Lewiston loads up for state
As has become an annual tradition, wrestling fans flocked to The Arena at Post Falls High School for the 5A, 4A and 3A district and regional tournaments Saturday.
After nearly 12 hours of competition, a young-but-deep Lewiston squad emerged as a powerhouse in the 5A ranks and Sandpoint edged Lakeland in 4A. Priest River ran away with 3A, where Kellogg narrowly got by St. Maries for second place.
Defending champ Lewiston, which sends 21 wrestlers to state, scored 322 points, 80 better than second-place Coeur d’Alene (242), which sends 14 to state. Post Falls (210.5) was third and qualified 15 for state and Lake City (110.5) finished fourth and sends six.
Sandpoint (273) had to wait until the wrestle-backs to earn a hard-fought 4A Region I crown over Lakeland (267). The Bulldogs qualified 13 wrestlers for state and Lakeland will send 12. Moscow (103) was third and will send three.
Priest River (180) earned the 3A District I title and will send 12 wrestlers to state, but it was the battle for second that had all the heat. Kellogg (158), which qualified eight for state, waited until the bitter end to get past St. Maries (156.5) to earn runner-up honors. The Lumberjacks qualified nine for state. Bonners Ferry (134), which sends seven, and Timberlake (131.5), which sends six, were fourth and fifth, respectively.
The state tournaments for all classifications will be held Feb. 22-24 at Idaho State University’s Holt Arena in Pocatello.
Lewiston coach Dan Maurer admitted his team’s depth played a large part in its success Saturday and looked ahead to state.
“Most of it has to do with numbers, when it comes down to it,” Maurer said. “This team is special, but the amazing thing is that I only graduate two kids – we’ll have 27 seniors next year.”
“Earlier this year, we beat Lakeland and Sandpoint head-to-head, and we started to think ‘Maybe we have something here,’ and now we qualify 22 for state and the returning champ, Idaho Falls, qualifies 20 – so if it’s a numbers game, does that mean we’re competitive at the state tournament, too?”
Among notable individual matches, Coeur d’Alene 135-pounder Isaak Lawlor got a reversal in the final seconds and then held on for a thrilling 5-4 decision over Lewiston junior Mark Hobson.
“I beat him once in a preseason tournament by six or eight points, but he’s gotten a lot better,” said Lawlor, who defended his title and ran his record to 35-9. “Last year, I won in the championship by 10 points – I like that I really had to work for this one.”
Sandpoint 125-pound senior Joey Fio, who this year overcame injury to earn his third regional title, said this one, because of the adversity, might have been the sweetest.
“I tore my meniscus at the end of last year and then I did it again this year,” said Fio, who took a state title two years ago and has earned a full-ride this fall to the University of Oklahoma. “So this is a big one for me, it’s my senior year and it really does mean a lot.”
Post Falls junior Danny Booth, who knocked off a familiar opponent in Nick Hobson of Lewiston to earn his third title in three tries, said he was trying to avoid any drama Saturday.
“I’ve wrestled that kid twice this year and, both times, I beat him by one point at the end,” Booth said. “So I came out wanting to win by more this time, and I beat him pretty bad.”
Lakeland senior Dustin Springer, who earned his first regional championship with a tight 12-10 win over John Merickel of Moscow, said he found some validation in the victory.
“It’s nice to finally get one,” Springer said. “It feels like all of the hard work is finally paying off.”