Sandpoint Pins Down Title Larson, Lawrence Lead Way At Tri-State; CV Settles For Third
Sandpoint coach Dan Taylor didn’t let on how much he wanted a Tri-State wrestling championship.
It was evident Saturday night how much it meant. Moments after Pat Larson secured the title with a lightning-quick pin at 152 pounds, coach and wrestler were jumping around as if they’d won a state championship.
Close the past two years, three-time Idaho State A-1 champion Sandpoint added the team championship that had eluded it as the Bulldogs posted 139.5 points to knock off defending champion La Grande, Ore.
Taylor will hold the title in the same esteem as Sandpoint’s state championships - if not higher.
“To win this tournament kind of announces that you’re one of the best in the Northwest,” Taylor said. “We’re not done, we want to win another state title. But this is a big feat.”
La Grande finished six points back. First-day leader Central Valley couldn’t mount enough points in the consolation matches, but the Bears posted the best finish of Spokane-area teams at third (123.5). East Valley took fourth (107).
Neither CV nor EV had a finalist.
It was appropriate that Sandpoint locked up the team title behind Larson’s victory.
A two-time state champion, Larson missed last year’s tournament when he took what he called “time off” to let an injured knee heal. Others, including his coach, thought Larson had quit.
That controversy is over. And if it wasn’t before Saturday, it is now.
Sandpoint and La Grande were tied going into Larson’s final.
The Bulldogs were confident they had the team title in hand. After all, a Larson loss would have been an upset.
Talk about dispensing with all the drama. Larson smothered Garrett Knutston of Kiona-Benton (Benton City, Wash.), scoring a pin in 18 seconds.
“I kind of knew it was riding on my match, but I didn’t know the team scores were tied,” Larson said. “I was wrestling from my heart in that match and for the whole team. I wanted to win this for my coach and my dad.”
Larson was dominating during the tournament.
“This is special because I’ve never won here,” Larson said. “And coach said this is tougher than the state tournament, so I feel really good.”
Equally dominating, if not more impressive, was Sandpoint junior Jared Lawrence.
Lawrence, undefeated in his career at 64-0, collected a third Tri-State title. He scored a technical fall over Gabe Hoyt of La Grande at 119 and was named the tournament’s out-standing wrestler.
Lawrence appreciated the OW honor, but his smile expressed what pleased him most.
“The team’s always first,” he said.
Sandpoint became the first North Idaho team to win since Lakeland in 1988.
There were several entertaining finals before an estimated crowd of 700 at North Idaho College’s Christianson Gym.
And two champions - Andy Roberts of University and Ryan Presta of Sentinel (Missoula) - brought to an end eras of outstanding wrestling by brothers. Both are the youngest of three brothers, all of whom have won Tri-State titles.
Roberts had a hand in Sandpoint’s win by holding La Grande’s Amos Hoyt at 130 in impressive fashion, 13-6.
Roberts used a takedown in the first and second periods and back points to forge a 10-0 lead going into the final period. Hoyt caught Roberts in a back breaking position for a takedown and near-fall points, but Roberts’ lead was too much to overcome.
In a rematch of the best match in last year’s tourney, Presta took on Jay McGuffin, a three-time state champion from Cashmere, Wash.
The match wasn’t close to equaling last year’s entertaining hookup. The OW last year, Presta made an early takedown stand up in a 3-2 decision.
Lakeland senior Nathan Pascoe, who had battle scars from the tournament all over his body, was victorious at 171.
Pascoe and Tyson Thivlerge traded bruises from start to finish. But the offensive-minded Pascoe prevailed 13-7.
In the other finals, Cory Sauer of R.A. Long blanked Casey Kotter of La Grande 10-0 at 103; Ben Vom Baur of Evergreen (Vancouver, Wash.) topped Chris Montgomery of Gonzaga Prep, a Tri-State champ last year, 6-1 at 112; Pat Owen of Polson (Mont.) held off Zack Vaughan of Sandpoint, 9-7, at 125; Tyler Watson of Moses Lake (Wash.) pinned Luke Dunning of Big Sky (Missoula) in 2:49 at 135; Ryan Malone of La Grande handled Gary Little of Meridian 14-7 at 140; Mike Bundy of Lake Stevens (Wash.) pinned Jesse Barnet of Central Kitsap in 2:25 at 160; Jason Dorfler of Oregon City (Ore.) slipped past David Sandberg of North Central 7-5 at 189; and Bart Johnson of Clearwater Valley pinned Ben Eggleston of Chewelah (Wash.) in 1:04 at heavyweight.
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