Twelve members of the Glasgow Wrestling Club spent their weekend in Rapid City, South Dakota at the Black Hills Nationals AAU World Folkstyle Championships. This year’s tournament proved to be very competitive once again with 1,758 wrestlers from 249 clubs across 27 states. The event was moved from the campus of Black Hills State University in Spearfish, SD. to the James Kjerstad Events Center in Rapid to accommodate the tournament’s exponential growth.
The small but mighty Highlander squad showed up and put it on the line; finishing with seven individual placers. The top eight place winners in each weight class earned “AAU All-American Honors”. The team finished win an overall record of 24 wins and 24 losses for an even .500 winning percentage.
On Sunday, GWC officially put a bow on the season with the annual Eugene’s Pizza and Bowling Party hosted at El Cor Del. ALL wrestlers and their families were treated to an afternoon meal and an opportunity to lay some pins down.
The Glasgow Highlanders finished in 2nd Place overall out of 194 teams at the prestigous Montana Open this past weekend. GWC scored an incredible 271.5 points; just five points short of Team Champs (Billings West) for the overall title. This year’s event featured 2,207 total wrestlers from twenty different states and the Glasgow Wrestling Club incredibly had the largest team in attendance. Represented by 74 strong! The 271.5 points is a new club record at the Montana Open and the runner-up performance is the best placing for the club since the event began 20 years ago.
At the Montana Open; final team score standings are calculated by taking the total points from a club’s top 10 individual scorers. However, NO team scored more points or had a more impressive weekend than the Highlanders as GWC scored the most overall Team Points with an incredible 772 points! More than 120 points clear of Team Champs. GWC had 74 kids competing and scored 10.43 points per wrestler. Team Champs had 65 kids on the mats and scored 10.00 points per wrestler.
NINE Individual Champions led the way for GWC and 37 wrestlers found a place on the podium with a top six finish. Both of those marks are also new Club RECORDS! Khye Gamas, Jett Morehouse, Colt Knaff, Taden Sundeen, Kennedy Flaten, Collins Flaten, TenLea Sundeen, Taryn Sundeen, and Harlee Vandermars ALL brought home the coveted SKULL by winning an Individual Championship in their respective weight classes. Eight other Highlanders would finish in 2nd place and just short of a tournament title.
That brings an end to the season for the majority of the club. Next weekend; fourteen Highlanders will travel to Rapid City, South Dakota to take part in the prestigous AAU Black Hills Nationals. While 10 Middle School and High School wrestlers from Glasgow will gear up for Team Montana and the AAU National Duals coming up in Mid-April in Des Moines, Iowa.
Montana Open Results —
6U Hayden Flaten 5th Taya Sundeen 4th Duncan Markle Theo Marks Brands Casterline 2nd Frank Pattison 4th Miles Henry Caleb Morehouse Newt Knaff 5th Indie Marks Saylor Thompson
The Glasgow Wrestling Club turned in another fantastic performance at the State AAU Tournament over the weekend at the Billings Metra. This year’s tournament broke a participation record for the 4th consecutive year as 1,721 wrestlers descended on the Magic City for a chance at a State Championship. Glasgow was the 3rd largest team in attendance; bringing a club record 73 wrestlers to the State Meet. Only Team Champs (Billings West) and Miles City brought larger teams to AAU’s culminating event.
TEN Individual Champions, five boys and five girls, would highlight the weekend as Walker and William Kirkland, Aiden Aune, Newt Knaff, and Brands Casterline took GOLD for the Highlander Boys. While Riley Pattison, TenLea Sundeen, Rygan Gamas, Collins Flaten, and Rebie Redfield scaled the top of the mountain for the Lady Highlanders! The 10 Individual AAU State Champions is the 2nd most in the storied history of the Glasgow Wrestling Club. A history that spans 57+ years. (The current record is 13 Champs in 2022).
Plenty of other Highlanders found Individual glory, however, as the Highlander Girls put 22 on the State podium and the Boys added another 20. The 42 State Placers is a NEW CLUB RECORD! Besting last year’s mark of 40. Nine Highlanders would grab Silver by finishing as State-Runner up in their respective weight classes. Very impressive!
