Presta Tops All-American In Nic Wrestling Victory

Bob Presta’s decision over AllAmerican Steve Rose on Friday highlighted North Idaho College’s 39-3 dual-meet wrestling win over host Simon Fraser at Burnaby, British Columbia.

Presta, in his second match back from knee surgery, trailed Rose 6-1 after the first period at 142 pounds. Presta outscored Rose 10-0 during the final two periods.

Simon Fraser, which competed at half-strength, is ranked eighth in the NAIA. The Cardinals are the secondranked junior college team.

Scott Surplus (23-5 overall) of NIC won at 177 after trailing 6-5 in the final seconds. Surplus escaped from Ryan White with 10 seconds remaining, then landed a takedown with 2 seconds to go for an 8-6 win.

GSL wrestling Rogers (3-1) won the final eight matches in a 54-9 win over visiting North Central (1-4).

The Pirates piled up points in the lower weights, with Randy Ramos (101) and Mike Knight (115) earning pins and James Dawe (129) picking up a major decision. Eddie Jones (122) of NC defeated Terry Swan 15-8, while the Indians’ Brian Largent (135) notched a pin.

At Gonzaga Prep, Cory Brannon (108) began the match with a pin and the host Bullpups (4-1) roared to a 23-3 lead in defeating Lewis and Clark 41-18. Rex Mangiaracina (178) had G-Prep’s other pin. For LC (0-4), heavyweight Oswaii Hill pinned Chris Borhnsen after trailing 9-3 and Jamie Firor (148) defeated Eric Hundahl 5-3 in overtime after the Bullpup tied the match at the buzzer in regulation.

At Shadle Park, the host Highlanders (1-3-1) won the first three matches during a 37-19 win over Ferris (1-3). Shadle’s Sabino Hernandez (168) won 7-6 with an escape and takedown in the third period. Marc Forni (101) of the Highlanders avenged an earlier loss to Xung Lam. Cam Copher (158) and David Lavigne (190) had pins for Ferris.

League-leading University (4-0) was idle.

U-Hi’s success will likely inhibit any chance it had to win its own wrestling tournament.

U-Hi coach Don Owen plans to rest former State AAA champions Andy and Dusty Roberts when the Titans host Saturday’s Pacific Northwest Classic.

Because U-Hi is invited to this year’s unofficial state dual meet championships, some of its wrestlers are in jeopardy of surpassing the regular-season, 20-match limit.

Owen therefore predicts Sentinel (Missoula), defending champion Mead, Othello and Davis (Yakima) as the favorites at the 12-team Classic. Sentinel is coached by Owen’s brother, Mike.

Wrestling will begin at 10 a.m. Finals are expected at 5:30 p.m.