Malta Wrestling Club in Miles City

Twelve wrestlers from the Malta Wrestling Club traveled to Miles City to compete in the Bronco Invitational on Saturday, November 5. The majority of the brackets were a total of five wrestlers where you wrestle everyone in the bracket. The wrestlers were grouped according to skill level but weren't separated according to age. 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th graders competed against each other. Teams competing were Alexander, ND, Baker, Circle, Forsyth, Glasgow, Glendive, Hardin, Lewistown, Malta, Miles City, Poplar, Riverside Jr High (Billings), Sidney, Watford City, ND, Williston, ND, and Wolf Point.

Colby Wright (65-70 lb) went 2-2 and received 3rd place on his first week of competition. He lost 2 matches by decision and won 1 match by pin and the other by decision. Braun Sims (74-76 lb) also went 2-2 for his first weekend and was 3rd place. Braun won by decision and pin and lost 2 matches by pin. Beckett Squires (75-77 lb) went 2-2 on the day and also took 3rd place. Beckett started the day losing 2 matches by decision and then came back to win 2 matches by pin. Karsten Davis (76-81 lb) went 1-3 and was 4th place. His record doesn't show that he had a great day, but he had tough competition and his effort was great. Braxton Egger (83-87 lb) was 1-3 and got 4th place. He lost his first 3 matches by pin but brought the house down with an exciting 11-10 victory in his last match. This was the last match of the tourney and it earned Braxton the Most Exciting Match Award for the week. Kallie LaBrie (98-104 lb) competed in the Girls Division. She went 2-2 and received 3rd place in her first weekend of competition. Kallie won 2 matches by decision and lost 2 matches by pin.

Silas Young (95-99 lb) was 4-0 and was the champion of his weight class. Silas had 4 pins and only wrestled a total of 1 minute and 51 seconds all day. His last match earned him the Quick Pin Award, pinning his opponent in 6 seconds. Silas' performance also earned him Wrestler of the Week honors for the Miles City tournament. Lane Spencer (98-107 lb) was 3-1 and got 2nd place. Lane won 2 matches by pin, 1 match by decision and lost by 1 point in another. This was another weight class where there were 3 wrestlers that all beat each other and Lane received 2nd place due to criteria. TJ Nelson (230-243 lb) only had a total of 3 in his weight class. TJ was pinned in his first match but rebounded and pinned his next opponent in the 2nd round after he fought off his back the majority of the 1st round.

Hayden Roberts (101-109 lb) won his first match of the season by decision. Hayden lost 2 matches by pin and lost a tight match 8-7. Hayden's record was 1-3 and he received 4th place. Gabe Oshio (101-105 lb) was 0-4 on the day, lost all 4 matches by pin and received 5th place. Two of Gabe's matches were close and could have went either way. Beau Merriman (109-114 lb) was 0-4 and received 5th place. Beau lost 2 matches by pin and 2 by decision. Beau nearly won his last match, where he was ahead in points for most of the match.

Even though our records and placings might not be shiny, these kids are getting better and giving a lot of effort. We have found a higher level of competition and are looking forward to rising up to it. The younger kids are struggling in wrestling the older kids but are getting better each match.