Cardinals bring depth, experience to mats

COEUR d’ALENE — The depth is there.

So are the expectations.

But to find out if this pack of Cardinals are ready to soar to a 14th national title, they’ll have to hit the road to find out.

The North Idaho College wrestling team, ranked second in the first NJCAA poll of the season, will open the season this weekend, traveling to Montana State-Northern in Havre tonight and the University of Great Falls on Saturday.

“It has been about eight weeks since we’ve gotten this thing rolling,” NIC coach Pat Whitcomb said. “We’ve gotten about a month of regular practice in and right now, we’re excited to get on with the season.”

Returning to NIC are All-Americans Kyle McCrite and Jesse Nielsen, both of whom are ranked in the top five in their respective weight classes. McCrite was third at nationals last year, Nielsen sixth.

“Kyle is ranked No. 1 in the nation right now at 125 (pounds),” Whitcomb said of the former Lakeland High standout. “He did a great job last year and has stepped up to become a leader. To be ranked No. 1 is a big deal for him.”

Nielsen, a former Coeur d’Alene High standout, is ranked third at 174 pounds, up from 165 where he wrestled last year.

“He’s gone up a little bit this year,” Whitcomb said of Nielsen. “Both of those guys being local kids, it eliminates some of the distance factor, and hopefully gets some fans and local support into the gym. Both of them have been through the grind of the season, they’ve lived it and know what to expect.”

Braden Mowry (141), a freshman from Coeur d’Alene High, is another local expected to be in the starting lineup tonight.

“Braden is ranked seventh right now as a freshman,” Whitcomb said. “He’s a two-time state champion and has a lot of experience. He’s really good, even though he’s a true freshman. He brings a lot of knowledge from his match experience.”

Jake Mason (165), a freshman from University High in Spokane, has won the Tri-State wrestling tournament three times, held annually at North Idaho College.

“Right now he’s sixth in the nation,” Whitcomb said. “We’re expecting a lot of good things from this group of freshmen this season.”

Also returning are Jeremy Bommarito (157) and McKray Jones (149), both previous national qualifiers.

“McKray has been through the season,” Whitcomb said. “He’s a good all-around worker in the wrestling room. Bommarito redshirted last year, but qualified for nationals two years ago. Both of them got the chance to see some of that experience. It’s a good thing because most of them know our system and we don’t have to spend as much time teaching new things.”

Brock Banta (133), Caleb Rivera (184), Jamelle Jones (197) and Marcel Dubose (heavyweight) round out the starters for NIC this weekend.

Jones, a former NJCAA champion from Meramec Junior College in St. Louis, transferred to NIC after sitting out two years.

“We tried to recruit him out of high school,” Whitcomb said. “He opted to go to Meramec instead. He was a little disillusioned with it and kept in contact with us. He liked what he saw out of high school, and once Meramec dropped their program, he wanted a second chance and he’s fit right in to our program. He probably wishes he could have came here out of high school, and we wish we could have gotten him. But he’s been there, done that.”

Roger McCovey, a national runner-up at heavyweight last year, is redshirting this season.

“We expected him to come back, but he opted to stay in California and take some classes at a community college down there,” Whitcomb said. “But he’ll be back next year. He’s going to build up his academics and then come back next year.”

“We’re fairly deep in each weight,” Whitcomb said. “If we get 2 to 3 wrestlers down, we’ll likely have to do some shuffling. Right now, we need to make sure we’re doing the right things. We’ve got the talent, we need to just get in the (wrestling) room and get to work. We’ll get on the road trip Friday and see what we’re made of.”

Keri Stanley, a two-time national finalist at NIC, who has been coaching at Dickinson State College, has joined Whitcomb’s staff as an assistant coach.

“Keri brings an energy to the team,” Whitcomb said. “He’s brings a mystique of being on the last national title team (2003). He’s a great asset to the program. There’s no better staff in the nation than the three guys I’ve got.”

The Cardinals’ opening home match against Highline has already been postponed due to the Cardinal volleyball team hosting the Region 18 tournament next weekend. It has been rescheduled to the weekend of the Cardinal Duals Nov. 19. NIC will also face Boise State, ranked second in the NCAA, next Saturday at Mead High in Spokane.

“Our first three duals are basically to see what we’re made of,” Whitcomb said. “It’s always been our attitude, it’s not important to build our confidence, but get some quality competition. Our goal remains the same — win a national title.”

North Idaho will be the host school for the 2011 NJCAA tournament, to be held at the Spokane Convention Center Feb. 25-26.

“It’s a great venue for that,” Whitcomb said. “That time of the year, it will be a great showcase for the Northwest. It’s about time those Midwest teams jumped on a plane out here instead of riding on a bus for a few hours.”

Region 18 will get an additional 10 qualifiers, or one per weight class, for hosting the tournament.

“We’d better qualify all 10 anyway with this group we have,” Whitcomb said. “Being able to have our local fans watch the event instead of reading about it in the newspaper and get to see what it’s all about — it’s a lot of wrestling packed into two days.”