Hallock Finds Key to Championship

Blood, sweat, tears. Heartache. Elation. Losses. Wins. Avenged matches. Podium trips. History made.

The 2022 State Wrestling Tournament held it all for the Glasgow Scotties this past weekend.

At the end of two and a half days of intense competition, the Scotties stood in fourth place, out of 52 teams, in the B/C with 100 points, just 12.5 points out of a trophy.

Huntley Project took the top slot with 192 points followed by Cut Bank with 113 and Jefferson with 112.5.

Glasgow put four grapplers on the podium this year. Kyler Hallock, Jake Kuka, Damien Nesbitt and Devon Nesbitt brought home individual medals for the Scotties. Shay Pedersen made Glasgow history as the first Scottie wrestler to hit the mats in the girls tournament.

The biggest story out of Billings belonged to Hallock. The Scottie senior was a runner-up at last year's state tournament and fell to Wolf Point's Mason Garfield in the Eastern Divisional 205. lb. title match this year.

But he avenged both losses in dramatic fashion this year.

Hallock defeated Jeyden Sullivan of Jefferson via fall 30 seconds into the first period in the Championship Round 1. In the quarterfinal round he won a 3-1 decision over Conrad's Bryce Lohman. His semifinal match against Johnny Fehr of Lincoln County went the distance with Hallock walking away with a 6-0 decision.

The three straight wins sent Hallock to the First Place Match Saturday evening. Hallock faced fellow Hi-Line grappler Garfield in a rematch from the Eastern Divisional title bout.

Prior to the championship round, Hallock told the Courier, "We've been here before. We just need to close the deal this time."

At the Metra in Billings, the match looked to be going in Garfield's favor at first, but Hallock knew what he needed to do. The match stood tied 3-3 with only five seconds left when the Scottie took control with a headlock throw.

The move earned him five points, the 8-3 win and the long-sought-after State Championship at 205 lbs. Hallock ends his Glasgow wrestling career as a three-time All State grappler and earned the Scotties 24 team points.

After the match Hallock addressed the difference between the Divisional and State matches. "I went in there definitely differently prepared. During Divisionals – I hate to admit it – but I wasn't physically and mentally there or ready for it. But this tournament, State, I knew that I needed to be on my A game and I was."

Casterline was full of praise for Hallock, but spoke first about his opponent to the Courier. "First off, hats off to Mason Garfield. What a competitor."

Regarding Hallock he said, "Kyler. That's a kid that's definitely earned it. He's a poster child for hard work."

Kuka placed second at 113 lbs. in one of the hardest fought matches of the weekend. The Glasgow senior had been expecting each of his matches to go the distance but he won his first two by falls. In the Championship Round 1, Kuka felled Brody Smith of Arlee in 1:29. Cut Bank's Bradin Murphy was pinned by Kuka in 1:21 in the Quarterfinals.

Facing Leo Anderson of Jefferson in the Semifinal round, the two grapplers went the distance with Kuka coming out on top of a 5-1 decision.

The win moved Kuka into the 113 lb. championship matcha against Brayden Linville of Three Forks. The Scottie went down in points early in the match, but battled undeterred until the final whistle blew. Despite a valiant effort by Kuka, the clock ran out before he could earn the points necessary for a title.

Kuka finished his Scottie wrestling career with three state placings and two state finalists positions. He turned in 22 team points for Glasgow.

"My hat's off to him too," said Glasgow's head coach, "because the start of the season was rough." Casterline and Kuka made adjustments midway through the season, dropping the grappler from 120 to 113. "It paid off ... I'm super proud of him, a two-time finalist. He wrestled his butt off."

Damien Nesbitt won his first two matches then dropped his third but fought his way through the backside of the bracket to finish in third place at 170 lbs.

He won a a 7-2 decision over Fairfield's Miguel Perez in the first round and pinned Max Hannum of Thompson Falls with only 16 seconds left in the match. Tyler Shoen of Chinook defeated Damien Nesbitt in the Semifinal round in a tight 2-0 decision. The Scottie Senior picked his head up to win the Consolation Semifinal round, pinning Cyrus Richardson of Manhattan in 3:57.

The win moved Damien Nesbitt into the Third Place Match against Brady Armstrong of Jefferson where the Glasgow grappler defeated his opponent in an 8-1 decision. He finished his high school career as a triple All Stater and earned the Scotties 18 points.

Devon Nesbitt also had to make his run through the backside of the bracket to earn a place in the Third Place Match at 160 lbs. The Scottie senior won his first match, pinning Colby Crowell of Cascade in 1:05. Huntley Project's Garrett Sholley won a Sudden Victory – 1, 2-0, over Devon Nesbitt in the Quarterfinals.

Devon Nesbitt went on to win three straight before taking Fourth Place. He pinned Malta's Colton Mears in 1:42, took a 7-3 Decision over Vaugh Pendlay of Bigfork and pinned Choteau's Perseverance Bechtold in 3:42.

The Third Place title went to Huntley Project's Garrett Sholley in a 3-0 Decision despite an all-out effort by Devon Nesbitt. The Scottie finished his high school career as a two-time All Stater. He earned 18 team points.

Pedersen, who had missed the final part of last year due to injury, went 0-2 in the girls tournament, hitting tough matches out the gate. Her first match was against a defending state champion who had dropped weight classes between seasons.

Glasgow junior Mason Donaldson earned 6 team points at 152 lbs. for the Scotties before beign eliminated in the blood round. A somewhat controversial ending had Scottie coaches arguing that Donaldson's takedown of Riley Richtmyer from Townsend came before time expired. The two point takedown would have sent the match to overtime. However, after a discussion with table workers the official ended the match, calling it in Richtmyer's favor.

Michael King went 2-2 on the weekend and earned 6 points at 145 lbs. "A good tournament for him," Casterline said. The Scottie coach highlighted that his freshman wrestler had "put a beating" on Sean Ward of Fairfield, noting that Ward had defeated the number one seed previously.

Austin Hughes went 1-3 at 182 lbs. and earned 3 team points. Jack Cornwell also earned 3 points with a 1-3 record. Ted See, 113, and Ted Tryan, 138, were both defeated in their first two matches on Friday.

"You gotta live with what happened," Casterline said. Glasgow's coach was fully aware most of the B/C would be gunning for Glasgow this year, putting forth every effort to deny the Scotties another trophy.

For his part, Casterline is proud to have a target on his program's back saying that no team is looking to defeat the bad teams and he sees the targeting as a source of pride and motivation.

"You give it your best shot and if you left it all out on the mat, whatever happens happens."