Flathead High School wrestling not only gained a state champion on Feb. 14 — it lost a lot of hair from the head of wrestling coach Jeff Anderson. Anderson didn’t pull the hair out with worry, however — he had challenged his team before leaving for the state tournament that one state champ could shave the sides, two state champs could shave his entire head. Junior Corbin Eystad, 119-pound state champion, got the chance to shave the sides of Anderson’s head after winning in Billings on Feb. 14. “I had thought we had the ability for one, maybe two” state champions, said Anderson. “(Eystad’s finish) wasn’t a surprise, but it certainly was nice. We knew he had the ability in his new-found weight class.” Before the tournament, Eystad moved from the 125-pound weight class to 119 to avoid a three-time state champion opponent. Eystad finished as the only state champion for the Braves. “My state championship was expected,” said Eystad. “I knew I had to drop a weight class to have a better chance.” Even with the points from Eystad’s top finish, the Braves wrestling team finished in eighth place. Anderson called the team finish “disappointing,” but noted that the team had several courageous efforts from individuals. “We had the ability for possibly four more placers,” said Anderson. “Our goal was for a top five finish.” Senior Justin Kasberg, who received third place at 171 pounds, broke a finger on his right hand in the first minute of his semifinal match when he rolled on it while getting his opponent down. Kasberg lost the match, and his opponent eventually went on to win the state championship. A doctor numbed the hand for Kasberg’s next two matches. Kasberg then beat an opponent he’d lost to three times previously, and beat one who had pinned Kasberg two weeks earlier. “Justin wrestled in the toughest weight class of the state tournament,” said Anderson. “Third place is very admirable.” Freshman Eric Richeson, who took sixth place at 105 pounds, left his second match after straining muscles in his back, neck and shoulder in his second match. Richeson wanted to continue wrestling, and won his next match. In his last match, down by 11 points and battling pain, Richeson threw and pinned his opponent in the last 10 seconds of the match. “(Richeson) will be someone to contend with in the future,” said Anderson. Other top finishers for the Braves were junior Ron Russell (4th, 189) and junior Jeremy LaPorte (4th, 105.) With placing returners and his own state championship, Eystad predicts a strong finish team next year. “It might bring more wrestlers into the program,” he said. “They know we have good coaches. You’ve just got to try hard.” |
