Flathead boys 2nd at Best of West; Lady Brawlers 6th
Dec. 23—PASCO, Wash. — While Newberg, Oregon got back to the top spot Friday, Flathead coach Jeff Thompson was quite pleased with his Brave Brawlers at the two-day Best of the West wrestling tournament.
Flathead finished second to the Newberg Tigers in the individual tournament held on the second day. On Thursday the Brawlers won the duals portion of the event, beating Newberg on criteria in the final.
The Flathead Bravettes finished sixth out of 30 girls teams on Saturday as well.
"Newberg pulled out the win today in the individual tournament but overall our Flathead boys wrestled very well," Thompson said. "Some of our wrestlers got 10 matches over the last two days. That was a lot of competition and an opportunity to see some different wrestlers and teams from out of state. We are ready for a little Christmas break and back to work."
Kellen Downing (106), Anders Thompson (190) and Sawyer Troupe (285) all won their weight classes for Flathead, which piled up 268.5 points, 27 behind Newberg (295.5).
Troupe won all of his on-mat matches by fall, ending the final in 1 minute, 42 seconds; Thompson picked up four pins and, in the final, a technical fall in 2:54.
Downing's final came against teammate Dayton Naldrett. Lane Chivers (150) also finished second, losing a 3-1 decision to Newberg's Dillon Le.
"Lane Chivers and Dayton Naldrett had breakout performances today," Jeff Thompson said. "Super proud of them for making the finals."
Hunter Arriaga (120), Aiden Downing (132), Daniel Evert (138) and Dane Lake (144) finished third; Conor LeDuc was fourth at 215 and a total of 15 Brawlers finished in the top seven.
Just nine Lady Brawlers made the trip to Pasco, so their finish was very encouraging for coach Amber Downing.
"With just a fraction of our girls competing, we placed sixth," she said. "These tough matches against different competitors is just what they needed to help them make adjustments as they prepare for the second half of their season."
Bella Downing was the top Flathead individual, taking second at 120.
Keira Lackey (130) was fourth and Adi Siegel (110), Autumn Thompson (135) and Bridget Smith (155) all placed fifth in their weight classes.
Richland, Wash. won the meet with 172 points. Flathead scored 128.
Complete results can be found at trackwrestling.com.
