POLSON – Two boys and one girl will represent Butte Central in the state Class A high school wrestling tournament next weekend in Billings.
Maroons James Holmes, Jack Holmes and Aaliyah Northey qualified with place-winnings earned Saturday in the Western A Divisional tournament held at Polson High School.
James Holmes placed sixth to capture his second straight state tournament berth. He qualified last year as a freshman and will be looking for a place-winning this year. Saturday, at the divisional, James Holmes lost on a 1-minute, 54-second pin to eventual 132-pound class champion Jesse Anson of Hamilton in the semifinals. He then came up short on a 4-0 decision against Marley Erickson of Libby in the consolation semifinals and settled for sixth place after a 56-second pin to Blake Hoerner of Western A team champion Columbia Falls.
Jack Holmes, a younger brother of James Holmes, placed eighth at 103 pounds. He battled back from a first-round loss Friday to pin Chase Davis of Corvallis in 2:18 and Colton Morgan of Hamilton in 3:33. After a disqualification against Andrew Frecker of Dillon, Jack Holmes met Jaxson Stirling of Columbia Falls and wound up in eighth place through the 7-4 decision loss.
Columbia Falls totaled 290 ½ points to take the boys’ team title while Frenchtown was second with 275 ½ and Ronan third with 220. Butte Central scored 17 in the 13-team field.
Northey placed sixth at 114 pounds in the girls’ tournament. After losing on Friday, Northey bounced back to pin Maddilyn Huffine of Polson in 1:41, then fell to Kacee French of Corvallis on a 4:07 fall. The match for fifth place saw Northey suffer a 3-minute pin to Gracie Fullmer of Ronan.
Ronan was girls’ team winner with 181 points. Polson was second with 134 ½ and Browning third with 114. Butte Central tallied six points for 11th place.
— compiled by Bruce Sayler for buttesports.com