MMS Wrestlers Compete in Poplar, Malta

On Saturday, December 7 Malta hosted a small mixer with Glasgow, Poplar and Wolf Point (Circle cancelled due to illness). Wrestlers were mixed together by weight and ability. Nearly every wrestler was able to get 2-3 matches (there were no placings).

Mira Tharp (0-2), Nathan Domire (0-2), Titus Carnahan (0-1) and Blake Tharp (0-3) didn’t get in the win column on Saturday but continue to show improvement and are gaining valuable experience each time they step on the mat.

Wrestlers winning one match were Trax Simanton (1-2), Clyde Lankford (1-2), Tryan Anderson (1-2), Cord Newman (1-2), Kasen Jones (1-2), Julian Hilliard (1-2), Cameron Spencer (1-2), Braun Sims (1-2), Beau Merriman (1-1), and Karsten Davis (1-1). Trax Simanton earned the Most Exciting Match Award for the Malta Mixer when he was down 11-0 in his match and nearly got pinned in the 1st round. In the second round he executed a reversal and put his opponent on his back but didn’t get the pin. He worked to get his opponent on his back again and was finally able to get the pin. Trax did a great job of showing resilience and a never give up attitude.

Wrestlers winning two matches were Taije Stiles (2-0), Calvin Squires (2-0), Cooper Pankratz (2-0), Rio Oxarart (2-1), Trenton Blunt (2-1), Beckett Squires (2-1), and Colby Wright (2-1). Each of these wrestlers showed great experience and ability in their wins and fought hard and battled until the end in their losses. Cooper Pankratz earned the Quick Pin Award by pinning an opponent in 10 seconds.

Three wrestlers earned three wins at their home mixer. Kallie LaBrie (3-0) pinned all three opponents. Kallie works very hard in practice and it’s great to see her hard work pay off at tournaments. Gunner Stenberg (3-0) also pinned all three opponents and wrestled in a dominant fashion. Corby Mears (3-0) pinned all of his opponents as well. Corby works hard in the practice room and utilizes his experience at tournaments. Corby’s record this week was 5-0 and with his efforts he earned the Wrestler of the Week Award.

The next meet for the Malta Middle School Wrestlers will be at Sidney on Saturday, December 14, at 10:00 am.

Poplar Meet

The Malta Middle School wrestling team traveled to Poplar on Thursday, December 5 and competed against five other teams (Circle, Glasgow, Plentywood, Poplar, and Wolf Point). The wrestlers were grouped together by age and ability in groups of 3 or 4 and wrestled everyone in their group.

Braun Sims (0-2), Cooper Pankratz (0-3), and Nathan Domire (0-3) finished in 4th place.

Cameron Spencer (0-1), Blake Tharp (0-2), Cord Newman (0-2), Gunner Stenberg (1-2), Tryan Anderson (1-2), and Mira Tharp (0-2) finished in 3rd place.

Six wrestlers finished in second place. Colby Wright (1-1) earned the Quick Pin award with an 8 second pin. Beau Merriman (1-1) wrestled tough in Poplar and earned 2nd place. Clyde Lankford (2-1) pinned two of his opponents and lost by decision to a teammate. Clyde continues to improve and is wrestling tough. Julian Hilliard (1-1) earned second place in a hard fought 4-1 decision over a Plentywood opponent. Julian continues to improve and refused to be pinned. Taije Stiles (2-1) recorded two pins and then lost to a teammate to earn 2nd place. Trax Simanton (1-1) battled hard in a loss to a Poplar opponent but bounced back to pin his next opponent earning him 2nd place.

Nine wrestlers were able to earn 1st place in Poplar. Beckett Squires (3-0) continues to wrestle very well and notched two pins and also won a hard fought 6-4 battle with a teammate. Karsten Davis (2-0) earned 1st place with two pins on the day. Karsten also earns the Most Exciting Match Award. He needed a takedown late in the third period against an opponent he had never defeated. He not only executed a perfect single leg takedown to take the lead, but then pinned his opponent just before time expired. Corby Mears (2-0) wrestled really well and notched two pins on the day to earn 1st place. Titus Carnahan (2-0) won by decision in both of his matches to earn 1st place. Rio Oxarart (3-0) pinned an opponent in 18 seconds, won by tech fall 18-3 over another and then won by decision over a teammate in his third match to earn 1st place. Calvin Squires (2-0) continues to wrestle really solid and pinned an opponent in 17 seconds and won by decision 7-0 over a good opponent. Trenton Blunt (3-0) had a great day and notched two pins and an 8-6 decision over a teammate. Kasen Jones (3-0) had a dominant day and pinned each opponent in under a minute. Kallie LaBrie (2-1) was in a round robin with one other opponent due to age and ability. She lost the first match 3-8, won the second match 4-3, and won the third match 8-0. It was fun to see her improve each match and win in dominant fashion by the last match.