The Mat Cats enjoyed a near-perfect opening two rounds in Whitefish on the first of two days of competition and sit comfortably ahead of the field, including pre-tournament favorite and second-ranked Polson, heading into today’s final rounds.

“We had a couple setbacks and Columbia Falls had an amazing day,” Polson coach Bob Owen said.

“By (this) morning it’s going to look like they’re in the driver’s seat but we’ll be ready. We’ll wrestle hard.”

The Pirates are by no means out of contention heading into today’s action, with most of their top wrestlers still on the right side of the bracket, but while Polson stumbled in a few spots Friday, Columbia Falls sent all of its favorites through and even pulled a few surprises along the way.

“We came into this tournament knowing that we needed to pull some big upsets, but we put it on (our wrestlers) that if we get beat that’s going to be the upset,” Columbia Falls coach Jessie Schaeffer said.

“I am very proud of our young men. We had a great round.”

The Mat Cats lost only four matches Friday and have 81 points thus far, well ahead of Polson (55.5) and Hamilton (52.5). Host Whitefish sits eighth with 18 points.

Columbia Falls’ biggest win came at 160 pounds, where freshman Colten McPhee pinned freshman Kolby Garcia from rival Polson to move on to the semifinals.

A pair of other Mat Cats avenged losses from earlier in the season, with heavyweight Kyler Koski pinning Hamilton’s Justin Murray and Miguel Garate earning a 7-3 decision against Whitefish’s Triston Knopp at 182 pounds.

For the Pirates, the day’s most unexpected loss came at 138 where fourth-ranked Jaben Wenzel lost a controversial overtime decision to Whitefish’s James Buckley in the second round. Wenzel led 7-3 into the third period, only to be tied in the waning seconds on a two-point near fall.

“Give (Buckley) credit,” Owen said after the 138-pound match.

“You have to be able to wrestle more than one period and he worked his way back in.

“(The near fall) was a shaky call that could have went either way, but at the end of it you’ve got to go win the overtime. They may see each other again tomorrow and we’ll turn that around, hopefully.”

Whitefish head coach Ryan Boyle thought Buckley’s effort — and the result — could be the start of bigger things for the senior.

“After that, I don’t know if there is a ceiling,” Boyle said.

“He’s had some matches this year where he’s down big and he’s there at the end, but that’s the biggest one all season that he came back and finished it all the way through and won it.”

Every other state-ranked wrestler from the three local schools went undefeated Friday, including Polson’s top-ranked 103-pounder R.J. Pierre, who won by technical fall (16-0) over Frenchtown’s Zach Blanchard. Other ranked Pirates Bridger Wenzel (second at 120), Parker Adler (third at 145) and Mike Corrigan (second at 205) all won their only matches of the day by first-period pin.

Polson’s Cameron Brown (third at 132) and Colton Cote (second at 152) each won twice, all four victories coming by pin in the first two minutes.

Columbia Falls’ two ranked grapplers also moved on easily. No. 1 Kaleb Gravelin won each of his first two matches by pin at 138 pounds and second-ranked Mason Fetters (145) won by pin in 22 seconds in one of the day’s quickest matches.

Whitefish’s only ranked wrestler, No. 2 heavyweight Steven Quimby, had the easiest day of all, moving on to the semis with a pair of byes.

The Western A divisional concludes today at Whitefish with action beginning at 9 a.m.

Western A Divisional Wrestling

at Whitefish High School

Team Scores — Columbia Falls 81, Polson 55.5, Hamilton 52.5, Dillon 40.5, Stevensville 34.5, Frenchtown 29, Corvallis 26, Whitefish 18, Butte Central 6.

First Round

120 — Jesse Welling, Ftown, p. Robert Walker, Stevi, 2:22; Aden Role, CF, dec. Randon Weidow, Corv, 6-4.

132 — Cameron Brown, Pol, p. Isaac Watts, WF, 0:47; Brandon Thomas, CF, dec. Jarrod Farrier, Pol, 8-6; Will Wissenbach, Corv, p. Austin Neives, BtC, 0:25; Sam Peterson, Dill, 5-2 m.dec. Robert Bertelsen, WF, 13-5.

138 — Kaleb Gravelin, CF, p. Tyler Johnson, Ham, 1:49; Drew Schmitt, Corv, p. Tyler Steadman, Dill, 2:17; Jaben Wenzel, Pol, p. Dylan Petrucelli, Stevi, 0:28; James Buckley, WF, p. Ammon Simmons, Stevi, 2:13; Nathan Hader, CF, p. James Bess, Ham, 0:57.

145 — Dustin Copeland, Ham, p. Bryce Williams, Ftown, 5:58; Bridger Nelson, Dill, p. Isaac Maxfield, Stevi, 1:20.

152 — Colton Cote, Pol, p. Alexandre Mazzonetto, WF, 0:31.