With individual success, comes team success. It’s been an incredible half-decade for the budding Girls Highlander program and this weekend was no different. The ladies of GWC put it all together to score a whopping 343.5 team points! More than 100 points clear of runner-up, Miles City. This Girls Team was ultimately crowned AAU Large Team State Champions (and overall Champions) at an All-Class event that featured 65 feeder clubs. It is the 5th consecutive year that the Lady Highlanders have finished in the Top 3 overall at the AAU State Championships and it’s the 2nd time winning the Large Team State Championship (1st in 2022). This was an extra-special tournament as the Girls broke the club scoring record, putting up exactly 100 more points than last season! Wow. To add even more hardware to the walls of the Glasgow Wrestling Center, the Highlander Girls also claimed the famed Walt Egged Award; which is given to the best “10-man” team at the event. Great job Girls and Coaches.
Now for the Boys who put together another extremely successful tournament. The Highlanders Boys finished in 5th Place in the Large Team division and 6th Place overall out of 86 club teams at the event. The boys piled up 414 points on the backs of eleven Top Three place finishers. The GWC boys finished in 2nd among all Class B/C feeder programs in attendance. It is the 9th consecutive year that the Highlander Boys have finished in the Top 10 overall at the AAU State Championships. Great job boys and coaches!
Following the event, a record TEN Highlanders earned their way onto Team Montana for the AAU National Duals to be held in Des Moines, Iowa in April. An outstanding accomplishment. Those making the prestigious dual teams; Saunten Gamas, Jack Morehouse, Siale Moala, Weston Kirkland, DC Flaten, and Aiden Aune will all represent the Big Sky State on the Middle School Boys teams, Tyler King on the 9-10 Boys Team, William Kirkland on the 11-12 Boys Team, while Madison and Chloe Lamb both earned a spot onto the Girls HS teams. Congratulations to these kids and their families for the right to have this experience.
Next weekend, GWC will do it all over again at the Montana Open! Same location; the Billings Metra. “The Open” is expected to be at least 500 more kids than State AAU and has developed into the premier event in the region.
AAU State Tournament Results–
6U Duncan Markle Brands Casterline STATE CHAMPION Ripp Newton Newt Knaff STATE CHAMPION Rebie Redfield STATE CHAMPION Indie Marks 3rd Taya Sundeen 4th Hayden Flaten 6th Nora Knodel
8U Justin Miller 4th Theo Marks 6th Rhett Murch Nels Redfield Frank Pattison Haidyn Kling Silas Hopstad Atikis Gerrard Jeffrey Knodel Trigg Newton Viona Casterline 5th Aurora Markle 3rd Lily Newton Brenley Flaten 3rd
10U Howard Redfield Dayton Markle 5th Tenzin Gonzales Rowen Thompson CJ Sillerud Colt Knaff 2nd Tyler Henning 6th Buddy Cole Olive Marks 2nd Archer Henry Taryn Sundeen 3rd Collins Flaten STATE CHAMPION Rygan Gamas STATE CHAMPION
12U Tate Lehner 4th Murdock Pattison 6th Jett Morehouse 2nd Whit Ozark Walker Kirkland STATE CHAMPION Milo Marks Knoxsen Harris Eli Holinde 2nd Sumyt Gonzales Josiah Hernandez TenLea Sundeen STATE CHAMPION Kennedy Flaten 2nd Harlee Vandermars 4th Lyla Lehner 6th
It was non-stop action for two days in the Richland County Event Center as The Brodie Gorder Memorial took place in Sidney over the weekend. Saturday was the Team Duals for both the Highlander boys and the Highlander girls. The Boys division featured 21 of the finest club teams from across Montana and North Dakota. In the end, our boys finished “pool play” with a record of 3-1 and then followed that up by going 2-0 in brackets to go 5-1 overall and finish in 5th Place! The only Dual loss for the Highlander boys came at the hands of the Bison Wrestling Club (Fargo, ND). The Bison would go on to win the team title. The five wins for the boys came against Williston, Magic City (Billings), Stanley ND, Team Champs Gold (Billings West), and finally Team Brodie (Sidney) to secure 5th place.
