Whitcomb earns 200th victory

| October 29, 2011 9:00 PM

WRESTLING

COEUR d'ALENE - Kyle Sweedman earned a pin at 174 pounds as the North Idaho Cardinals of the NJCAA beat the NAIA Great Falls Argos 26-14 in a nonconference wrestling dual at Christianson Gym on Friday night.

"It was a good win for us, but you could tell it was our first dual of the season," NIC coach Pat Whitcomb said. "Some of the guys were nervous, but we did some good things against a good Great Falls team. Kyle had a big win beating the NAIA runner-up from last year."

The win was Whitcomb's 200th win as NIC coach.

"It's nice," Whitcomb said. "Whenever you can get 200 wins, it means you've had some good kids in your program. The kids have worked hard and keep getting better and better. I was real proud of the kids tonight."

NIC hosts Montana State-Northern tonight at 7:30.

NORTH IDAHO 26, GREAT FALLS 14

125 - Joaquin Calderon, NIC, by forfeit. 133 - Mike Carreon, NIC, md. Patrick Neal, 16-5. 141 - Jarrett Morrill, NIC, d. Robert Spackman, 10-3. 149 - Myles Mazurkiewicz, GF, d. Bryce McMahon, 7-6. 157 - Ryan Zumwalt, NIC, d. Ryan Leonard, 6-3. 165 - Michael Hader, GF, tf. Wilhelm Meyer, 18-3. 174 - Kyle Sweedman, NIC, p. Noah Hatton, 3:18. 184 - Brock Picard, GF, d. Justin Korthuis, 11-5. 285 - Sears Tiernan, GF, d. Matthew Foxworthy, 9-6.

VOLLEYBALL

Utah State-Eastern d. North Idaho

PRICE, Utah - Yang Yang had 15 kills and 12 blocks, but the fifth-ranked Cardinals fell to the Golden Eagles 25-19, 27-25, 25-22 in a Scenic West Athletic Conference match.

NIC (20-8, 7-2 SWAC) needs to win at Colorado Northwestern (3-18, 1-8) today to clinch the top seed and host the Region 18 tournament starting Friday. NIC holds the tiebreaker with Salt Lake by way of sweeping a season series with Southern Idaho (18-10, 6-3). Salt Lake split two matches with CSI this season. NIC split with Salt Lake.

Salt Lake (22-6, 8-2) beat Snow (5-13, 3-7) in four games on Friday in Ephraim, Utah.

"We didn't play as well as we had been all season," NIC coach Kandice Kelly said. "Our main players just didn't perform tonight."

Sierra Pancho had 18 assists and Emily Sarff 14 digs for NIC.

Utah State-Eastern is 6-19, 3-6.

"We just need to learn from it and come back strong," Kelly said. "This was a good learning lesson for us."

MEN'S BASKETBALL

Gonzaga 95, Carroll College 51: At Spokane, Elias Harris had 13 points and nine rebounds, Ryan Spangler added 10 points and 11 rebounds, and the Bulldogs opened the season with an exhibition win over the Saints.

Idaho 96, Evergreen State 72: At Moscow, Wendell Faines had 19 points, six rebounds and five blocks, Kyle Barone added 13 points and 18 rebounds, and the Vandals opened the season with an exhibition win over the Geoducks.

Former Post Falls High star Connor Hill scored 13 points in 14 minutes, hitting 5 of 9 from the field, including 3 of 6 from 3-point range, for the Vandals. He also had two assists.