Sandpoint Fares Well At Wrestling Tourney

Brothers Jared and Brett Lawrence paced Sandpoint at the elite Reno Tournament of Champions and College Duals over the weekend at the Reno Convention Center.

Each advanced to Saturday night’s championship round of the elite invitation-only 32-team high school tournament.

Jared Lawrence, a sophomore, claimed the 112-pound championship with a 6-2 decision over Chris Kelly of Easton, Pa.

There were eight state champions in that 112-pound bracket, including Lawrence whose Bulldogs are twice-defending Idaho State A-1 champs.

Brett Lawrence, a senior, lost a 5-3 overtime decision to Tony Gomez of Independence, Calif., in the 125-pound final. Lawrence led 3-1 in regulation with 21 seconds left, but Gomez tied the match with a take-down.

Gomez went on the share the Outstanding Wrestler award with 135-pounder Sonny Marchette of Walsh Jesuit-Ohio.

Sandpoint senior Trevor Walkington medaled at 135, shutting out Rees Chlarson of Moses Lake (Wash.) 8-0 in the fifth-place match.

Walkington upset the tournament’s No. 1 seed, Brady Lee-Patrick of Altus, Calif., 10-0 in the quarterfinals.

“The teams that were down there were unbelievable,” Sandpoint coach Dan Taylor said. “They had no sloppy wrestling whatsoever to the magnitude that it almost looked like college.”

Easton won the team title with 188.5 points. Walsh-Jesuit finished second with 183, followed by Choctaw, Olka., with 176.5, Blair Academy (N.J.) with 163 and Calvary Chapel (Calif.) with 136.

Sandpoint finished 12th with 85, just behind La Grande (Ore.) with 97. Moses Lake was 18th with 59.5.

The field included 24 of USA Today’s Top 25-ranked high school teams. The top three placers in each weight were named All-Americans.

“We had two kids in the finals and another one placing down below, that’s a lot of respect right there,” Taylor said. “This tournament had more overtime matches than you can imagine. These matches were so good, there were matches being won in the last 10 seconds and there was no stalling.”

Tournament director David Nevin echoed those thoughts.

“The level of competition was more than what we expected,” Nevin said via telephone Sunday evening. “The finals were just unbelievable.”

, DataTimes