Beeter Power: Chinook reclaims the Class C state championship

BILLINGS - The Chinook Sugarbeeters went to the All-Class state wrestling meet in Billings to regain the Class C state championship. And after two days and one spectacular performance by Tate Niederegger, the Beeters did exactly what they set out to do.

After a stellar opening day at the Rimrock Auto Arena at Metra Park Friday, Chinook had the team title all but locked up. But, after placing three wrestlers Saturday in the top four, that formality became a reality for Chinook as it dominated the rest of Class C with a total of 68.5 points. Arlee finished a distant second with just 22. The Beeters finished seventh in the overall B-C standings, which was another outstanding accomplishment, especially given the fact the Beeters took just seven grapplers to Billings.

"All of our kids did a phenomenal job this weekend, we couldn't ask for anything more out of any of them," Chinook head coach Perry Miller said. "These kids are incredible. They dug really deep and they all worked so hard to get here. We took first in the C, but that doesn't really satisfy them or the coaches. We are seventh in the overall (B-C). We don't have a lot of dogs in the fight, but I'll tell you what, we have some tough dogs."

Chinook does have a lot of tough wrestlers as Miller said, but none is tougher than Niederegger, who finished second at state a year ago and was determined to make amends for that Saturday. The sophomore earned his way into finals night with two wins by decision on Friday as well as a 6-2 decision over Connor Rodgers of Deer Lodge in the semifinals Saturday morning.

Then, for the second straight year, Niederegger found himself wrestling on finals night. Last year, his night ended in disappointment, this year it was ecstasy.

However, the win didn't come easy over Jamie Mullins of St. Ignatius/Charlo, and after the first period the score was 0-0. Yet, Niederegger scored an escape point, followed by a takedown to grab a 3-0 lead. Then another take down made the score 5-0 in the third period. Mullins scored a takedown of his own but by then it was too little too late, and Niederegger hung on for his first individual title in the 132-pound weight class.

"It feels so great, I can't even describe it," Niederegger said. "This whole weekend was awesome. Being able to cheer my teammates on and have them be successful as well as myself just made it that much better.

"I think it's the end of a great journey back for him from last year," Miller said. "It is disappointing as a freshman to lose here but as you can see there are not many four-timers that come through here. But as far as we are concerned this is the first one of three. Tate is a wonderful kid to coach, he has wonderful family support, and he is the epitome of this sport."

While Niederegger winning his individual title was the highlight of the weekend for Chinook, the Beeters had two other wrestlers who placed and a slew of others who contributed with points towards the team title.

Jake Norby wound up taking fourth place at 145 pounds. And at 170 pounds, Kenneth Pruttis also earned a fourth-place medal for the Beeters after making it through to the semifinals with two victories Friday. Others who earned points for Chinook over the course of the two-day tournament were Colton Liddle, Derek Bell, Kevin Young and Jesse Dannels, meaning every Beeter contributed to Chinook's most recent Class C team title. It was the Beeters' sixth Class C title since the MHSA started handing out the C-only trophy back in 2007.

The other notable story of the weekend for teams along the Hi-Line came from Harlem. The Wildcats were not in contention for the Class B-C championship, but senior Brendan Johnson did himself quite well for Harlem by reaching the finals at 160 pounds.

His finals match with Luke Weber of Forsyth was tied for most of the way when Weber scored a two-point take down with 1:37 left in the third. Then Weber scored another takedown late in the final period to seal the 4-0 win over Johnson, who finished second for the second straight year.

"Brendan has been a great kid, he works hard every day," Harlem head coach Lyle Faulkinberry said. "He was one of my Little Wildcat wrestlers and he came through all the way here. It's been a pleasure to coach him and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

"Any coach would be lucky to have him," he added. "I wish he could have gotten first but that's the way it goes. But two seconds in two years against Weber is pretty good. (Brendan) knew he was in for a tough match but he gave him all he could ask for and that's all I can ask of my boys."

The moment was especially bittersweet for Faulkinberry, who earlier this season announced he would retire after the state meet, which meant that Saturday night was his final one as Harlem's head coach. T'Jay Allen and Denton Cornell also scored points for the Wildcats, who finished 18th with 32 points.

"I'm going to the miss the crowds, they are amazing (at state), I will miss the coaches and I will miss the boys," Faulkinberry said. "It will be interesting, but it will be fun just to be able to sit back and watch. Just enjoy myself and be a spectator."

Chester/J-I scored three points in the B-C state tournament, while Big Sandy, which took two grapplers to Billings, didn't score.

