Malta Wrestlers Help Team Montana Take Second at Nationals

The annual AAU middle school and high school national duals were held in Des Moines, Iowa April 6th and 7th and Malta had four wrestlers who qualified to compete in this national dual tournament – Kohner “Chaka” Schipman, Straud Sims, Trooper Stiles, and Lane Spencer. In order to qualify to wrestle at this tournament, the wrestlers must try out and qualify by wrestling at the Montana State AAU tournament held at the Metra in March. They may qualify by either placing first or second in their age and weight bracket at the state tournament or by challenging others in their age and weight bracket once the tournament is over. Wrestlers are guaranteed at least 8 matches in this dual style tournament where the state of Montana competes against other teams around the nation to see what state comes out on top to earn the title of top dual team in the United States. This year, there were 131 teams competing between all age divisions. Competition started on Saturday, April 6th where all teams were seeded in team pools based on past finish by team.  After pool wrestling, teams were seeded into brackets based on pool performance. Championship matches took place on Sunday. In the middle school division, Team Montana Gold ended up taking second place after a close loss to Tennessee in the championship. In the junior/senior division, Team Montana Gold earned sixth place. This tournament has lots of quality competition but most importantly, the kids have lots of fun. They make new friends on the bus ride to and from Iowa, have fun wrestling and cheer their Montana teammates on. Here are the results from Trackwrestling:

Kohner Shipman of Montana Gold went 3-5

144 - Ethan Elliott (Nebraska Venom) over Kohner Shipman (Montana Gold) Fall 1:05

144 - Gavin Risse (South Dakota Bandits) over Kohner Shipman (Montana Gold) Fall 1:02

144 - Ryan Young (Iowa Gold) over Kohner Shipman (Montana Gold) Dec 10-5

144 - Havlin Delong (Dakota-Hillbillies) over Kohner Shipman (Montana Gold) Fall 1:00

144 - Kohner Shipman (Montana Gold) over Nash Larson (Iowa Red) Fall 2:22

144 - Jordan Dusenberry (Iowa Black) over Kohner Shipman (Montana Gold) Fall 4:24

144 - Kohner Shipman (Montana Gold) over Kingston Mata (Bronx Brawlers) Dec 10-3

144 - Kohner Shipman (Montana Gold) over Kellan Larson (Iowa Blue) SV-1 8-6

Straud Sims of Montana Gold went 3-5

150 - Luis Co (Nebraska Venom) over Straud Sims (Montana Gold) Fall 3:09

150 - Kaleb Johnson (South Dakota Bandits) over Straud Sims (Montana Gold) TF 15-0

150 - Bryce Hageman (Iowa Gold) over Straud Sims (Montana Gold) Dec 7-1

150 - Brendan Winn-Kelly (Dakota-Hillbillies) over Straud Sims (Montana Gold) Fall 3:06

150 - Straud Sims (Montana Gold) over Hayden Garlow (Iowa Red) Dec 4-3

150 - Preston Klostermann (Iowa Black) over Straud Sims (Montana Gold) Maj 8-0

150 - Straud Sims (Montana Gold) over Trooper Styles (Bronx Brawlers) Fall 1:03

150 - Straud Sims (Montana Gold) over Dawson Becker (Iowa Blue) Dec 6-5

Trooper Stiles of Bronx Brawlers went 2-6

150 - Trooper Stiles (Bronx Brawlers) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf

150 - Bryce Hageman (Iowa Gold) over Trooper Stiles (Bronx Brawlers) Dec 10-4

150 - Luis Co (Nebraska Venom) over Trooper Stiles (Bronx Brawlers) Fall 3:12

150 - Kaleb Johnson (South Dakota Bandits) over Trooper Stiles (Bronx Brawlers) Fall 2:38

150 - Brendan Winn-Kelly (Dakota-Hillbillies) over Trooper Stiles (Bronx Brawlers) Fall 3:18

150 - Straud Sims (Montana Gold) over Trooper Stiles (Bronx Brawlers) Fall 1:03

150 - Preston Klostermann (Iowa Black) over Trooper Stiles (Bronx Brawlers) Fall 2:00

150 - Trooper Stiles (Bronx Brawlers) over Hayden Garlow (Iowa Red) UTB 6-4

Lane Spencer of Montana Gold went 4-4

125 - Dax Koedam (Iowa Gold) over Lane Spencer (Montana Gold) SV-1 6-4

125 - Owen Henriksen (Iowa Black) over Lane Spencer (Montana Gold) Maj 13-3

125 - Lane Spencer (Montana Gold) over Jaxson Turbiville (South Dakota White) Fall 3:36

125 - Lane Spencer (Montana Gold) over Brodie Jaeckel (Tennessee Red) Fall 2:24

125 - Braydon Manning (Team Illinois) over Lane Spencer (Montana Gold) Dec 4-2

125 - Lane Spencer (Montana Gold) over Brooks Morgan (National Elite All Stars) Fall 3:29

125 - Lane Spencer (Montana Gold) over Drake Arensdorf (Nebraska Web Slingers) Maj 12-1

125 - Jaxon Lane (Tennessee Black) over Lane Spencer (Montana Gold) Maj 9-1