As for the Girls it was an equally impressive day. This year marked the Inaugural year for the Girls Duals and the lady Highlanders didn’t waste any time establishing dominance. The girls finished 4-1 overall to finish in 2nd place out of 6 club teams. The wins occured over Fort Peck (Poplar/Wolf Point), Fergus (Lewistown), Baker, and Miles City. The lone Loss came against the “Badlands Girls”. A team that featured wrestlers from Terry, Glendive, Forsyth, Plentywood, and Circle.
On Sunday, it was time for the Brodie Gorder Iron Eagle Individual Tournament that featured 747 wrestlers from 48 clubs. This year; GWC brought 52 wrestlers to the event and put together a fine overall performance. Nine Individual Champions and thirty four Individual Place Winners led the way for the Highlander squads.
This coming weekend the club officially begins postseason action with the State AAU tournament Friday thru Sunday at the Billings Metra
Friday Team Duals Results–
Boys (5th Place out of 21 teams) Bison Wrestling Club (Fargo) Dec. Glasgow Glasgow Dec. Williston Glasgow Dec. Magic City (Billings) Glasgow Dec. Team Champs Golf (Billings West) Glasgow Dec. Stanley, ND Glasgow Dec. Team Brodie (Sidney)
Girls (2nd Place out of 6 teams) Glasgow Dec. Fergus (Lewistown) Glasgow Dec. Baker Glasgow Dec. Miles City Badlands Girls Dec. Glasgow Glasgow Dec. Fort Peck (Poplar/Wolf Point)
Individual Gold Medalists from Team Duals (Undefeated) Hunter Pierce Jack Morehouse Rygan Gamas
Individual Silver Medalists from Team Duals (One Loss) Archer Henry Kylie Aho Riley Pedersen Taden Sundeen Jett Morehouse Tate Lehner Howard Redfield
What a weekend for the Glasgow Wrestling Club! The squad traveled to Central Montana to compete in the Middle School State Tournament on Saturday and the Big Spring Brawl on Sunday. Both events were held at Fergus Schools in Lewistown. Saturday’s Middle School event was limited to 5th through 8th grade, while Sunday was for those Highlanders age 12 and under.
It was a record-breaking performance for GWC at Middle School State. This year’s true All-Class event featured a total of 736 wrestlers from over 60 clubs/schools. It is the 9th year of Middle School State and this year’s team broke a participation record; sending 27 wrestlers to the event. The Girls made a major statement by finishing in 3rd Place overall out of 43 teams with 95 points! 1st place among all Class B feeder programs in the State, finishing behind only Darkhorse (Class AA Billings Senior) and Havre (Class A). It is the best finish in club history for our girls in both total points and overall place finish. Ten Highlander girls hit the mats and contributed to bringing home the team hardware from this prestigious event. Six of the girls made the podium; led by State Runner-up Kylie Aho and Bronze Medalists; Riley Pedersen and Riley Pattison. The Boys were very impressive in their own right. Finishing in 5th place overall out of 59 teams with 165.5 points, trailing only the Project Wrestling Club among all Class B feeder programs in the state. The team point total is a new record for the Highlander boys and the 5th place finish is the second best in Club history (4th place in 2017). Six boys made the podium led by STATE Champion Jack Morehouse and Bronze medalist Weston Kirkland. Morehouse and Kirkland were both in the 115 lb. bracket that featured 38 wrestlers. The 12 total placers for the Boys and Girls also secures a new club record.
On Sunday, the youngest members of the club did battle on the same mats. This time at an event termed the “Big Spring Brawl”. Twenty six Highlanders battled and brought home a 2nd place team finish out of the 28 clubs in attendance. On the backs of eight Individual Champions and sixteen top three place finishers; GWC put together 94 team points falling just 6 points short of the tournament host.
The Club will now head to Sidney this coming weekend for the annual Brodie Gorder Memorial. Both Boys and Girls team will compete in the Dual Tournaments on Saturday and the remaining members of the club will join for the Individual tournament on Sunday.
Middle School State Results —
Boys Varsity Walker Kirkland Aiden Aune Thomas Cotrell Asher Wersal Eli Holinde Hunter Pierce Taden Sundeen Weston Kirkland 3rd @ 115 lbs. Jack Morehouse Champion @ 115 lbs. Saunten Gamas 6th Place @ 125 lbs. Zane Cotrell DC Flaten 5th Place @ 130 lbs. Siale Moale 4th Place @ 189 lbs. Leo Erickson 6th Place @ 250 lbs.
