Small Montana School Stands Tall
(From Replay, January 7, 1996:) Nick Fuller of Rogers won the 135-pound championship in the M-2 Mallet high school wrestling tournament Saturday. He was misidentified in Sunday’s report.
Corvallis, a Montana school with an enrollment around 300, beat out the big boys Saturday at the Pacific Northwest Classic wrestling tournament at University High.
Matt Davis (101 pounds), Justin Nixon (178) and Jason Gilliam (215) won championships for the Blue Devils, who scored 159 points to edge runner-up Gonzaga Prep’s 154.5. It was the closest finish since the host Titans beat Sentinel (Mont.) 175-172 in 1991.
Corvallis is the defending State B champion.
Chris Montgomery (108) won G-Prep’s lone title with an 8-0 decision over U-Hi’s Gordon Bash.
The Titans placed third with 112 points, guided by Jared Osborn’s title at 115 and Andy Roberts’ at 135.
Osborn, fourth at state last year, beat Mead’s Jon Rugan, last year’s state runner-up, 18-6 in the final. Roberts, named the tournament’s outstanding wrestler, earned a technical fall in the final over Corvallis’ Dustin Brawley.
In a matchup of former state champs at 122, Richland’s Aaron Mann beat G-Prep’s Cory Brannon 8-4.
Other local champs were Lyle Beerbohm (141), Mead; Rusty Ruchert (158) and Tristan Beeman (190), East Valley; Nathan Pascoe (168), Lakeland of Rathdrum, Idaho; and Matt Smith (275), Post Falls.
Sentinel’s Ryan Presta (148) won for the third consecutive year. Roberts and Mann also won last year.
Shawn Miller (101), Jeff Tweedy (168) and Rodney Hill (190) won championships to lead St. Maries to the team title at the M2 Mallet Invitational at Rogers.
The Lumberjacks scored 217 to the 180 of the runner-up host Pirates. Moses Lake, with a partial team, was third at the eight-team tourney.
Local champs were Brian Lehrman (108) and Joe Ireland (215), Lewis and Clark; Nick Stewart (115), North Central; Daryl Groom (122), Nick Stewart (135), Daryn Steeneck (141) and Kris Clark (148), Rogers; Kevin Eng (129), Shadle Park; Brad Schindler (158) and Lanny Ferguson (275), ML; and Luke Sheppard (178), Chewelah.
Gymnastics
North Central’s Heidi McCullough won the uneven bars and placed second in the balance beam at the Eastside Individual Event Championships gymnastics meet at Mead.
McCullough performed a straddle back to a handstand during her bars routine, which netted an 8.85 score. She scored an 8.6 on the beam to place behind Kelsie Slack’s winning 8.85 for the host Panthers.
Gymnasts from the seven schools in attendance could compete in two events. No team scores were kept.
Slack, also seventh on the vault, had a clean beam routine.
University’s Kalie Cossette pulled off a tuck Tsukahara to score 9.05 with her winning vault. Her vault was worth just 9.4, which means her score could be converted to nearly 9.65. Cossette was seventh on the beam.
Kamiakin’s Alaina Riste won the floor exercise with an 8.8 and placed fourth in the vault.
NC’s Shelly Betts finished third on the bars and tied for third on the beam. Coleen Pierce of U-Hi tied with Betts on the beam and placed third in the floor.
Spink to WSU
Samantha Spink, former Coeur d’Alene High School volleyball standout, has decided to transfer from Penn State to Washington State. She will enroll for the upcoming semester and be on scholarship immediately.
, DataTimes