Simanton places second at Malta Invitational; Moore places fourth

Malta hosted it’s annual Malta Athletic Club Wrestling Invitational, which featured some pretty strong competition for the Malta Wrestling Team.

Trey Simanton placed second in the 113 pound class at the meet, while fellow Malta grappler Kaden Moore placed fourth in the 120 pound class.

Simanton nearly sealed a first place finish in the 113 pound championship round. He had a 5-4 lead well into the third period.

Ultimately he ended up losing the round 6-5 to Trevor Moore, who he had defeated earlier in the year.

On his way to the championship round.

Trey Simanton was dominant, taking out Chinook’s Colton Liddle by pin-fall in just :44 the opening round.

After his first match, Simanton knew he was feeling pretty good that day, though he was a little nervous.

“It’s my first home meet,” Simaton said. “I’m just trying to look good I guess.”

Knowing that he would be facing some pretty tough competition at the meet, Simanton had a plan.

“I need to just be solid on my feet and never stop moving,” he said.

His older brother Nolan was a second place finisher in the State B and C Wrestling Meet a couple of years ago and it turns out, Nolan has been an accomplice to Trey’s wrestling skills.

“He helps he a lot,” Trey said. “Just at the house he would help me with technique and we would wrestle around a little bit and he would show me stuff that he learned going to camps.”

The older Simanton also has been beneficial to this year’s group of Mustangs.

Simanton’s favorite moment of the year was winning the championship match in the Choteau classic.

As the referee lifted Trey’s hand he thought, “How did I do this?”

It was a win against Trevor Moore, who he later lost the championship to.

In his second match, Simanton pinned Glasgow’s Gabe Hallock in 2:20.

Malta’s Kaden Moore finished fourth in the 120 class after pinning Valier’s Tanner Vandenboos in 4:28.

He would lose the next match third place match against Poplar’s Angel Boyd in a 5-2 decision.

Moore all in all had a solid weekend, with his fourth place finish and a strong win against Kasey Seyfert of Glasgow who is currently ranked fourth in the 120 pound class.

Moore has been extremely beneficial for Malta in his first year at the school after transferring from Arizona.

“There’s a lot less people (in Montana) but there’s a lot more wrestlers,” Moore said.

Kaden has been wrestling since he was a third grader.

Being in his first year with Malta Public Schools, Moore didn’t feel the same pressure that most of the team more than likely had at the meet. He did know what it would take to be successful at the meet.

“I have to keep my mind together and be ready for it,” Moore said.

Though he is the “new kid.” Moore has fit right in with the team.

His favorite part of this season has been, “Being able to travel with the team and being able to enjoy their company.”

When asked if he has a couple of best friends, he said “They’re all good friends.”

Wrestling in the 132 class, Ceaton Mears’ lone victory came in the elimination bracket against Chinook’s Garrett Lowham. Mears pinned Lowham in 3:00.

Mears would later be eliminated by Shepherd’s James Spence in 2:15, the next round.

The following are the individual results for the Malta Invitational, which was held on Saturday and the Malta Mixer , which was held Friday Night:

Malta Invitational

103 Mark Missildine 0-1

113 Trey Simanton 2-1

120 Kaden Moore 1-2

132 Ceaton Mears 1-1

138 Keenan Schipman 0-2

152 Derek Peigneux 0-2

152 Travis Epperson 0-2

Malta Mixer

103 Mark Missildine 0-1

113 Trey Simanton 2-0

120 Kaden Moore 1-0

132 Ceaton Mears 1-0

138 Keenan Schipman 0-1

152 Derek Peigneux 0-2

152 Travis Epperson 1-0

205 Antonio Lopez 2-0

The team now has back Antonio Lopez who has been battling sickness for most of the season.

He had a strong outing in the Malta Mixer, but did not compete in the Invitational due to a nagging cold.

He will be the heaviest wrestler to finish the season with Malta as the team looks to place athletes at the Northern B Divisional Tournament in Big Sandy this weekend.

In this week’s tournament the Malta Grapplers will be jockeying with their divisional foes to try and earn a spot in the 2015 State B and C wrestling Tournament in Billings Montana on February 13-14.