Girls Varsity Kennedy Flaten 5th Place @ 72 lbs. Gwen Torres Riley Pattison 3rd Place @ 87 lbs. Kylie Aho 2nd Place @ 95 lbs. Carley Egleston Riley Pedersen 3rd Place @ 102 lbs. Lana Mason 6th Place @ 125 lbs. Lillian Massey Josie Hartwell Aubree Holinde 5th Place @ 145 lbs.
Boys Junior Varsity Anders Aune 1st Ashton Earll 4th
Big Spring Brawl Results —
6U Theo Marks 1st Brands Casterline 2nd Frank Pattison 1st Newt Knaff 3rd Rebie Redfield 3rd Indie Marks 4th Taya Sundeen 2nd Hayden Flaten 4th
The Highlanders spread out across Eastern and Northern Montana this weekend. The club enjoyed great success at both the Battle of the Badlands event in Glendive and the Havre Middle School Meet on Saturday. They topped off an impressive weekend with more of the same on Sunday at the Pre-Pony Rumble in Havre.
Saturday’s Invitational in Glendive featured 418 wrestlers from 16 different clubs. The Highlanders brought 28 wrestlers to the event and walked away with TEN Individual Champions and twenty Top three place finishers. The team won 61% of their matches on the day with 43 of the wins coming by way of Pin or Technical Fall!
On the very same day, sixteen of our 5th through 8th grade grapplers competed in the Havre Middle School Tournament and turned out SEVEN Individual Titles and fourteen top three place finishes. The Middle School Highlanders impressed with a 78% winning percentage at the event, finishing with a 42-12 overall record! 33 of the wins came via Pin or Technical fall.
On Sunday, the younger Highlanders took their turn on the Blue Pony mats. It was more of the same, however, as GWC would ultimately crown NINE Individual Champions and twenty five top three place finishers. 33 Highlanders did battle on Sunday and finished with a whopping 44 wins by pin!
Next weekend the Highlanders will be competing in Lewistown. Middle School State will be on Saturday for all 5th thru 8th graders, while the Big Spring Brawl will follow on Sunday for all of those age 12 and under.
The Glasgow Wrestling Club is coming off of a busy weekend that saw competition in Butte, Poplar, and Plentywood. The Poplar and Plentywood Invitationals were Northeast Division events while the Cyclops in Butte offered many of our wrestlers a taste of some premier competition.
On Saturday and Sunday, Twenty five Highlanders did battle in the Butte Civic Center at an event that featured 83 clubs and 1,212 competitors. The Cyclops is known as the premier regular season event in Montana and it did not disappoint. In the end, GWC would finish in 10th place overall with 178.5 team points. Finishing 4th place in the medium team division and 2nd place amongst all Class B/C feeder programs at the event. 18 individuals found the podium with a top 6 finish; while five Highlanders would bring home the GOLD!
The Poplar Invite featured 10 clubs and 307 wrestlers. Twenty six Highlanders took to the mat and put on quite a show against fellow Northeast Division competition. Eight Individual Champions were crowned and nineteen Top 3 finishers would ultimately lead the way for GWC.
On Sunday, a small contingent of the club attended the Border Brawl Tournament hosted by the Northeast Wrestling Club at Plentywood High School. Eight clubs attended the event and it featured a total of 166 wrestlers. Eight of our Highlanders showed up and wrestled extremely well. All eight finished in the top 3 and two were crowned Individual Champions.
This upcoming week the club will host our Annual Spaghetti Feed and Pie Auction on Thursday Night 6:00 PM at the Glasgow Elks Lodge! Over the weekend, we will send a large group of wrestlers to both Havre and Glendive.
The Highlanders hit the road to North Dakota this weekend to compete at the MonDak Open on the campus of Williston State. 605 wrestlers from twenty eight different youth clubs were in attendance. GWC was well represented as the 4th largest team at the event with 50 strong! The Highlanders won 61% of their matches. 62 of those wins came by pin and another 7 by technical fall. The team was led by 13 Individual Champions and 31 top four finishers. The coaches could not be more proud than we are right now after our first five weeks of practice and competition. We are looking forward to taking the traditional weekend off to cheer on our Scottie Wrestling teams this Thursday through Saturday at the High School State Tournament in the Billings Metra. The club will be back in action with both the Poplar Invitational and the Butte Cyclops Tournament the weekend of February 22-23.
