Ten From Nic Qualify For National Tournament Cardinals’ Region 18 Wrestling Title Well-Earned

North Idaho College won the Region 18 wrestling tournament the hard way.

And in a way, it made the triumph even sweeter.

All 10 Cardinals qualified for nationals as NIC posted 75.5 points to hold off Ricks College’s 67.5 Friday at Christianson Gym. Clackamas took third with 62.5.

First-year NIC coach Pat Whitcomb saw his team put a positive ending on a day that started ominously.

“Friday the 13th didn’t look good for a while,” Whitcomb said. “I was proud of the kids to get it done because it would have been easy to just say that things weren’t going to go our way.”

Two Cards won individual titles over Ricks opponents. Surprising Jason McClanahan edged Aaron Polkowske 8-7 at 126 pounds and Trevor Prangley decisioned Jory Dalling 11-8 at 177.

NIC’s Nate Laslovich (158) and Brandon Springer (167) took second.

Five Cardinals - Shaun Williams (118), Jeremy Wynia (134), Shane Anderson (142), Justin Springer (150) and Thor Strangeland (190) - worked through the losers bracket to nab thirds, racking up critical team points in the process.

“We lost two in the opening round and four in the semis,” Whitcomb said. “We got quite a few pins and technical falls (through the consolation rounds). If you take away those extra points, I’m not so sure we win this thing.

“It was great to see everybody pull together.”

Heavyweight Roger Neff, hobbling badly on a severely pulled groin muscle, placed fourth, but earned one of the region’s six wild-card berths.

“Roger was just beat up,” Whitcomb said.

Laslovich lost 3-2 to Ricks’ Hank Weiss, but it wasn’t for lack of effort.

Laslovich trailed 3-1 late before getting an escape. The buzzer sounded just as Laslovich was primed for a takedown.

“I thought I had him,” Laslovich said. “I’ve got to work on finishing my moves.”

McClanahan’s victory avenged an earlier loss to Polkowske. Most of McClanahan’s points came in wild scrambles where he appeared to be in trouble.

“That kid had him dead to rights and Jason did just about everything wrong, but he found a way,” Whitcomb said. “He’s so hard-nosed.”

McClanahan came in to the tourney with a modest 12-9 record. “I wasn’t really expecting to do this well,” he shrugged.

Prangley dominated Dalling for 2 1/2 periods, building a 10-4 lead. Dalling scored his only takedown midway through the third, but Prangley held on.

Highline’s Trevor Howard (190) was named Outstanding Wrestler. He whipped Devin Cole, of Southwestern Oregon, 15-1 in the final.

Clackamas’ Abel Valdez handled Highline’s Nelson Crisanto 5-1 in the 118-pound championship. Crisanto was the defending regional champion.

Ricks’ heavyweight Dave Anderton, third at nationals last year, pinned Cisco Cole of Southwestern Oregon in the first period.

NIC has two weeks to prepare for nationals in Bismarck, N.D., hopefully providing enough time for Neff to heal.

NIC has won 25 regional titles in 26 years.

Region 18 tournament

TEAM SCORES - North Idaho 75.5, Ricks 67.5, Clackamas 62.5, Highline 46.75, Southwestern Oregon 41.5, Yakima 23.5.

118 - Valdez (C) d. Crisanto (H) 5-1 (championship); Williams (N) m.d. Rock (R) 12-3 (third-fourth).

126 - McClanahan (N) d. Polkowske (R) 8-7; Thurman (S) p. Sedano (H) 3:25.

134 - Borja (S) d. Cantu (C) 3-1; Wynia (N) m.d. Bolen (R) 16-5.

142 - Ballard (Y) p. Buxton (C) 6:58; Anderson (N) t.f. Rosevear (H) 19-4.

150 - Walker (R) d. B. Holyoak (C) 5-3; J. Springer (N) m.d. Barnet (H) 10-1.

158 - Weiss (R) d. Laslovich (N) 3-2; Olsen (C) p. Hagerty (Y) OT.

167 - Catterlin (H) d. B. Springer (N) 2-0; Deming (Y) d. Shumann (S) 5-3.

177 - Prangley (N) d. Dalling (R) 11-8; Kinney (C) d. Stahl (S).

190 - Howard (H) d. D. Cole (S) t.f. 15-1; Strangeland (N) d. Harris (R) 2-1.

Hvy - Anderton (R) p. C. Cole (S) 1.41; Sandoval (C) d. Neff 2-0.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 3 Photos (1 Color)