Powder River Examiner -

The Broadus Hawk matmen made the 78 mile drive to Miles City on Friday and Saturday, wrestling at the very tough Cowboy Tournament. With competition from around the area, the Hawks would wrestle teams from much larger schools, such as Sidney and Billings.

"We knew the Cowboy would be tough. There are teams who skip the Cowboy because they know how tough it is. There's a State Champion there in almost every weight class. Our team is young and lack experience, but I bring them there so they know what kind of competition they're up against. You won't know where you need to be unless you compete against the best," Broadus Head Coach Frankie Schoonover said of the tournament.

The tournament format consists of qualifying on Friday, with two losses putting a wrestler out of the main tournament. Those who win go to compete on Saturday, those who lose compete in a second chance tournament on Saturday, which means everyone gains experience no matter their win-loss record.

Schoonover brought his full team – 10 wrestlers, to the tournament, but the team's lack of experience showed on Friday, with the whole team losing two matches on Friday. Senior Hawk wrestlers Troy Amsden and Larry Hunt both lost out one match before placing, with Amsden taken out on a disqualification when he lifted an opponent, the other wrestler coming down hard and getting a concussion. Though the opponent could not continue on due to the concussion, neither could Troy, as the uncontrolled drop ran him afoul of the rules.

Donovan Sturtz manhandles an opponent at the Cowboy Invitational Wrestling Tournament in Miles City, in this pictured by Ted Amsden.

In his final match Friday, Larry Hunt faced his old nemesis, Cody Blaede of Colstrip, who Larry had competed against several times over his career. "It was a scramble, and Larry managed to twist his neck in the match, but he fought through the pain and kept going." Blaede would win the match, but not without a tough fight on Larry's part.

The Broadus team then went on to the Second Chance tournament on Saturday, where Schoonover said the team performed quite well. The coach singled out Freshman Corbin Irish, and first year wrestler Luke Herzog as having performed quite well on Saturday.

"Overall, I think the tournament was a huge success. The guys saw where they needed to be to compete at that higher level, now we need to get there," Coach said.

Broadus will travel to Moorecroft, Wyoming this weekend, where Schoonover said the majority of his team will compete in the JV tournament; Amsden and Hunt competing in the JV. From there, the last weekend of January will find the Hawks in Hardin, then it's on to Divisionals.