Big Sandy junior Bayley Genereux earned a spot at the Montana state wrestling tournament Friday at First Interstate Arena at MetraPark in Billings.
Genereux, in the 138-pound division, won his first two matches to reach the Northern B/C divisional bracket's semifinal, including a second-round pin in the quarterfinal match against a Choteau grappler he had never seen at previous events, according to coach Tucker Taylor.
In the tournament Saturday at Conrad, that put Genereux up against Mathew Larson of Cut Bank, who went on to win the divisional championship. Losing to Larson, Genereux faced a winner-to-state, loser-out bout with Fort Benton co-op teammate Braden Evans.
"It was a good weekend for him, only having a year and a half of wrestling under his belt," Taylor said. "Qualifying for state is special."
Taylor added that Genereux follows in the footsteps of his cousin, Weston Allderdice, with the accomplishment.
The coach admitted the match with Evans was bittersweet, as it prevented the senior from reaching state a little more than a week after he beat Genereux in a mixer at Big Sandy.
Nevertheless, Genereux performed well in front of an enthusiastic crowd in Conrad and now gets to go the biggest stage Montana has to offer at this level.
"It's the best event in the state, period, if you ask me but I'm kind of biased because I was a wrestler," Taylor said.
Upon defeating Evans, Genereux matched up against Shane Soul of Malta-Whitewater, and was pinned in 1 minute, 38 seconds in the match for placement and seeding. That positions him to face a divisional champion in his first match in Billings.
"He'll have to be ready right out of the gate," Taylor said.
Freshman Tannin Baumann also represented Big Sandy at divisionals in the 120-pound division.
The bracket did him no favors and he was eliminated after losing to the eventual second-place finisher Kierrin Rooney of Cut Bank and third-place Steven Schubarth of Simms, who will both move on to state.
"Tannin got caught between weight classes," Taylor said. "He couldn't get down to 113 and ended up with some stronger kids at 120."
Taylor said he expects the freshman to grow and mature and have a greater impact next season on the mat.
