Malta Wrestlers seventh at Choteau Classic

The Mustangs Wrestling Team took seventh place at the 2019 Choteau Classic at Choteau High School on Friday, January 11, and Saturday, January 12.

“It was a pretty good weekend overall with how the team wrestled individually,” Malta Coach Ryan LaBrie said. “We left a little bit on the table in certain aspects… But for the most part, it was a good weekend.”

The event hosted a total of 30 teams. Poplar won the event with a total of 149 points with 14 wrestlers. Columbus-Absarokee took second with a total of 137 with 16 wrestlers. Townsend took third with 123.5 scored with 20 wrestlers (the largest group). Malta had a total of 11 wrestlers, who scored a total of 97.5 points.

Andres Lopez (23-3) scored a team-high 26 points. He won the 182-pound championship over Dakota Irvine (10-10) of Thompson Falls by way of a 9-5 decision. He reached the championship by defeating Choteau’s Carter Morgan (18-14) by pinfall at 4:39.

Callan Mears (28-9) was the runner up in the 145-pound class, scoring 23.5 points for Malta. Mears lost the championship match to Poplar’s Hunter Reum (31-9) by pinfall at 1:37. Mears reached the championship match by defeating Cut Bank’s Andrew Anderson (4-2) by a 17-0 technical fall.

Kolter Schipman (27-8) won third place in the 132-pound class and scored 22 team points. Schipman pinned Valier’s Ty Curry (25-9) in the third-place match at 4:16. To qualify for the third place match Schipman won his fourth-round consolation match over Cole Gilleard (21-9) of St. Ignatius/Charlo by pinfall at 4:51.

Luke Lawless placed fifth in the heavyweight class and scored 15 points for Malta. Lawless pinned Deer Lodge’s Jonah Jones (28-9) at 2:27. Lawless went 3-2 during the event.

The team also participated in the Fairfield Mixer on Thursday, January 10. The Mustangs are scheduled to go to the Hays-Lodgepole Mixer on Thursday, January 17, in Hays at 4 p.m.

Malta will then travel to Chinook for the Chinook Mixer on Friday, January 18, at 4:30 p.m. The Mustangs are also scheduled to participate in the Harlem Invitational on Saturday, January 19 at 10:30 a.m.