Garfield Places Second At State Wrestling Meet
The Wolf Point Wolves wrestled at the all class state boys and girls meet this weekend.
“There were smiles, laughter, tears,” Wolf Point Coach Scott Vandall said. “We didn’t get all our goals accomplished this weekend but got some.”
Joli Beston, a 132-pound girl, had a 32-woman bracket. She had a bye in the first round and then got sweet revenge on a Flathead girl that pulled an upset earlier in the year. “Joli went out and dominated the match and pinned her in the third round. She advanced to the next day,” Vandall said.
Unfortunately she lost her next two matches. “Joli just had a bad day in Friday. Not much you can do about those days. Joli had a good year, she was 19-11 against girls. She battled some injuries in the midway of the year. She has learned so much this year. She has nothing to hang her head about. We were hoping for something different of course, but we will just have to put some more summer work in. Joli has the heart of a champion she works hard and want to be the top girl.”
Chance Smith at 205 pounds had a good first round. He beat a Choteau wrestler that came down from 285. Smith advanced into the quarters and had the number one wrestler from the west out of Lincoln. “That was a tough match. Chance lost but gave a good try,” Vandall said. “Chance then had a match to get into Saturday against a kid from the west. It was a physical match neither kid want to be out of the tournament. Chance lost. Our goal was to win a match and advance to second day. Chance got one of them. Chance is a sophomore. In the field of 16 their were 13 seniors and three underclassmen. Nothing to hang his head about. Just wasn’t his match. He wrestled hard though out the year ending with 23-18 record. He has come a long way. Look forward to what he comes with next year. We need to get into the weight room and get stronger.”
Mason Garfield at 205 pounds had two matches on Friday. In the first-round he drew the eighth seed from the west. Garfield won by fall in the first round. He then faced a wrestler from Baker who he handled fairly easy. Garfield earned a fall in the second period. That win put him on the podium and into Saturday.
“Mason had our old foe from Huntley Project. Mason won 7-4. He controlled the whole match. Mason advanced to the championship match. Mason has wrestled the Huntley kid for the last four years. This year, we finished his quest for the state title and keep ours.”
Garfield faced a wrestler from Glasgow in the title match. “The match was close never out of reach for either kid. Mason got caught with a throw with 10 seconds left,” Vandall said. “It was tied 3-3, and I thought he was getting out of it. Mason lost 8-3. This was a battle all the way. He caught Mason, we almost got out of it. I felt we were headed to overtime and then that happened. That was very heartbreaking. Mason has worked so hard the last four years.”
He has had a great season, he finished the year 35-8. “We will miss Mason next year. There will be big shoes to fill. It’s been a pleasure to work with for the last seven years. He is very coachable kid. Good leaderm great attitude. I will really miss him. He has dreams to live and I wish him all the luck and will be cheering him on,” Vandall said.
Vandall added, “I would like to thank coach Mastro Martinez, he stepped into the assistant coach’s role. He did a great job, hope he comes back next year. Also we had a volunter coach Caleb Pendleton. Caleb came in about midway through the season. He really did a good job with Chance and Mason. Coach Dave Hopson came in and also helped out with the bigger kids. These guys all put in a lot of hours and it showed for our kids. Thanks to our athletic director Mr. Peterson for the support throughout the year.”
