Something old, new for North Idaho team

Some things never change. North Idaho College recently won its 27th regional wrestling championship in 29 years.

Some things do. The Cardinals, for one of the rare times in three-plus decades, aren’t considered a primary contender in the team race at the NJCAA tournament, which begins a two-day run Friday in Rochester, Minn.

NIC lost six dual matches this season. According to an NIC media guide, the Cardinals have had one season with more losses – an 8-10 mark in 1991-92. NIC is ranked seventh in the final poll, believed to be its lowest since 2000, when the team finished eighth at nationals, just the third time NIC finished below fifth since 1972.

“That’s tough, but going into the season I had said I needed to be patient,” coach Pat Whitcomb said. “(Steven) Sanchez goes home, (Josh) Manes comes down with mono, but it’s never easy. If we had wrestled with this (current) team, we wouldn’t have had that record.”

Seven of NIC’s 10 qualifiers are sophomores. Heinrich Barnes, at 141 pounds, and Kyle Sand (184) are seeded second. Barnes’ parents from South Africa are expected to watch their son wrestle for the first time in the U.S. Sand, who finished fourth at nationals a year ago, lost in the Region 18 championship match to Highline’s Brad Padgett, who is the No. 1 seed.

Evan Mattingly (seeded seventh at 197), Coby Jones (eighth at 149) and Lee Morrison (10th at 157) are the other ranked Cardinals, but Whitcomb said all 10 wrestlers have a chance at All-American status (top eight).

“I think we’re putting our toughest team on the mat and you can’t ask for anything more than that,” Whitcomb said.

One of the more interesting lineup changes took place at 133, where former Lakeland Hawk Brandon Palaniuk stepped in for Manes. Palaniuk, an avid fishing enthusiast, was attending NIC but wasn’t on the team.

Assistant coach “Justin Pluid got a hold of him and he’s been a dandy,” Whitcomb said. “He was in pretty good shape – he’d been helping coach at Lakeland. He’s a great team guy and he’s brought a lot to the team.”

NIC racked up 131 points last year, which would be sufficient to win the title most years, only to finish second to Iowa Central’s 147. Whitcomb doesn’t see a dominant team this year, meaning points could be more spread out.

“We just have to stick around long enough for those old ghosts to show up,” Whitcomb said. “When we get in those tough matches in the quarters and semis, we have to believe we’re in better shape and we have that tradition and everything else on our side.”