Cardinal wrestlers beat 2 ranked foes; regionals next

| January 30, 2011 8:00 PM

WRESTLING

POWELL, Wyo. - Sophomore Jamelle Jones earned a pin over Ben Price of Northwest College at 197 pounds as the North Idaho College wrestling team, ranked No. 3 in the NJCAA, closed out the regular season with a 27-12 win over the seventh-ranked Trappers in the Apodaca Duals on Saturday.

Earlier, NIC won all but two matches against 12th-ranked Iowa Lakes for a 30-7 win.

"It was a good day to close out the regular season," NIC coach Pat Whitcomb said. "We wrestled a lot better than we did yesterday (Friday). We got it going against Iowa Lakes and were able to bring home the Moose against Northwest."

NIC concludes the season 14-1, its lone loss coming to NCAA Division I Boise State on Nov. 6 in Spokane.

"Going into regionals, this is where we want to sit," Whitcomb said. "We came out of this not stumbling and guys are healthy. Next week, we'll be able to train real well and not let up so we're peaking at regionals and nationals. We'll enjoy this for a day, but regionals and nationals are here."

NIC travels to the Region 18 tournament on Feb. 12 in Coos Bay, Ore.

NORTH IDAHO 30, IOWA LAKES 7

125 - Kyle McCrite, NIC, d. Andrew Brackins, 7-1. 133 - Brock Banta, NIC, d. Cody Singletary 8-4. 141 - Braden Mowry, NIC, md. Julio Ayala, 9-0. 149 - Victor DeJesus, ILCC, md. Troy Cunningham, 17-6. 157 - Jeremy Bommarito, NIC, md. Brock Storm, 11-5. 165 - Jake Mason, NIC, d. Dan McGillivary, 12-11. 174 - Jesse Nielsen, NIC, d. Thomas Moman, 9-4. 184 - Balaine Conner, ILCC, d. Justin Korthuis, 13-9. 197 - Jamelle Jones, NIC, md. Jim Doyly, 15-7. 285 - Matthew Foxworthy, NIC, p. Logan Metcalf, 4:02.

NORTH IDAHO 30, NORTHWEST 12

125 - Kyle McCrite, NIC, by forfeit. 133 - Jesse Hillhouse, NWCC, d. Brock Banta, 8-2. 141 - Braden Mowry, NIC, p. Jake Budd, 1:48. 149 - Bobby Robins, NWCC, d. McKray Jones, 6-5. 157 - Jeremy Bommarito, NIC, p. Zach Oppenheimer, 2:30. 165 - Jake Mason, NIC, d. Bernie Dupuy, 5-3. 174 - Jesse Nielsen, NIC, d. Keithen Cast, 5-3. 184 - Nick Peterson, NWCC, d. Justin Korthuis, 6-0. 197 - Jamelle Jones, NIC, p. Ben Price, 6:22. 285 - Johnathon Tiernan, NWCC, d. Matthew Foxworthy, 3-1.

SOFTBALL

NIC goes 3-0

at tourney

HENDERSON, Nev. - Sophomore catcher Shelby Gonzales hit four home runs in three games as the Cardinal softball team went 3-0 on the second day of the Mizuno Kickoff Classic.

Kelsey LaVaute had a two-run single in the four run top of the sixth for NIC in an 8-2 win over El Paso Community College. Sophomore Blake Meredith struck out seven for NIC.

Kristina DeAnda went 4 of 5 with three RBIs and two runs scored as NIC defeated Central Arizona of Coolidge, Ariz.

Desirae Tinoco and Alyssa Erickson had four RBIs apiece for NIC in a 14-8 win over South Mountain of Phoenix.

NORTH IDAHO 8, EL PASO 2

North Idaho 001 004 3 - 8 13 3

El Paso 000 002 0 - 2 6 0

Blake Meredith and Shelby Gonzales; Ericson and Acedo. W - Meredith (1-1). L - Ericson.

HITS: NIC - Wise 2, DeAnda 3, Meredith, LaVaute, Gonzales 3, Goodwin, Tinoco, Bishop. EPCC - Acedo, Enriquez, Walsh, Jamerson, Ericson 2. 2B - Wise 2, DeAnda 3, Meredith, Gonzales, Bishop, Ericson 2. HR - Gonzales (1), Jamerson.

NORTH IDAHO 18, CENTRAL ARIZONA 2

North Idaho 304 209 - 18 15 0

Central Arizona 100 100 - 2 4 3

Alyssa Erickson and Shelby Gonzales; Burdette, Arco (4), Benard (6), Blauwig and Mejia. W - Erickson (2-0). L - Burnette.

HITS: NIC - DeAnda 4, LaVaute 2, Gonzales 4, Erickson, Moon 2, Tinoco 2. CA - Thomas, Prussic, Shibata, Ah'Yen. 2B - Moon, Prussic, Ah'Yen, Shibata. 3B - Tinoco. HR - LaVaute, Gonzales 2 (3).

NORTH IDAHO 14, SOUTH MOUNTAIN 8

North Idaho 203 027 0 - 14 17 1

South Mountain 300 023 0 - 8 9 1

Blake Meredith, Alyssa Erickson (6) and Shelby Gonzales; Espinoza, Villegas (3), Prichett (6) and Blosser. W - Meredith (2-1). L - Espinoza.

HITS: NIC - DeAnda, Wise, LaVaute 2, Gonzales, Meredith 2, Goodwin 2, Moon 2, Tinoco 4, Erickson 4. SMCC - Wilson 3, Yazzie 2, Piper, Streibich, Blosser 2. 2B - LaVaute 2, Meredith, Goodwin, Tinoco, Wilson, Yazzie 2, Streibich. 3B - Tinoco. HR - Gonzales (4), Erickson (1).