In their third outing in as many days, the Flathead wrestlers lost a pair of duals Saturday in Helena to Helena Capital, 34-27, and Helena High, 42-25.
"We wrestled kind of flat," said head coach Jeff Anderson. "It was certainly not our best effort of the year."
Three wrestlers for FHS went 2-0 against Helena: junior Corbin Eystad (119), senior Chad Cattron (152), and senior Dan Eaves (189).
"We got off a five-hour bus ride and we were late for the meet," said Anderson. "Then we started wrestling immediately."
Earlier in the week, Flathead downed Whitefish 40-29 on Thursday and came away from Polson with a 34-all tie Friday.
"We started strong at Whitefish," said assistant coach Mark Armstrong. "We kind of got satisfied. We didn't perform to our ability" at Helena.
On Friday, the Braves faced Polson, the defending state class A champions.
With one match to go, Flathead needed a pin for a tie. That's exactly what they got when senior Ashley Sharpe, a heavyweight wrestling in his first season, pinned Polson's Mike Jones in 3:05.
"(Sharpe) did a good job," said Anderson. "He went out and wrestled well."
Armstrong said there were a couple of pivotal matches FHS didn't tally.
"We lost a really close match at 189," said Armstrong referring to Eaves close 13-11 defeat.
"We also had a disappointing match at 112. Sophomore Jeremy (LaPorte) had beaten (Ryan Braumberger) twice earlier in the year," said Armstrong.
In the first ever Flathead vs. Whitefish wrestling dual, the Braves withstood an attempted comeback by the 'Dogs to go on to win the inaugural event.
Coach Armstrong coined the 'Dogs "a salty bunch."
Flathead won six of the 13 matches, five of those by pins, while Whitefish grabbed seven victories, with only two pins.
Anderson said FHS got an important win with Derek Nelson at 105, and key pins by Eystad at 119, Cattron at 152 and Justin Kasberg at 160.
The pin by Sharpe "secured the win," according to Anderson.
Eystad and Cattron were the only two Braves to go undefeated during the four contests.
"It was exciting," said Armstrong. "It was one of the best performances of the year."