Malta Grapplers Start Season in Havre; Schipman Earns Title

The season has kicked off for the Malta Wrestling Team, who competed in the Havre Mixer on Friday, December 1, and the Havre Invitational on Saturday, December 2.

The team was able to compete with 10 of their 20 wrestlers, the other ten of which haven't met practice requirements or are injured.

Malta Head Coach Jake French said that his team did well despite many of them seeing their first high school meet.

"Though (a few) were inexperienced, young, and new, we did great," Coach French said. "For what we have seen so far for after two weeks of practice, the kids did really well."

He said that a lot of the team's losses were to wrestlers that were more experienced.

"I was proud of our kids for their effort. Everyone did awesome as far as effort goes," Coach French said. "We still have things to learn and things to work on; always. So we will just take our mistakes, work on them Monday and then progress forward."

Malta will host a dual event with Fairfield on Thursday, December 7, at the Malta High School Gymnasium.

At the Invitational, Kohner Schipman won the title in the Boys 145 class, scoring 24 points for Malta. He won his championship match against Havre's Carson Harris by 9-2 decision. To reach the championship match, he pinned James Holmes of Butte Central at 1:38 in the semifinals, and Cut Bank's Adrian Guardipee at 1:06 in the quarterfinals.

"Kohner was looking real tough this weekend," Coach French said.

Colton Mears was third in the Boys 182 class. He scored 16 points. Mears won his third place match over Havre's Landen Cappette by pin fall. He defeated teammate Kenan LaBrie in the Consolation semifinals by 4-2 decision. Mears won his opening match in the quarterfinals by pinning Havre's Rowdy Doney at 1:57, but fell to Lewistown's Wyatt Elam by pin at 4:22 in the semifinals.

Ava Hanson made her return to the mat, taking home a second place finish in the Girls 165 class. She scored four points. She won her points in her third round win over Harley Fetters of Cut Bank, who she pinned at 3:29.

"The girls (including Samme and Sydney Gibbs) didn't have much competition there, but from the first day to second day, their records stayed the same but they wrestled way better. They made some adjustments and their matches were a lot closer."

Trooper Stiles was third in the Boys 138 class. He scored nine points. He pinned Stockton Stroh of Lewistown at 4:22.

LaBrie scored eight points for Malta in the Boys 182 class. He won fifth place by defeating Havre's Jacek Lickfold by 8-3 decision in the fifth place match. To begin the tournament, LaBrie lost a 1-0 decision to Lewistown's Quinn Boogman. LaBrie bounced back in the first round of consolation by pinning Cut Bank's Payton Volkman

Jonah Bucks scored four points for Malta in the Boys 126 class. He pinned Frank Dunagan of Lewistown at 2:32 in the second round of consolation.

Lane Salveson scored three points in the Boys 152 class. He placed sixth.

"He wrestled well, but he is inexperienced and he wrestled experienced people," Coach French said. "He is wrestling in a competitive weight. We will give him some more weapons and throughout the year he should improve tremendously. The effort was all there. Love his effort."

Karson Kelsey was sixth in the Boys 145 class. He scored three points.

Havre Invite Results for Malta / Whitewater

Boys 126

Jonah Bucks's place is unknown and has scored 4.0 team points.

Champ. Round 1 - Mikey Veloz (Fergus - Lewistown) won by fall over Jonah Bucks (Malta / Whitewater) (Fall 2:28)

Cons. Round 1 - Jonah Bucks (Malta / Whitewater) received a bye () (Bye)

Cons. Round 2 - Jonah Bucks (Malta / Whitewater) won by fall over Frank Dunagan (Fergus - Lewistown) (Fall 2:32)

Cons. Round 3 - Colt Patterson (Fergus - Lewistown) won by fall over Jonah Bucks (Malta / Whitewater) (Fall 0:42)

Boys 138

Trooper Stiles's place is 3rd and has scored 9.0 team points.

Round 1 - Jack Gillen (Fergus - Lewistown) won by fall over Trooper Stiles (Malta / Whitewater) (Fall 1:04)

Round 2 - Gauge Chapman (Chinook) won by fall over Trooper Stiles (Malta / Whitewater) (Fall 5:21)

Round 3 - Trooper Stiles (Malta / Whitewater) won by fall over Stockton Stroh (Fergus - Lewistown) (Fall 4:22)

Boys 145

Karson Kelsey's place is 6th and has scored 3.0 team points.

