NIC grapplers win opening meet

South African champion Heinrich Barnes made an impressive collegiate debut with a pin, and three other North Idaho College wrestlers earned major decisions in a 24-13 victory Friday over Great Falls in a non-conference meet.

Barnes, who finished eighth at the junior world championships, pinned Spencer Griffiths in 5 minutes, 35 seconds at 141 pounds.

Earning major decisions for the Cardinals were sophomores Cody Nicholson at 133, who defeated Ryan Montang (University High) 19-5; Josh Edmondson (Medical Lake), who defeated Dan Gordon 14-1 at 184 and Jake Kallestad, who won 14-2 at 197.

Men’s soccer

Luke Miller converted a pass from George Josten with 43 seconds remaining to give Gonzaga a 3-2 win over Loyola Marymount in a West Coast Conference game at Los Angeles.

Mark Stock and George Josten each had a goal and an assist for the Bulldogs (4-6-4, 2-3-2), who snapped a 14-game road winless streak but lost goalkeeper Vito Higgins in the process after a second-half collision. Higgins is expected to play Sunday at San Diego.

Women’s soccer

Idaho earned its first Western Athletic Conference victory and snapped a 13-game losing streak with a 2-0 win over Louisiana Tech (7-9, 0-6) at Ruston, La.

Eija Hodgin snapped a seven-game scoreless streak for the Vandals (3-15, 1-5) with a header 34 seconds into the game. Lindsay Smith had three saves to earn her second shutout.

•Whitney Melton and Lacey Salisbury each scored to precede a late own goal as North Idaho defeated Western Nevada (6-6-2) 3-0 in a National Junior College Athletic Association Region 18 first round game at Salt Lake City.

Makayla Desjarlais had three saves to earn the shutout for the Cardinals (11-6-1).

•Jocelyn Bement scored from 10 yards out in the 77th minute to give Eastern Washington a 2-1 victory over Portland State in a Big Sky Conference game at Cheney.

Tiera Como had five saves for the Eagles (4-10-3, 2-3-1) and assisted on Cyeeta Mott’s game-tying goal in the 70th minute.

•Sasha Baines’ header of a Carmen Anderson corner kick in the 77th minute held up as Washington State defeated Oregon State (9-6-1, 2-3-1) 1-0 in a Pac-10 game at Pullman.

Katie Hultin, who had three saves for the Cougars (9-7-2, 2-4-1), set the WSU record with her 19th shutout of her career.

Volleyball

Natalie Danielson had 11 kills and five blocks as No. 19 Whitworth moved within one victory of a piece of the Northwest Conference title with a 31-29, 30-24, 31-29 sweep of visiting Puget Sound.

Rebekah Hornor led the Pirates (17-3, 12-1) with 29 assists, and Whitney Murphy added 20 digs. Kayla Roof led the Loggers (12-5, 9-4) with 13 kills.

•Kim Glass had 22 kills and 10 digs to lead No. 9 Arizona to a 30-18, 31-33, 30-19, 30-15 victory over visiting Washington State in a Pac-10 match at Tucson, Ariz.

Bre Ladd had 10 kills and 10 blocks for the Wildcats (16-4, 8-3), who had five players with double-doubles. Kelly Rosin had 12 kills to lead the Cougars (8-16, 1-10), and Te’Ara Epps added eight kills and seven blocks.