jessica Blow at 125, Loretta Matteson at 140, Sage Queer at 145 and Allie Ballensky in the 235-pound limit class.
Liva reached the championship round with a 1-minute, 53-second pin over Kricket Bridges of Eureka in the semifinals. She lost on a 5:29 pin to Katelyn Sphuler of Kalispell Glacier in their title bout.
Eighth-grader Hazlett’s 57-second pin over Kyra McMahon of Flathead in their match for third place was her sixth pin of the tourney. She was the victim of a technical fall in the semifinals, keeping her out of the championship round.
Blow was a winner by forfeit over Kaida Kaquatosh of Browning for the fifth-place award, but she had been involved in what might have been the match of the tournament when she pulled out a 14-13 decision over Foster Raigan of Missoula Big Sky/Loyola in an earlier round.
Matteson, also an eighth-grader, pinned Addison Clixby of Big Sky/Loyola in 2:06. She had been trailing Clixby 3-2 when she maneuvered the pin.
Queer was a forfeit winner over Alisha Cook of Flathead. Ballensky capped her tournament showing with a 39-second flattening of Hailey Littlefield of Columbia Falls.