Team Scores

1, Choteau, 188.5; 2, Colstrip, 145; 3, Forsyth, 129; 4, Eureka, 107; 5, Huntley Project, 99.5; 6, Ronan, 72.5; 7, Chinook, 68.5; 8, Cut Bank, 65.5; 9, Saint Ignatius-Charlo, 61; 10, Conrad, 54; 10, Shepherd 54; 12, Malta-Whitewater 53; 13, Townsend 51; 14, Plains-Hot Springs 45; 15, Fairfield-Power-Simms 42; 16, Glasgow 38; 17, Columbus-Absarokee 37; 18, Harlem 32; 18, Whitehall 32; 20, Florence-Carlton 29; 20, Thompson Falls 29; 22, Shelby, 25.5; 23, Wolf Point 25; 24, Drummond-Philipsburg 23; 25, Deer Lodge 22; 25, Arlee 22; 27, Baker 21; 28, Superior 18.5; 29, Cascade 15; 30, Noxon 12; 31, Highwood 11; 32, Belt 9; 33, Circle 7; 34, Poplar 5; 34, Broadus 5; 36, Fort Benton 4; 36, Bigfork 4; 36, Big Sky 4; 39, Chester-Joplin Inverness 3; 39, Boulder 3; 41, Big Sandy 0; 41, Valier 0.

Championship round

103: Chase DeBoo, CHOT, dec. Brock Johnson, WHIT, 7-3; 113: Nathan Weber, FORS, dec. Trevor Moore, CHOT, 3-1; 120: Clayton Currier, COLS, dec. Zach Durden, LCE, 5-2; 126: Cole Snyder, RONA, p. Garrett White, LCE, 4:52; 132: Tate Niederegger, CHIN, dec. Jaimie Mullins, SIC, 5-2; 138: Matt Weber, FORS, dec. JJ Werdal, CHOT, 5-4; 145: Russell Kujala, PHS, p. Tanner Stone, CHOT, 1:07; 152: Reid VandenBos, CUTB, dec. Ben Rauscher, CONR, 5-4; 160: Luke Weber, FORS, dec. Brendan Johnson, HARL, 4-0; 170: Austin Blaede, COLS, p. Thayne Hage, COLS, 2:46; 182: Steeler French, CHOT, p. Hunter Mycke, CONR, 2:09; 205: Eli Hohn, BRTO, dec. Streeter Stirling, SHEL, 7-6; 285: Tanner Miller, HUPR, dec. Jake Sessions, COLS, 3-1.

Third Place

103: Slade Martinez, WOPO, dec. Kaleb Frank, THFA, 6-3; 113: Trey Simanton, MALW, p. Lane Bradley, COLS, 2:33; 120: Kasey Seyfert, GLAS, dec. Jonathan Schmidt, LCE, 10-6; 126: Keegan Kary, BAKE, p. Cory Kistler, HUPR, 1:35; 132: Lane Torgerson, COLS, dec. James Spence, SHEP, 3-1; 138: Torren Lawson, FLCA, dec. Dawson Peterman, FPS, 2-1; 145: Tony Bergerson, DGP, p. Jake Norby, CHIN, 2:00; 152: Bridger Lapierre, SUPE, dec. Hunter Blackwell, FORS, 13-10; 160: Trey Stone, CHOT, p. Luke Crowe, NOXO, 1:51; 170: Alex Bertollt, ARLE, p. Ken Pruttis, CHIN, 2:59; 182: Blake Jessen, HUPR, dec. Will Griffel, COAB, 5-0; 205: Travis Field, CHOT, dec. Antonio Lopez, MALW, 2-1; 285: Justin Pfeifer, CUTB, dec. Denver Krone, CHOT, 9-3.

Fifth place 

103: Parker Snyder, HUPR, dec. Josh Pepos, CASC, 4-2; 113: Hunter Peterson, RONA, p. Kahden Bakkila, LCE, :56; 120: Cole Giles, FPS, maj. dec. Austin McArthur, BRTO, 11-0; 126: Eli Watson, COAB, maj. dec. Michael Wark, SHEP, 12-2; 132: Connor Rodgers, PCDL, won by forfeit; 138: James Dunn, LCE, dec. Cody King, GLAS, 6-4; 145: Colt McDaniel, FORS, dec. Jace Berkram, CUTB, 9-3; 152: Trent Dennison, SIC, p. Travis Tatkenhorst, SHEP, 1:59; 160: PJ Ayers, HIGH, dec. Spencer Dougherty, SHEP, 8-5; 170: Evander Wilbur, BRTO, p. JOey Clark, CHOT, 4:02; 182: Steven Bravo, SIC, dec. Joe Fehr, LCE, 9-6; 205: Kian Brown, HUPR, p. Dillon Hoerauf, WHIT, 2:17; 285: Ethan Goss-Dickie, SIC, dec. Michael Irvine, RONA, 5-2.