160 — Christian Ellis, Ham, p. Mikkel Olesen, Ftown, 1:25; Caleb Edens, Stevi, p. Colton Ewalt, Corv, 3:05.

170 — Cole Jones, Ftown, p. Aiden Eisenbarth, WF, 1:10.

182 — Griffin Mason, Stevi, dec. Levi Downard, Ftown, 10-5.

205 — Behner Kordale, Stevi, 7-4 T.fall Ryan Burland, Pol, 2:33 (17-1).

Quarterfinals

103 — Rene Pierre, Pol, T.fall Zach Blanchard, Ftown, 4:48 (16-0); Luke Huffaker, Dill, T.fall Benji Opat, Corv, 6:00 (22-6); Mateo Quinones, Pol, p. Carter Brown, Corv, 1:31; Austin Nelson, CF, p. Roy Russell, BtC 2:00.

113 — Winfield West, CF, p. Taisuke Matsuo, WF, 3:51; Elliot Vanosdell, Stevi, p. Jimmy Schmitt, Corv, 4:13; Michael Golden, Ham, dec. Dante Venema, Corv, 2-1

120 — Bridger Wenzel, Pol, 15-0 p. Eli Taylor, WF, 0:39; Adrian Garcia, Ham, p. Jesse Welling, Ftown, 5:29; Aden Role, CF, p. Joe Kidd, Dill, 1:47; Owen Indreland, Ftown, p. Sidney Cooke, WF, 0:25.

126 — Koltin Starkel, Dill, p. Dillon Thorsteinson, WF, 3:08; Clay Fisher, BtC, p. Aaron Christensen, Corv, 0:52; Thunder Morales, Pol, p. Jesse Shaske, Ftown, 2:16; Ben Windauer, CF, p. Caden Brown, Ham, 0:54.

132 — Cameron Brown, Pol, p. Dawson Jones, Ftown, 1:50; Kwin Stoddard, Dill, p. Brandon Thomas, CF, 2:48; Steven Banks, Ham, m.dec. over Will Wissenbach, Corv, 9-0; Hunter Peterson, CF, m.dec. Sam Peterson, Dill, 14-1.

138 — Kaleb Gravelin, CF, p. Johnathon Moore, Pol, 2:00; Cody Warner, Ftown, p. Drew Schmitt, Corv, 1:03; James Buckley, WF, dec. Jaben Wenzel, Pol, SV-1, 12-7; Brent Tezak, Dill, p. Nathan Hader, CF, 3:27.

145 — Parker Adler, Pol, p. Daylon Moore, Corv, 0:30; Kris Anderson, Ham, T.fall Dustin Copeland, Ham, 4:25 (16-1); Bridger Nelson, Dill, p. Brooks Krause, WF, 4:31; Mason Fetters, CF, p. Jackson Stephens, Corv, 0:22.

152 — Jon Blanchard, Ftown, m.dec. Colton Sweeney, CF, 11-2; Kye McCollaum, Corv, p. Hyme Anderson, Ham, 2:39; Steven Scheffer, Ham, p. Hunter Allen, Ftown, 1:45; Colton Cote, Pol, p. Loveless Braden, Stevi, 1:04.

160 — Patrick Griffin, Dill, p. Christian Ellis, Ham, 1:58; Colten McPhee, CF, p. Koby Garcia, Pol, 3:11; Manny Rivera, Ham, p. Malik Heydon, WF, 2:22; Troy Meyer, CF, p. Caleb Edens, Stevi, 0:28.

170 — Ben Crews, Stevi, p. Michael Edwards, Ftown, 1:51; Cole Jones, Ftown, p. Colter Stillwagon, BtC, 3:58; Konrad Zinke, WF, p. Chase Krone, Stevi, 2:43; Storm Kemppainen, CF, p. Aaron Swafford, Ham, 3:09.

182 — Griffin Mason, Stevi, p. Dale Meyer, CF, 2:26; Kyle Anderson, Ham, p. Noah Humphrey, Pol, 5:57; Cassidy Jerry, Stevi, p. Hunter Barron, Corv, 3:13; Miguel Garate, CF, dec. Triston Knopp, WF, 7-3.

205 — Justin Hinson, Ham, p. Harley Wise, Corv, 0:12; Jakob Freeman, CF, dec. Behner Kordale, Stevi, 5-2; Travis Catina, WF, p. Cassidy Shawn, Stevi, 5:05; Mike Corrigan, Pol, p. Matt Stafford, Dill, 0:37.

285 — Luke Channer, Corv, p. Tyler Woods, Stevi, 0:19; Kyler Koski, CF, p. Justin Murray, Ham, 2:48; Garret Hunt, Corv, p. Nick Marquardt, Pol, 0:33.

First Consolation Round

138 — Ammon Simmons, Stevi, p. Dylan Petrucelli, Stevi, 4:40.