Lake City Pins A 61-12 Defeat On The Vikings

Lake City wrestling coach Tim Buzolich said he felt good about the win over the rival Coeur d’Alene Vikings at Viking Gym.

There wasn’t a whole lot Buzolich had to feel bad about considering the Timberwolves stomped the Vikings 61-12 in a Border League meet Tuesday night.

It meant several things to the Timberwolves.

The win improved their record to 6-5, the only time in Lake City’s history in which its wrestling team has showed a winning record.

“We’ve got a long way to go, but it’s a start,” Buzolich said. The matchup between the Coeur d’Alene high schools was more than just a point in Lake City’s generally losing history.

The Ron TerHark Trophy that resides in the school of the winner each year was at stake.

The trophy will be “going home.” Since Lake City’s existence, and the exchange has been alive, the Timberwolves have won the right to keep it three of four years.

The T-Wolves could barely have had a better performance, winning all but two matches and scoring 48 of their points on eight pins.

“Everyone came together for a fantastic win,” Buzolich said.

Lake City wrapped it up in the middle weights with seven straight wins.

There was no looking back.

Timberwolf Braxton Bradenberg wrapped up the seven-win run for the T-Wolves in a back-and-forth victory in the 171-pound class. Bradenberg was almost pinned in the match, but escaped and reversed to earn a pin at 3:18 and a 55-6 team score.

Ben Orsua for the T-Wolves added five team points with a technical fall, 21-5, over Wayne Marlatt in the 160-pound weight class. Orsua snatched up five single-leg takedowns in the first period.

Levi Taylor set the tempo for the T-Wolves with a hard-fought match in the 103-pound weight class, pinning Joe McKenna to pick up the quick 6-0 lead over the struggling Viks (1-10).

This was just the beginning of a long night for the Vikings. The T-Wolves picked up two more decisive wins in the 112- and 119-pound weight classes, including possibly the closest match between Lake City’s 112-pounder Beau Miller and Devin Ennis. Miller was able to slide by Ennis 12-10.

The Vikings’ Mike Schauble broke up a flawless T-Wolve tempo at 125 pounds by pinning Mike Herrick in the first period. It brought the score to its closest deficit of the night, 17-6.

Zac Koep added the second win of the night for the Vikings. Koep pinned Brian Kelso with :38 left in the first period in the 189-pound match.