MonDak Open (Williston, ND.) Results–
6U Theo Marks 1st Duncan Markle Arlie Hoerner 2nd Newt Knaff 1st Ripp Newton Jax Pankratz 2nd Frank Pattison 1st Caleb Morehouse Miles Henry Trigg Newton Indie Marks 2nd Rebie Redfield 3rd Taya Sundeen 3rd Nora Knodel 3rd Hayden Flaten
7-8 Silas Hopstad 2nd Jeffrey Knodel Ledger Kaufman 1st Ryker Yeska Colt Knaff 1st Justin Miller 4th Howard Redfield 1st Olive Marks 3rd Aurora Markle 4th Lily Newton Brenley Flaten 2nd Taryn Sundeen 1st
The Glasgow Wrestling Club Invitational set participation records across the board this year with 25 clubs represented by 575 wrestlers! Breaking last year’s record of 549. It is the fifth consecutive year we have broken an all-time attendance record. The Highlanders had the largest team in attendance with 90 kids on the mat Saturday. GWC had a GREAT day and ended up with 18 individual Champions and an outstanding 53 top four finishers! Thank you to our parents and volunteers for stepping up and putting on an event that we can all be proud of.
On Sunday, many of those same Highlanders were back on the mat in Malta at the “Cover the Court” event. Malta’s tournament featured 19 clubs and 368 wrestlers. GWC brought the second biggest squad with 53 entered into the tournament. Only the tournament host had more competing. The Highlanders had another great showing; finishing with 8 Individual Champions and 40 top four finishers!
Next Saturday, the Club will be headed to the MonDak Open in WIlliston, North Dakota.
Glasgow Invitational
6U John Kittleson Duncan Markle 4th Brands Casterline 1st Harrison Ames Jaxon Sharbono 1st Ripp Newton Caleb Morehouse 4th Newt Knaff 1st Indie Marks Rebie Redfield Taya Sundeen 1st Nora Knodel 2nd Hayden Flaten 3rd
8U Justin Miller Rhett Murch 3rd Lucas Beer Jax Pankratz 2nd Frank Pattison Nels Redfield Haidyn Kling Atikis Gerrard Miles Henry 4th Silas Hopstad 4th Erickson Chochran Trigg Newton Michael Ames Jeffrey Knodel Harrison Kemmis Kai Trott Kayson Murch 3rd Theo Marks 1st Zander Downhour 4th Sienna Yoakam 2nd Saylor Thompson Viona Casterline 2nd Aurora Markle 1st Lily Newton 3rd Brenley Flaten 3rd
8U Sienna Yoakam 1st Aurora Markle 1st Brenley Flaten 2nd Justin Miller 2nd Theo Marks 4th Lucas Beer Rhett Murch Jax Pankratz Nels Redfield 4th Haidyn Kling Michael Ames Miles Henry Harrison Kemmis 3rd Kayson Murch 4th
10U Archer Henry 3rd Collins Flaten 1st Olive Marks 3rd Taryn Syndeen 2nd Rygan Gamas 1st Howard Redfield 4th Tenzin Gonzales 4th Ryker Yeska Orrin Mason 3rd CJ Sillerud Tyler Henning 4th Sylas Egleston 3rd Buddy Cole 4th
The Highlanders brought a small contingent to outer-division tournaments in both Billings and Roundup this weekend and had a lot of individual success! On Saturday, the team competed on the campus of Rocky Mountain College at the Magic City Mayhem. Ten of the Eleven Highlanders in attendance would place in the top 5 and FIVE were crowned champions.
On Sunday, Ten Highlanders competed at the Bull Mountain Brawl in Roundup with eight placing in the top five and three taking home GOLD.
Next weekend will be a busy one for the local club! On Saturday we will host our annual Highlander Invitational in Scottie Gymnasium where nearly 700 wrestlers are expected to compete. On Sunday, the club will be back on the road at the Malta Invitational.
Magic City Mayhem (Billings)
Tot Duncan Markle Newt Knaff 2nd
Bantam Justin Miller 5th Aurora Markle 1st Brenley Flaten 1st
