Mears, Mikesell earn titles in Harlem

The Malta Wrestling team had a strong showing at the Harlem Wildcat Invitational at Harlem High School last Saturday, January 25, taking third amongst the 11 teams present.

The Malta wrestlers also went to the Chinook Mixer on Friday, January 24, in Chinook.

Malta now prepares to host the annual Malta Athletic Club Wrestling Mixer and Tournament event this weekend in Malta. The Malta Mixer is scheduled to start at 5 p.m. on Friday, January 31, and the Malta Invitational is scheduled to start at 9 a.m. on Saturday, February 1.

Malta senior Callan Mears shared what he loves the most about the annual Malta wrestling event.

“The crowd that we bring in,” Mears said. “It’s pretty cool to have people that you know watch. Everyone that comes and watches means something to you.”

Glasgow won the Harlem Invite with a total of 200.5 points. Cut Bank was second with 154, Malta was third with 113.5, Poplar was fourth with 97, and Chinook was fifth with 70.

Malta was led by Mears who scored 24 points in the 160 class, on his way to winning the 160-title. Mears, who was selected as Malta’s Wrestler of the Week as well as the Harlem Invite’s Outstanding Wrestler of the Tournament, won the championship pinning Poplar’s William Turcotte in 58 seconds.

Prior to his championship match, the PCN caught up with Mears, who had defeated Harlem’s Lance Blackcrow by pinfall at 1:09, after receiving a first-round bye.

“The team is doing really good and I guess everyone has improved a lot this season and we are doing really good today,” Mears said.

Freshman Cameron Mikesell scored 23.5 points and won the title in the 120 weight class, pinning Cut Bank’s Tristan Sydenstricker with 46 seconds remaining in the second round.

Mikesell cruised to the championship round by defeating Chinook’s Lane Snider by 19-3 technical fall in the opening round and then Ethan Sullivan in the semifinals by pinfall at :57.

“I was feeling pretty slow,” Mikesell said of his match against Snider. “I couldn’t pin him and normally I pin him during the first round. I couldn’t get him on his back, so I figured I would tech him.”

Not lacking in confidence, Mikesell knows that he stands a chance against anyone he faces, that remained true as he stepped into the ring against Sullivan in the semifinals.

“I always figure that I am going to win right off the bat, as long as I don’t get nervous,” Mikesell said.

Mikesell’s pin of Sullivan was nearly the team’s quickest pin of the week, but 205-pounder Dre Oshio would ultimately earn the Quick Pin award by pinning Valier’s Brett Monroe in 43 seconds in the consolation semi-finals. Oshio took fourth place in his weight class.

Senior Kendall Moore took second place in the 170 class, losing the championship match to Glasgow’s Ty Kittleson by 12-1 major decision. Moore earned 18 points.

This championship was the first high school title match that Moore had been in, given that Moore is in his first wrestling season since junior high.

“It feels good,” Moore said about competing in his first title match. “It’s a smaller tournament but it still feels good to be one of the top wrestlers.”

Moore had previously played basketball in his freshman, sophomore, and junior seasons.

Moore mentioned that he didn’t play much during his time with the Malta basketball team, so he thought he would give wrestling a chance. It’s a sport that his parents wanted him to try for years, given he was good at it in his younger years.

“I’m happy that I did (join wrestling),” Moore said. “I don’t know why I waited until my senior year, but I guess I will go out with a bang.”

Moore was asked what he thought the Malta wrestling events would be like next weekend in Malta.

“There will probably be a big crowd,” Moore said. “It’s just fun to see every body in the community support us.”

Freshman Camryn Mears placed second in the 145 class, losing the title match to Glasgow’s John Cremer by 12-9 decision. Cam Mears scored 18 points.

Tye Jones took home third place in the 170 class defeating Harlem’s Michael King by pinfall in the third-place match. Jones had 12 points.

Spencer Gibbs wrestled in the 152 class and despite getting pinned by Cut Bank’s Andrew Anderson in the quarterfinals, Gibbs fought back earning two wins in the consolation bracket before losing in the consolation semi-finals to Poplar’s Logan Boadle.