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Cardinals put lashin’ on Lassen

NIC wrestler Jeff Hedges, on top, looks up as the referee signals a two-point takedown with less than 30 seconds in the final period as he beat Lassen's Johnny Rojas in Thursday's match. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)
By Jim Meehan jimm@spokesman.com(509) 459-5585
NIC wrestler Jeff Hedges, on top, looks up as the referee signals a two-point takedown with less than 30 seconds in the final period as he beat Lassen's Johnny Rojas in Thursday's match. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)

Pat Whitcomb wasn’t exactly doing cartwheels when he found out Thursday his North Idaho College wrestling team was ranked No. 1 in the first NJCAA poll, released several hours before the Cardinals’ match versus No. 2 Lassen College.

But the veteran coach couldn’t stifle a smile after watching his Cardinals dominate Lassen 41-4 at Christianson Gym.

“I’d much rather be ranked fifth and go get those guys ahead of you. It’s easier to motivate,” Whitcomb said. “But I think we responded like a team that’s ranked No. 1.”

The Cardinals won nine of 10 matches, including three pins, two technical falls and a major decision. NIC doesn’t get much time to celebrate, however, as No. 4 Northwest College (Powell, Wyo.), the defending NJCAA champions, visits Christianson Gym tonight at 7:30.

“It’s big,” said NIC freshman 125-pounder Jeff Hedges, who started the match off with a wild 12-11 win over Johnny Rojas. “We have pretty high hopes for the end of the season. We’re ranked No. 1, so we had to step up and show them why we’re ranked No. 1.”

Hedges scored a takedown and two-point near fall with roughly 45 seconds left in his comeback victory. In the next match, 133-pound sophomore Justin Pearch registered a takedown with 30 seconds left for a 3-2 win over Lassen’s Chris Harris, but Pearch’s biggest opponent may have been the weight scale.

“I ran all morning and I was still sixth-tenths (of a pound) over,” he said. “So I ran for 10 minutes, came down and was four-tenths over. I ran for 10 more minutes and was two-tenths over. I ran 10 more minutes and stepped on the scale and I was like 133.02. I blew all the air out and just made it.

“It takes so much out of me. I was broken before I went out there. I thought I could score on him early, but I hit a brick wall. I got lucky with him falling at the same time I shot.”

The first two matches set the tone and Lassen had no reply. Zack Flake, at 149, was the Cougars’ only winner.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been whipped on that bad,” Cougars coach Rex Branum said. “Since we started the program at Lincoln (Ill.) College 28 years ago. We thought we needed to win the first four and we only won one and we have quality kids. We have to figure out a way to win six matches and we were competitive in five. Hopefully we’ll give them a better run in January.”

NIC’s Mike Rogers, battling a rib injury, took two injury timeouts, then pinned Alex Fliaha early in the third period. NIC’s Josh Erickson trailed 10-5 after the second period, but scored a reversal and then stuck Matt McInnis 34 seconds into the third.

NIC’s Kyle Frawley dominated Greg Thompson 15-6 and 184-pounder Josh Edmondson pinned Mike Chang in the second period. Jake Kallestad (197) and Garret Johnson (285) posted impressive wins by technical fall to close out the match.

“Garret really impressed me because their heavyweight is tough. He stuck to the plan and kept going and going. He wrestled hard for seven minutes,” Whitcomb said. “Realistically you look at it and if they turn around the one-point matches and Erickson’s pin it’s a lot closer match than 41-4. I mean 41-4 is great, but we have to keep getting better. Now, we get to enjoy this for about 2 1/2 hours and Northwest comes to town.”