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As expected, the Flathead High School and head coach Jeff Thompson built an overwhelming lead as the 20th annual All-Class Championships got under way before an enthusiastic crowd of 6,318 at the Metra. Flathead scored 207.5 points Friday — a total that would win the whole thing in many years — thanks mainly to 14 athletes who qualified for the semifinals.

Flathead, which went 20-0 in dual meets and won all six tournaments they entered during the regular season, have a total of 24 athletes still competing in the double-elimination tournament. Flathead established a new state scoring mark last February with 347.5 points, besting the previous mark of 325 set by Thompson’s bunch the year before.

Could another scoring record be set tonight? What seems a certainty is that the Braves will be Class AA champions for the third year in a row and the fourth time in five seasons. Final standings will be published when released.

Fourteen in the semis is unheard-of, but Thompson wasn’t altogether satisfied.

“I thought we could have had 15,” the former Great Falls High three-time state champion. “We started off awesome and got the ball rolling in those light weights. But in some of those upper weights, we just fell the wrong way. The losses are the ones you remember.”

There weren’t many of those for Flathead High, which is led by three defending state champions. Freshman such as Jerimiah Gaiser (119) and Hahn also wrestled like veterans this day.

“Those were some big ones,” said Thompson, whose team is regarded by many longtime fans here as the best wrestling team in Montana mat history.

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