Taylor Wants To Expand Tournament

Dan Taylor hopes to create a high school wrestling event that will be mentioned someday in the same breath as the prestigious Tri-State Tournament.

If last weekend is any indication, it appears Taylor is off to a good start.

“I’ve had a dream to do something like this for years,” Taylor said. “When Idaho voted to allow teams five tournaments instead of four each year, I thought it was a good time to try.”

Welcome the Inland Northwest Wrestling Championships.

Taylor didn’t cut any corners. He had custom-designed medals and granite plaques made up with an emblem picturing the tri-state area of Eastern Washington, North Idaho and Western Montana. Medals were awarded to the top six placers.

Prior to the finals, wrestlers ran through a fog machine and the finals were held under a spotlight.

Twelve teams attended the tourney, and Taylor hopes to nearly triple the number next year. To that end, he’ll schedule the tourney on a weekend so it doesn’t conflict with an established tournament like the Rocky Mountain Classic in Missoula.

Take one guess as to who won the outstanding wrestler honor at Taylor’s tourney.

It was Lakeland senior Nathan Pascoe, who has dominated all season and won similar honors this year.

The OW award was named in honor of former Sandpoint wrestler Travis Carter, who would have been a senior this year. Carter was killed in a train accident last year.

The 171-pound Pascoe said he will cherish the honor.

“I knew him (Carter) since I was a little kid,” Pascoe said. “This is one of the most special things of my life. He was always the kind of guy who treated me like one of his teammates.”

Pascoe, who will finish his prep career as the all-time winningest wrestler in Lakeland history, collected his 100th win in the finals when he had 13 takedowns in a 26-11 technical fall win over Post Falls’ Bryan Roberts.

Basketball

There aren’t many basketball games of interest in the area this weekend.

In boys games tonight, Lake City (7-8 overall, 1-2) visits Lewiston (7-5, 1-1) in a key Inland Empire League contest. In a non-league game, Intermountain League-leading Moscow (4-3) goes to Coeur d’Alene (9-4).

In an IEL boys game Friday, league-leading Post Falls (8-3, 2-0) visits Sandpoint (6-8, 0-2).

In an interesting IML boys game Saturday, Kellogg (7-4, 2-1) goes to Moscow (3-0).

There wasn’t a “Rubber Chicken” or “Golden Throne” spirit prize on the line when the Lake City boys visited their intracity rivals from Coeur d’Alene High last Friday, but it was one of the best atmospheres for a prep game we’ve witnessed in a while.

Fans of both schools were well behaved. The players played basketball and didn’t succumb to the rivalry-game temptation to play football or even hockey. A near-capacity crowd of 1,700 turned out.

A bigger crowd should be on hand when the same teams meet at Lake City on Feb. 10.

That’s no typo. The game will be played on probably the worst night for a high school event - a Monday.

The game was originally scheduled for Feb. 11. But the date had to be changed to avoid a conflict with the girls A-1 Region I Tournament.

Apparently, school officials couldn’t find an open Friday or Saturday. Fridays or Saturdays are the only days a game between these teams should be played - period.

And yet another honor

Austin Lee, the Stanford-bound football player from Post Falls, was listed on the Parade All-America High School Football Team published in last Sunday’s edition.

The 6-foot-5, 250-pound Lee, a tight end and defensive lineman, was one of 58 players named. He was listed among 17 linemen.

This ‘n that

Kelly Bartlett resigned last week as Meridian High wrestling coach. Bartlett was charged with two counts of domestic battery Jan. 1 after he allegedly beat his wife and stepdaughter. The 10-year head coach originally took a leave of absence. He will be arraigned Feb. 28.

Lake City girls basketball player Alison Asher, easily the most improved player in the region, continues to swat shots with abandon. The 6-foot-4-1/2 junior went over 100 last week with 10 blocked shots against Post Falls. She has 113 blocks through 17 games - more than the 104 she had in 23 games as a sophomore and 94 as a freshman at St. Maries. She’s averaging 6.6 blocks per game along with 10.5 points and 8.5 rebounds.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: PRAIRIE PIG? We’ve heard of Prairie Dogs, but a Prairie Pig? No matter. When the Lakeland boys and girls basketball teams visit Post Falls tonight, there will be more than pride on the line between the non-league Rathdrum Prairie rivals. It will be the first annual “Prairie Pig” contest. The school’s fans that display the most spirit - and we assume good sportsmanship, too - will take home a small, windup green and orange pig. A handful of students and adults will judge the competition. The spirit contest is similar to others held in the region - such as the Golden Throne, Groovy Shoes, and Rubber Chicken duels. The girls tip off at 6, followed by the boys.