Lewiston, Lakeland, BF capture titles
Two new team champions were crowned Saturday and one continued to reign supreme in the 3A District I and 4A/5A Region I wrestling tournaments at The Arena in Post Falls.
Lewiston (329) ended a three-year run for Coeur d’Alene (277.5) in the 5A, qualifying 23 wrestlers in the top four places to the Vikings’ 20. Lake City (153.5) was third and will send 13 to state.
Lakeland (315 points), a relative newcomer to 4A competition, had 16 top-three placers and edged favored Sandpoint (290.5), which had 13, to capture the 4A Region I crown. Post Falls (194), with 10 in the top three, finished third and Moscow (67.5), who had three top-threes, was fourth. The top two placers in each 4A weight classification automatically qualify for state and third-placers await decisions for possible at-large berths.
In the 3A, Bonners Ferry (209.5) notched a whopping nine individual titles, qualified 10 for state and for the sixth straight year brought home the district title. Priest River (177) was second and also qualified 10. Timberlake (171), the Intermountain League champ by tiebreaker over Bonners, was third and qualified nine. Kellogg (166) was fourth, qualifying eight and St. Maries (106) was fifth, qualifying five.
The 3A, 4A and 5A state tournaments will be held Thursday through Saturday at Idaho State University’s Holt Arena in Pocatello.
Lewiston coach Dan Maurer, in his fourth year at the Bengals helm, said the regional title was great, but he and his team have bigger prizes in mind.
“It was the first time for me, so it feels really good,” Maurer said. “Last year, Coeur d’Alene really put the boots to us, so it was nice to get some head-to-head wins against them. But the big thing is that we have a pretty good contingent going to state.”
Coeur d’Alene coach Jeff Moffat, whose team had seven individual champs to Lewiston’s six, said it came down to a numbers game.
“We just don’t have the depth we’ve had in the past,” Moffat said. “Lewiston wrestled real well, too – we gave a good effort, we just didn’t get it done. What I’m really excited about is how well we did in the finals.”
Lakeland coach Rob Edelblute, whose team took its lumps in its first season at the 4A level a year ago, was understandably proud of his Hawks.
“It feels good,” Edelblute said. “We have some really tough kids, and the ones that we do take down to state are going to do some damage.
“Like I was just telling the kids, it’s been a great year and I’ve really enjoyed this group – they’ve been here and they’ve just been growing year after year.”
Hawk 135-pound champ Brandon Palaniuk, who ran his record to 37-2, pinned Moscow’s Alex Thompson in the second period for the title.