One Nation, Under God

Malta-Whitewater 3-peats at Divisional

Six headed to State in Billings, four champions crowned at Northern B-C

The Malta-Whitewater Mustangs have now won the Northern B-C wrestling title three consecutive years in a row.

In doing so the team had four divisional champions, six state qualifiers, and ten wrestlers score points at the event.

Malta won the event hosted in Cut Bank with a total of 141 points with a total of 14 wrestlers. Cut Bank and Shelby tied for second with 123 points. Cut Bank had 12 wrestlers and Shelby had 10. Simms took fourth with 102 points. Choteau took fifth with 91 points. Valier was sixth with 76. Conrad was seventh with 72.5, Fairfield was eighth with 67, Chinook was ninth with 41, Fort Benton/Big Sandy was tenth with 37.5, Chester-Joplin-Inverness was eleventh with 24, and Harlem was twelfth with 19.

Malta's Andres Lopez, Kolter Schipman, Callan Mears, Luke Lawless, RC Skiff, and Oren Mackey each qualified for state for the 2019 State B-C Tournament to be held in Billings on Friday, February 8, at 10 a.m. through Saturday, February 9.

Going into the meet, Malta's Northern B-C champions will open up state against fourth seed wrestlers from other divisions and Malta's fourth placers will open against top placers.

"Those number one seeds are always the best seeds, but looking at our draws going in look good, but they have to wrestle for it," Mustangs Coach Ryan LaBrie said. "R.C. and Luke will have a little bit of a tougher road because they start off with the number one seeds from another division."

Lopez, a senior, defeated Orion MacDonald of Simms by pinfall at 5:47, to win the 182-pound title. The win gave Lopez his first divisional title. Lopez scored 22 points for Malta.

Lopez also defeated Choteau's Carter Morgan by pinfall in two minutes and fifty seconds.

Wrestling this season at 145, Mears, a junior, won his second consecutive Northern B-C title, having won the 132 title last year. Mears scored a team-high 28 points.

Mears won the 145-title by pinning Cut Bank's Andrew Anderson in 1:30. Mears was also awarded the Jug Beck Quick Pin Award for pinning each of his opponents in the shortest amount of time.

"Kolter and Oren were second and third for the award," Coach LaBrie said. "We had a fantastic day with those three not only getting the pins but getting crucial pin points."

Mears also pinned his first opponent Jared Selander of Choteau in 59 seconds, his quarterfinal opponent Colter Ball of Fort Benton in 14 seconds, and his semi-final opponent Tyler Larson of Shelby in 1:37.

Senior Kolter Scipman punched his third ticket to state, despite missing his junior season due to injury. Schipman pinned Ty Curry of Valier in 3:58 in the 132-pound championship match. Schipman previously won the 120 title at the 2017 Northern B Title.

"He came back really strong from his injury and he has done some really good things for us as a senior," Coach LaBrie said. "Looking at how things have been the whole season, I don't have any doubts that he will walk away placing at state. It's a matter of how high."

Curry, Schipman's championship matchup, presented Malta with a familiar foe.

"Curry has been in the finals with us before and we've beaten him before," Coach LaBrie said of Schipman's opponent. "He is obviously wrestling better and better every time."

Freshman Oren Mackey won the 160 title over Choteau senior Calvin Maples in 1:06 by pinfall. Mackey scored a total of 24 points for Malta.

"Oren had a fantastic weekend," Coach LaBrie said. "Going into it, I knew that he would probably perform well. I knew he would probably qualify for state, but for him to wrestle as tough as he did and getting those pins and wins for the team was huge."

Mackey pinned Chinook's Favion Courturier (13-5) in 2:30 during the semifinals.

Junior Luke Lawless qualified for state for the third consecutive season, taking fourth place at the event. Lawless lost the third-place match to Fairfield's Thomas Troy by pinfall at 2:34. Lawless scored eight points for Malta.

Sophomore RC Skiff took fourth place in the 138 class losing the third-place match to Fort Benton/Big Sandy's Connor Schnabel. Skiff was pinned in forty-four seconds. Skiff scored 11 points for Malta.

Shane Soul took fifth place in the 126 class and scored eight points for Malta. Jay Nicholson took fifth place in the 120 class and scored six points. Zac Judd took fifth in the 138 class and scored four points. Cash Salsbery took fifth place in the 205 class and scored two points.

 

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