The Park High Rangers took center stage last weekend as they hosted the Montana Class A Duals,January 24-25, welcoming some of the top wrestling programs in the state including standouts Laurel, Sidney, Havre, Hardin, and Lockwood. The two-day tournament, held Friday and Saturday at Park High School, showcased high-intensity matchups and standout performances.
Competing in front of their home crowd, the Rangers faced stiff competition from programs such as Lewistown, Butte Central, Hamilton, and Corvallis. Despite the challenges, Park High’s wrestlers rose to the occasion, demonstrating resilience and determination on the mat.
This season is unique in comparison to seasons before because this is the first year that MHSA requires a separate girls team, although coach Linton Jett reportedly says they have been doing it like this for the past three years so it is not a major change. The new girls team has four wrestlers, all of whom Coach Jett expects to make state.
One of the standout performances for the Rangers came from sophomore Samantha Stanbary (135) who secured a pin against her opponent from Dillion in one of her matches on Friday.
The Rangers were able to win two of their matches in the two-day tournament and although the Rangers weren’t able to secure a team title, their performance highlighted the strength and development of the program, especially due to the relative youth of their group. The only two upper class wrestlers from Park High, Taylor Tatro and Bryce Brisbin, only have two and three years experience on the team, respectively.
The Class A Duals once again delivered intense action, camaraderie, and fierce competition. As the Rangers look ahead to the next tournament in Lockwood January 31, senior wrestler Taylor Tatro (190), expects that they should perform well due to how they did against the Laurel team, who is “the best in the state” according to Tatro. He said they’ll take the lessons learned from this weekend and use them as fuel to push forward toward their next time on the mat.