Malta Little Guys hold tournament

The Malta High School's "Old Gym" provided a glimpse into the potential future of Northeastern Montana wrestling as the Malta Little Guy Wrestlers hosted their annual meet last Saturday, February 17.

Though the winter weather affected crowd size, hundreds of fans attended the event.

"To have a youth tournament running here in Malta is big for wrestling," said Ryan LaBrie, Malta's Youth Wrestling Coordinator. "That's how we keep our pipeline filled. It's a great sport and it's great to see these guys out here at their home meet."

The Malta-Whitewater Mustangs Wrestling team was there to help, as well as many parents and Middle School Wrestlers.

"We have got a good bunch of kids, good bunch of coaches, dads willing to help out to keep things rolling," LaBrie said. "The effort that has been taken to keep wrestling going not only in Malta but in our surrounding areas; with the kids from Whitewater that come down and wrestle with us and the Saco kids that are normally with us. It is a fantastic thing for our whole community."

The event featured wrestlers from all over the northeastern part of the state and several Malta Little Guy Wrestlers shared their experience from the day.

Ten-year-old, 77-pounder Straud Sims won a few matches that day. Sims has been wrestling since he was four-years-old.

"I just like competing in things," Sims said when asked what he loved about the sport.

He had wrestled an opponent from Glasgow, another from Havre, and a fellow Mustang. He won all three.

He enjoyed facing his teammate because he was larger and older than himself.

"I pinned everyone else before him but I couldn't pin him because he was too tall and big for me," Sims said. "I won by four points."

Trevor Knowles, an eight-year-old 100-pounder, loves wrestling for two reasons.

"I like when you get to wrestle other kids and the other part is when you get to make them cry," Knowles said with a laugh.

Knowles' favorite match was against a Chinook wrestler.

"Whenever they would blow the whistle, he would shoot and so I just pushed his head to the ground, then I flipped him over," Knowles said.

Camryn Spencer, a six-and-under 46-pounder also enjoyed the event, but he couldn't figure out his favorite thing about wrestling.

"It's hard to decide," Spencer said.

He did have a favorite match against his cousin Beckett Squires of Havre.

"I won by points," Spencer said mentioning that he got to (beat) his cousin.

His older brother Lane Spencer, a 62-pounder in the eight-and-under class, also enjoyed the event. His first match was his favorite. It was against fellow Mustang Gunnar Cilz.

"I won by points," Lane said. "He took shots, I pushed his head down and got around and got two points."

Hoyt Mahan, an eight-and-under wrestler, shared his favorite match and how he was able to get the win.

"My last one," Mahan said. "I won by pin. I pushed his head down and went for his legs."

Trenton Blunt, a five-year-old wrestler, gave a two-week update.

"I pinned three guys at Glasgow, two guys here, and in my first match, I beat my cousin Calvin," Blunt said.

He went on to say that his dad got him involved in the sport but also mentioned that he doesn't wrestle his father.

He shared his favorite move that he learned from his father.

"A double leg," he said.