Hoover Takes 3rd; Powers Takes 5th at State Wrestling

This year eight Whitehall wrestlers advanced to the State Tournament. The squad was lead by the four senior captains, Dallen Hoover, Dawson Powers, Jamus DuBois, and Trentin Walker. Also wrestling were sophomores Dane Hoover, Miles Hoerauf, Kyle Denny and Leo Scafani. The team was able to earn 53.5 points to place 13th out of 40 teams.

Adjustments to the schedule were made this season, which required more travel in an effort to dual as many teams as possible. No tournaments were used during the regular season. Whitehall had an exceptional year, building a 24-1 dual record. While the success was reached by efforts of the whole team, the above eight wrestlers placed last week at Divisionals and made the trip to Shelby, MT for the State tournament. The number of spectators was limited, but those who could come, saw great competition and excellent effort by the Whitehall team.

Congratulations go to Dallen Hoover for placing 3rd and Dawson Powers for his 5th place finish. Dallen started the tournament with a match against Johannes from Columbus. He turned a 5-0 lead into a pin in the second period. He similarly dominated his second match with a first period pin against Reishus from Thompson Falls. This positioned him for the semifinal match Saturday morning against Becker from Circle. As semifinal matches often go, this was a back and forth battle between two excellent wrestlers. The final score was 5-4 in favor of Becker. Dallen rebounded from this disappointing loss with a second period pin of Curry from Cut Bank, and a win in the consolation finals against Sholley from Huntley Project, earning him the 3rd place medal.

Dawson started with an exciting match against Miller from Baker. Scoring one move after another, Dawson turned his 12-0 lead into a pin near the end of the second period. He followed this with a quarterfinal 8-3 win over Bartelson of Circle. His Saturday morning semifinal match was against a three time state champion, Smith from Eureka. Although Smith pins most of his opponents, Dawson pushed him to the limit, losing 11-6. Dawson then lost to Sawyer from Anaconda before winning his last match by injury default, earning the 5th place medal.

Others to wrestle included Dane Hoover, who lost his first two matches to Mikesell of Malta and then Borge of Colstrip.

Trentin Walker's first match was against Smith of Poplar. Trentin built a 17-6 lead before getting the pin in the third period. His next match was a 4-11 loss to Ellison of Columbus, followed by a close 5-8 loss against Oxarart of Boulder.

Miles Hoerauf started with a quick first period pin against Barker of Red Lodge. His next match against Nesbitt of Glasgow ended in a heartbreaking injury that kept him from continuing in the tournament.

Kyle Denny started with a loss to Minow from Powder River, then lost a 14-16 shoot out against Sawyer from Cascade.

Jamus Dubois was on a mission to score points. He won his first match against Mitcschke from Great Falls Central 13-0. His next match he lost to Neiskens, the eventual champion from Glasgow, before an 18-1 win over McCally of Sheperd. In his last match, he took a lead into the third period, but eventually lost to Bouma of Fairfield.

Leo Scafani's style is more steady. He earned his first win with an overtime 5-1 win over Kittleson of Glasgow. This was followed by a close 2-3 loss to Dunbar of Chinook. Leo finished the first day with a third period pin of Pribbenow of Poplar. Saturday morning Leo lost to Keeling of Malta.

This year's wresting team is grateful to have been able to wrestle this year. We know that there were many working behind the scenes to help facilitate this. We want to thank the school administration and school board for their help and our awesome bus driver, Bill Lanes. Also a special thanks to our parents for their endless help and support and for letting us spend such quality time with your children.