Wrestling notebook: Mt. Spokane’s Brendan Hughes ready for return to spotlight at Tri-State Invitational

When Brendan Hughes left Mat Classic as a state champion for the first time nearly two years ago, he cemented himself as a force to be reckoned with for his final two seasons at Mt. Spokane.

But a wrong step on the football field just seven months later put those dreams on hold.

Hughes, then a junior for the Wildcats, took a hit during a regular-season game and planted his foot wrong, leading to a torn ACL in his right knee – ending both his season on the gridiron and his wrestling season before it even began.

“I was out of everything for nine months, and got back just in time for my senior football season,” Hughes said. “But it was so hard just sitting there last season and watching, because I wanted to be a three-time state champion.”

But luckily for Hughes and the Wildcats, one of the state’s best 285-pounders is fully recovered and looking to return to his pre-injury form. His first test will come this weekend as he looks to defend his 2023 title at the Tri-State Invitational on Friday and Saturday at North Idaho College.

“This is a big tournament, especially as a big guy, because we get to see the best of the best from the entire region,” Hughes said. “This is a great test to see where I am at physically, but also see where I now stand against the other top guys that I will have to see down the road and at state.”

Even after missing all of last season, Hughes still knows that he won’t come into the tournament as an unknown or an underdog. But he says that he has always looked for disadvantages other wrestlers may see in him and tries to take advantage of that.

“Before it was always that I was younger than the guy I was facing, so I would use that as motivation to catch them off guard,” Hughes said. “Now coming off this injury, my opponents might look at me as rusty or still hurt, so I can try and use that a little bit.”

For Hughes, claiming another Tri-State title would not only prove to the rest of the state that he is back, but also prove to himself that suffering through months of rehab was worth the wait.

“Everyday coming into practice I would know I have to ease into it, but then I would want to go harder and harder,” Hughes said. “And once I got going I knew that nothing would stop me. I was going to go as hard as I could.”

Wrestling starts on the North Idaho College campus in Coeur d’Alene on Friday at 10 a.m., and concludes with the finals and placing matches Saturday at 3 p.m. All-tournament passes for spectators are $25 and $20 for seniors, while single-day passes are $15 and finals-only passes are $10.

WIAA reverses stance on girls wrestling: Shortly before the start of the season, the WIAA informed coaches that girls would no longer be allowed to wrestle boys during the regular season.

Just two weeks later and the tides have turned again.

“A number of schools and leagues, however, resisted the split and have requested that girls be allowed to wrestle against boys during the regular season,” A WIAA media release stated on Dec. 12. “The staff supports that request. Beginning with the 2026-27 school year, all schools need to plan for girls to wrestle against only girls.”

Girls have been separated from boys for more than a decade when it comes to postseason, but several schools used girls in boys lineups in recent years.

This year also marks the first season the Greater Spokane League has had a dual schedule for girls teams, with most of the matches taking place before boys varsity duals.