Chinook Individual Results

113 – Colton Liddle

1st rd – pinned by Nathan Weber, FSY, :47; Consolation 1st rd – won by FFT; Consolation 2nd rd – pinned by Lane Bradley, COL, :52.

132 – Tate Niederegger (State Champion)

1st rd – tech. fall Austin Amundson, TOW, 20-4; Quarterfinals – dec. Logan Harms, FSY, 7-4; Semifinals – dec. Connor Rodgers, DL, 6-2; Championship – dec. Jamie Mullins, SI, 5-2.

145 – Jake Norby (4th Place)

1st rd – dec. Jacob Anderson, FF, 8-1; Quarterfinals – pinned by Colt McDaniel, FSY, 2:58; Consolation 2nd rd – pinned Jake Hertges, GLA, 2:56; Consolation 3rd rd – dec. Dixon Walker, HP, 4-2; Cionsolation Semis – dec. Jace Berkram, CB, 8-5; Consolation Final – pinned by Tony Bergerson, DRM, 2:00.

160 – Derek Bell

1st rd – pinned by PJ Ayers, HW, 5:32; Consolation 1st rd – dec. Kyle Milner, TF, 10-4; Consolation 2nd rd – dec. James Herring, SHP, 4-2; Consolation 3rd rd – lost dec. Luke Crowe, NOX, 5-0.

170 – Jesse Dannels

1st rd – maj. dec. Sheldon Danforth, DL, 10-2; Quarteffinals – pinned by Evander Wilbur, TOW, 1:42; Consolation 2nd rd – pinned by Joey Clark, CHO, 1:52.

170 – Ken Pruttis (4th Place)

1st rd – pinned Graydon Irish, RON, 3:57; Quarterfinals – dec. Kai Dole, HP, 9-4; Semifinals – pinned by Austin Blaede, COL, 1:54; Consolation Semis – pinned Joey Clark, CHO, :46; Consolation Final – pinned by Alex Bertloit, ARL, 2:59.

205 – Kevin Young

1st rd – pinned Sam Johnson, EUR, :18; Quarterfinals – lost dec. Eli Hohn, TOW, 5-2; Consolation 2nd rd – pinned Ben Grass, SHP, 1:21; Consolation 3rd rd – pinned by Antonio Lopez, MAL, 3:41.

Harlem Individual Results

113 – Gavin Horn

1st rd – pinned by Lane Bradley, COL, 1:29; Consolation 1st rd – pinned by Jethro Thorne, FLO, 2:20.

126 – Challence Jackson

1st rd – pinned by Keegan Kary, BAK, :23; Consolation 1st rd – pinned by Colton Hillyard, FF, :29.

138 – T'Jay Allen

1st rd – pinned Jesse Entz, FF, 3:18; Quarterfinals – pinned by Matt Weber, FSY, :33; Consolation 2nd rd – pinned by Jake Lile, PLA, 3:56.

160 – Brendan Johnson (2nd Place)

1st rd – pinned Jacob Wagner, FF, 3:22; Quarterfinals – pinned James Herring, SHP, 3:55; Semifinals – pinned Trey Stone, CHO, 3:06; Championship – lost dec. Luke Weber, FSY, 4-0.

HWT – Denton Cornell

1st rd – pinned Gray Cook, RON, 3:00; Quarterfinals – pinned by Denver Krone, CHO, 3:39; Consolation 2nd rd – pinned by Tyler Norstedt, BEL, 1:13.

HWT – Reece Hutton

1st rd – pinned by Ethan Goss-Dickie, SI, 2:54; Consolation 1st rd – pinned by Joe Pickard, CAS, 3:29.

Chester/J-I Individual Results

103 – Brendan May

1st rd – pinned by Slade Martinez, WP, 1:02; Consolation 1st rd – won by FFT; Consolation 2nd rd – pinned by Lincoln Stormer, CIR, 1:32.

152 – Sam Deffinbaugh

1st rd – pinned by John Pepos, CAS, 3:08; Consolation 1st rd – pinned by Hunter Walker, COL, 1:47.

182 – Brett Henke

1st rd – pinned by Steven Bravo, SI, 1:12; Consolation 1st rd – pinned by Steven Gabel, FSY, 1:50.

Big Sandy Individual Results

145 – Josh Solf

1st rd – pinned by Taner Stone, CHO, 1:00; Consolation 1st rd – pinned by Jake Hentges, GLA, 3:20.

170 – Jacob Schuster

1st rd – pinned by Alex Bertolit, ARL, 1:39; Consolation 1st rd – pinned by James Slaughter, FF, 2:16.