The Valley Journal

Jim Blow/Valley Journal

The referee holds Brock Picard's arm aloft after the Polson senior won his third state wrestling championship title in Billings last weekend. Picard held up three fingers in each hand to represent the three championship titles he earned as a high school wrestler.

Aaric Bryan/Valley Journal

Cameron Neiss lets out a yell to his family and fans in the stands after pinning Lane Houchen (front) of Sidney in 1:59 to win his second state championship.

By Jim Blow
Valley Journal
It was the end of a great high school career, but two state championship titles could be just another launching point for Cameron Neiss.
The Ronan wrestler capped off his remarkable and final wrestling season as a two-time state wrestling champion, winning the 130-pound title last weekend in Billings.
It sure wasn't much of a surprise for those who know Neiss. And it sure wasn't a fluke. Neiss worked his tail off to earn that championship, one day at a time.
Neiss was known for doing the extra drill, lifting the extra weights and making the extra runs to prepare himself just a little more than everybody else.
"Cameron got the work done in the practice room day in and day out, pushing the team. He was always calling out for extras (drills), keeping the team motivated all the time," his head coach, Dustyn Azure explained. "He was always in the weight room in the morning, doing extra lifts and runs by himself. He'd do any little extra thing he could do."
It was always that extra dedication to the details that Azure appreciated in Neiss.
"He was always focusing on everything that needed to be done ... Cameron doesn't like to lose at anything, from wrestling to schoolwork to cribbage. He hates to lose," Azure said. "All along, he's been getting ready to wrestle in college ... and he's that kind of kid, goal-oriented and always pushing ahead."
Neiss also put in the extra work during the off-season.
"He didn't stop wrestling all summer. Last year he went to junior and senior nationals in Virginia and then went to summer camps and tournaments," Azure said. "He got a chance to gauge himself against other kids at Virginia Beach ... He didn't have the showing he wanted, but that just motivated him to work harder. He doesn't want to just be good at the state level, but at the national level, as well."
Neiss' second state championship may not have been a surprise to anyone who knew him, but richly deserved......

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By Jim Blow
Valley Journal
Brock Picard finished up his senior wrestling season exactly the way he wanted to, earning his third state championship and leading the Polson Pirates to a fifth-place finish at last weekend's Montana State Wrestling Championships in Billings.
Picard won the state title with a 9-4 decision over Libby's Kyle Sweedman that was the anticipated culmination of both the season and Picard's high school career. The two had been ranked one (Picard) and three (Sweedman) in the state most of the season and battled each other three times during the regular wrestling season. Picard had won all three, including the 171-pound championship at the Rocky Mountain Classic.
Saturday night's finale was tied at 2-2 heading into the third and final period, which is where Picard has always had the edge. His conditioning came through as a clear advantage as he turned on the after-burners and got three takedowns to pull away for the victory.
"That's a hard thing to do, to beat a guy that's that tough four times," Polson head coach Bob Owen emphasized. "I thought Brock really dominated his weight class. He didn't leave any questions in that final match."
Picard set up the final match with a dominating 11-3 semifinal win over the number two ranked wrestler in Class A, Levi Cade of Belgrade..........
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Jim Blow/Valley Journal

Toby Cheff closes in on the pin of Belgrade's Austin Rehyer during the 189-pound championship match at state. His coaches raised their hands in anticipation of the referee's slap of the mat moments later, signaling the end of the match and Cheff's first state championship title.

By Jim Blow
Valley Journal
BILLINGS — Two Ronan Chief wrestlers cut through the competition like buzz saws last weekend at the Montana State Wrestling Championships in Billings and both of them claimed individual championships to cap off a strong wrestling season.
Senior Cameron Neiss finished off his high school career as a two-timer, following last year's 125-pound championship title with his second, this time at 130 pounds. He is also a four-year placer at state — Neiss had previously placed second at 98 pounds as a freshman and was third as a sophomore at 112.
Neiss won all four of his matches by pin, including a dominating pin of Sidney's Lane Houchen in the finals at the 1:59 mark of the match.
"Cameron had a great tournament," Ronan head coach Dustyn Azure said. "That was his goal all year was to get into the finals and dominate every match he wrestled in this year. And he went out and did it, except for two (matches he won by decision) and both were 1-0 scores."........
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Aaric Bryan/Valley Journal

A small smile spreads across Cole Rice’s face as he puts the finishing touch on his state-championship clinching cross-body scissor hold on Townsend’s Shay Christiansen in the first period.

By Aaric Bryan
Valley Journal
When Cole Rice sunk in the cross-body scissor hold on Townsend’s Shay Christiansen, he knew the 140-pound Class B-C Montana Championship was his long before the referee slammed his hand on the mat.
The state championship was something the Arlee junior had been working toward for 10 years and something that had consumed him the past year after losing in last year’s finals to someone he had beaten earlier in the year. A small smile spread across his face once he was declared Montana’s first champion of 2010 and the only champion from the Western B-C Division this year. But that was about the only emotion Rice showed after his 128th career victory. His reaction was very business-like, much like his march to the championship, where he wasn’t scored upon once in his two tech-fall victories and two first-period pins at the Rimrock Auto Arena in the Billings MetraPark.
“That’s something he’s been working on for a long time, .......
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Aaric Bryan/Valley Journal

Charlo senior Jame Petersen throws Florence’s Zach Newbary to the mat in the third/fourth-place consolation match in Billings Saturday. Petersen pinned Newbary in the third period for his best finish in his high school career.

By Aaric Bryan
Valley Journal
For most of the fans packed in the Rimrock Auto Arena in Billings Saturday, the moment that Bulldog Jame Petersen decided he wasn’t going to lose went unnoticed. But the trained eyes of his coach saw it.
After losing his fourth semifinal in four tries at the state tournament, Petersen was tied with Deer Lodge’s Bobby Ray in the final seconds of his first wrestleback match. Then Ray gained an advantage on the 145-pound Charlo senior and looked like he was going to score a takedown before the two teetered out of bounds. It was then that Mission coach Lyle Cronk saw it in Petersen’s eyes.
“You could tell right then, that he decided that there was no way he was going to lose,” Cronk said.
Back in the center of the mat with his newfound resolve, Petersen quickly took down Ray to escape with a 4-2 victory. He advanced to the third/fourth-place consolation match, where he pinned Florence’s Zach Newbary in the third period for the best finish in his high school career – he finished fifth as a sophomore and sixth last year.....
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