Lewis leads Bulldogs at Polson Invitational
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Bulldog wrestler Joel Lewis showed his teammates how it’s done at the first tournament of the season.
The Charlo senior went 3-1 at the Polson Invitational Saturday and finished second in the 189-pound class. Mission-Charlo coach Lyle Cronk said the silver medal was Lewis’ highest finish in a tournament of that caliber and only a mistake in the championship match against Eureka’s Michael Wilson kept him from getting gold.
“He wrestled outstanding. He wrestled hard, but that’s what he does. He’s really stepped up as a leader on the team. He’s just a hard worker. It’s only fitting that he was our highest placer,” Cronk said.
Lewis, who is only starting his second year of high-school wrestling, opened the tournament with a second-period pin of Frenchtown’s Rand Pritzkau and after an 8-5 decision over a Columbia Falls’ wrestler, he pinned Flathead’s Alex Rudolph in the third period to earn a spot in the championship match, where he lost a 14-8 decision.
Lewis was one of four Bulldog wrestlers to place at the 13-team tournament. The Bulldogs finished in ninth with 68.5 points. The Eureka Lions, who finished in sixth with 95 points, was the only Class B-C team to finish higher than Mission-Charlo.
Both Morgan Schultz and Jacen Petersen walked away with a bronze medal in their first high-school tournament.
“They got better as the day went on and that’s all you can ask for from freshmen,” Cronk said.
Wrestling in a loaded 152-pound class, Petersen went 5-1 and was ahead in his only loss. Petersen was leading Sentinel’s Michael Cloud in the third period, before making a mistake and getting pinned. He rebounded from the loss with a 5-0 victory over Corvallis’ Quincy Jessop in the third period.
“He really looked sharp in that match,” Cronk said of Petersen’s shutout of Jessop. “As the day progressed he got sharper and sharper.”
Schultz also showed some resiliency as a freshman. After a tough 9-7 loss to Flathead’s Gavyn Wilson, the eventual champion, Schultz dominated Whitefish’s Kaleb Mohn, pinning him 20 seconds into the second period.
Mission junior Scotty Gilleard went 2-2 at the tournament to finish fourth in the 135-pound class. After Gilleard scraped by Polson’s Jose Quinones with a 9-6 decision, he lost 5-0 to Frenchtown’s Zac Westre, somebody he defeated last year. Gilleard earned a shot in the third-fourth match with a 9-5 victory over a Sentinel wrestler, but lost his final match 8-5 to Glacier’s Lucas Mantel.
“Scotty told me he was disappointed with how he wrestled. I was glad to hear that. Hopefully, it will motivate him to pick up his intensity,” Cronk said.
Barret Sargent (171) and Casey Nitschke (119) each picked up three wins and just missed out of placing, and in his first high-school tournament, Ben Mittag picked up a first-period pin. The Bulldogs will travel to Thompson Falls Thursday for a dual with the Western B-C Divisional champs, then will be at the Superior Invite Saturday.
