BELGRADE — The Billings West boys and Billings Senior girls were crowned as team champions Saturday at the Eastern AA Divisional wrestling championships.
West topped the boys' charts with 265 points. Billings Senior and Great Falls tied for second at 246.5.
“It’s a good accomplishment for these boys," West coach Jeremy Hernandez said. "We are taking 24 of 26 kids to the state tournament this weekend.
"We wrestled really well and they are just going to enjoy the team title this weekend and get back to work on Monday.”
Senior led a 1-2-3 Billings finish in the girls.
The Broncs finished with 216 points, followed by Skyview (132) and West (100).
“It was awesome. We were really proud of them," Senior coach Charlie Klepps said. "We brought 22 girls to divisionals and they all made it. It’s as good as it gets.
"We had a couple win-or-go home matches today and they all did what they needed to do. It was a lot of fun."
For the boys, West had divisional titlists in the first three weight classes: Makael Aguayo (103), Zach Morse (113) and Keyan Hernandez (120).
Hernandez, a junior, is a two-time state champion. Morse is also a returning state champion.
Senior's Logan Cole was a divisional champion at 160, while Skyview's undefeated Paolo Salminen triumphed at 170. Salminen was also last year's 170-pound state titlist.
Billings girls claimed championships in 10 of 12 weight divisions.
That list of local champs included: Senior's Serina Catt (100 pounds), Isabella Dillon (120), Kendal Tucker (152), Rylee Kogolshak (165) and Kelby Brewer (235), West's Alyvia Ruiz (107) and Makenzee Neal (138), and Skyview's Brynn Brower (126), Evija Cagle (132) and Kassidee Savaria (185).
Both Savaria and Tucker are two-time state titlists.
The All-Class State Wrestling Tournament will take place Friday and Saturday at First Interstate Arena at MetraPark.
