By Danny Waldo
By all measures, Nate Laslovich’s Bozeman High School wrestling team had a successful 2017-18 season, having claimed team titles at the Jug Beck Rocky Mountain Classic, CMR Holiday Classic, Tom LeProwse Invitational, and the Class AA Duals, four of the toughest wrestling tournaments in the state.
But they couldn’t quite bring home the most coveted of all, a team title at the 2018 Class AA state wrestling tournament held at Metra Park in Billings February 9-10th. Bozeman came in a distant second place to state champion Kalispell-Flathead, finishing with 222 points to Flathead’s 288.
“It’s one of those things,” Laslovich said. “It’s tough when we won every tournament we went to except for state.”
While Bozeman couldn’t quite complete the deal by taking home the team title, there was still plenty to celebrate as nine Hawk wrestlers finished in the top three, led by state champions Sterling Quinn (120), Leif Schroeder (126) and Chance McLane (145).
It was a dominating year for Bozeman’s top three wrestlers, as the trio entered the state tournament with a combined four losses amongst them, led by McLane, who was a dominating 24-0 entering the state finals.
Things didn’t change much in the final weekend, as McLane’s closest bout was the finals, a 7-0 decision, while Schroeder won every match by pin, with the exception of his final bout, which he won in a major decision. Quinn was the closest to suffering a defeat as he trailed 3-2 with 10 seconds remaining in his quest for a state title, but was able to secure a two-point takedown with just one second remaining to secure his victory, 4-3.
This was the second state title for both Schroeder and McLane, while Quinn improved upon his third place finish from last year to claim his first. McLane won state as a freshman in the 103 lb. weight class before finishing third last year at 120, while Schroeder claimed his second consecutive title (last year he won at 126) after finishing second as a freshman at 113. This was also Bozeman’s second consecutive runner-up finish after placing behind Flathead in 2017 as well.
Other top three finishers for Bozeman include: Runner-ups Jaiden James (113), Keegan Mulhill (152) and Coy Cohenour (160), and third place finishers, Tayt Rogers (103), Brock Rodrigues (138) and Brandon Cooper (182).