Quarterfinal - Carson Harris (Havre) won by fall over Karson Kelsey (Malta / Whitewater) (Fall 0:39)

Cons. Round 1 - Karson Kelsey (Malta / Whitewater) received a bye () (Bye)

Cons. Semi - James Holmes (Butte Central) won by fall over Karson Kelsey (Malta / Whitewater) (Fall 1:34)

5th Place Match - Adrian Guardipee (Cut Bank) won by fall over Karson Kelsey (Malta / Whitewater) (Fall 0:54)

Boys 145

Kohner Shipman's place is 1st and has scored 24.0 team points.

Quarterfinal - Kohner Shipman (Malta / Whitewater) won by fall over Adrian Guardipee (Cut Bank) (Fall 1:06)

Semifinal - Kohner Shipman (Malta / Whitewater) won by fall over James Holmes (Butte Central) (Fall 1:38)

1st Place Match - Kohner Shipman (Malta / Whitewater) won by decision over Carson Harris (Havre) (Dec 9-2)

Boys 152

Lane Salveson's place is 6th and has scored 3.0 team points.

Quarterfinal - Reinhard Bold (Havre) won by fall over Lane Salveson (Malta / Whitewater) (Fall 1:05)

Cons. Round 1 - Lane Salveson (Malta / Whitewater) received a bye () (Bye)

Cons. Semi - Aiden Shandorff (Havre) won by fall over Lane Salveson (Malta / Whitewater) (Fall 1:08)

5th Place Match - Brendin Fiscus (Fergus - Lewistown) won by fall over Lane Salveson (Malta / Whitewater) (Fall 0:00)

Boys 182

Colton Mears's place is 3rd and has scored 16.0 team points.

Quarterfinal - Colton Mears (Malta / Whitewater) won by fall over Rowdy Doney (Havre) (Fall 1:57)

Semifinal - Wyatt Elam (Fergus - Lewistown) won by fall over Colton Mears (Malta / Whitewater) (Fall 4:22)

Cons. Semi - Colton Mears (Malta / Whitewater) won by decision over Kenan Labrie (Malta / Whitewater) (Dec 4-2)

3rd Place Match - Colton Mears (Malta / Whitewater) won by fall over Landen Caplette (Havre) (Fall 0:00)

Boys 182

Kenan Labrie's place is 5th and has scored 8.0 team points.

Quarterfinal - Quinn Boogman (Fergus - Lewistown) won by decision over Kenan Labrie (Malta / Whitewater) (Dec 1-0)

Cons. Round 1 - Kenan Labrie (Malta / Whitewater) won by fall over Payton Volkman (Cut Bank) (Fall 5:05)

Cons. Semi - Colton Mears (Malta / Whitewater) won by decision over Kenan Labrie (Malta / Whitewater) (Dec 4-2)

5th Place Match - Kenan Labrie (Malta / Whitewater) won by decision over Jacek Lickfold (Havre) (Dec 8-3)

Girls 132-145

Samme Gibbs's place is 3rd and has scored 0.0 team points.

Round 1 - Poloma Padilla (Havre) won by fall over Samme Gibbs (Malta / Whitewater) (Fall 1:14)

Round 2 - Savannah Riggin (Chester-Joplin-Inverness) won by fall over Samme Gibbs (Malta / Whitewater) (Fall 1:06)

Girls 152

Sydney Gibbs's place is 3rd and has scored 0.0 team points.

Round 2 - Lexie Wichman (Fergus - Lewistown) won by fall over Sydney Gibbs (Malta / Whitewater) (Fall 5:31)

Round 3 - Lidia D`Hooge (Fergus - Lewistown) won by fall over Sydney Gibbs (Malta / Whitewater) (Fall 0:20)

Girls 165

Ava Hanson's place is 2nd and has scored 4.0 team points.

Round 1 - Kate Maxwell (Fergus - Lewistown) won by decision over Ava Hanson (Malta / Whitewater) (Dec 7-2)

Round 3 - Ava Hanson (Malta / Whitewater) won by fall over Harley Fetters (Cut Bank) (Fall 3:29)