How Far Have They Come?

The Eastern B-C Divisional awaits on Saturday in Shepherd. It's the ultimate measuring stick so far to see how far the reinvigorated Scottie mat program has come this season.

The Scotsmen measured up well last weekend at the Malta Invitational. They placed third among the 14 teams, as high as they could have expected. Class A power Havre placed first with 299.5 points and Choteau, the top-ranked Class B team, was second at 175. GHS and Cut Bank were next, tied at 103.

Rising Scottie freshman Matt Reyling took first at 103 pounds, beating stellar competition. He decisioned Havre's Ryan Stewart, 6-4, in the championship, avenging two losses earlier in the season.

Reyling also won a 6-1 decision over the state's No. 2 ranked B-C wrestler at the weight, Choteau's Chase DeBoo, in the semifinals. Now Reyling is No. 3 and DeBoo No. 4.

“I tell you what, that kid wrestled with relentless determination this weekend (at Malta),” Scotties coach Jory Casterline said of Reyling. The freshman also racked up three wins at Friday's Malta Mixer (see results below).

Casterline told The Courier that Reyling might have positioned himself to be a first or second seed at Divisional.

Five other Scotties also placed at Malta. Cody King was second at 138, Kevin Schindler third at 152, Tanner Ronnes fourth at 182, Gabe Hallock fourth at 113 and Joe Doney fourth at 285.

King gave Choteau's JJ Werdal, No. 1 in the state at 138, all he could handle in the title bout. Werdal won, 7-5.

“Werdal doesn't look forward to wrestling King,” Casterline said. “King, he doesn't care who he's wrestling. He just goes out there and wrestles. He punishes kids with his legs.”

Casterline, who preaches the importance of smart and physical wrestling, liked what he saw in his team at Malta.

“It was a good weekend,” he said. “Gabe Hallock is coming on. Schindler is coming on. The two big guys (Doney and Roness) are always in the thick of things.”

Glasgow placed third as a team in Malta with three wrestlers out: Kasey Seyfert at 120, Mick Reyling at 126 and Jake Hentges at 145. But on Monday, they all participated in practice with the rest of the team.

“We're ready to go into Divisional and we're ready to fight, and that's what it's will be for some of them,” Casterline said. “The guys need to focus on taking care of themselves with good, tough wrestling. If each individual kid takes care of himself in his bracket, we'll be fine as a team.”

Seedings will be finalized Saturday morning after weigh-ins. Casterline expects most Scotties will be seeded, maybe all but a few.

The top four in each weight class advance to State on Feb. 13 and 14 at MetraPark in Billlings.

Jan. 31 Malta Invitational

Team Standings

1. Havre 299.5, 2 Choteau 175, 3. Glasgow 103, 3. Cut Bank 103, 5 Chinook 84, 6. Shepherd 61, 7. Wolf Point 53, 8. Malta 32, 9. Harlem 32, 10. Valier 17, 11. Big Sandy 14, 12. Chester 10, 13. Circle 8, 14. Poplar 7.

Jan. 30 Malta Mixer

Glasgow Results

103 – Reyling, Matthew (Glasgow) def. Stormer, Lincoln (CIR), 2 – 0.

103 – Reyling, Matthew (Glasgow) def. Whitmus, James (Shepherd), 7 – 0.

103 – Reyling, Matthew (Glasgow) def. Martenez, Slade (Wolf Point), 6 – 4.

113 – Whitmus, Quinn (WP) def. Hallock, Gabe (Glasgow), 1:01.

120 – Moore, Kaden (MAL) def. Seyfert, Kasey (Glasgow), 6 – 0.

126 – Reyling, Mick (Glasgow) def. Wark, Micheal (Shepherd), 10-8.

138 – King, Cody (Glasgow) def. Keenan, Shipman (Malta ), 7-0.

152 – Schindler, Kevin (Glasgow) def. Peigneux, Derek (MAL), 3:15.

152 – Takenhorst, Travis (SHE) def. Schindler, Kevin (Glasgow), 5:54.

160 – Kaiser, Tony (Glasgow) def. Stormer, Quincy (CIR), 5:30.

160 – Herring, James (Shepherd) def. Kaiser, Tony (Glasgow), 4 – 3.

160 – Spencer Dougherty) (Malta) def. Wersal, Darrin (Glasgow), 2 – 0.

182 – Roness, Tanner (Glasgow) def. Cochran, Scony (Shelby), 2 – 0.

182 – Roness, Tanner (Glasgow) def. Pfeifer, Christian (SHE), tech fall, 18-3.

285 – Doney, Joe (Glasgow) def. Schillinger, Kyle (CIR ), 5:56.

285 – Doney, Joe (Glasgow) def. Clark, Jordan (WP), 2:32.

State B Team Rankings

1. Choteau, 2. Forsyth, 3. Colstrip, 4. Huntley Project, 5. Eureka, 6. Ronan, 7. Fairfield/Simms, 8. Baker, 9. Glasgow, 10. Cut Bank.

State Ranked Scotties

103 – Matt Reyling (3), 138 – Cody King (4), 285 – Joe Doney (4)