The Front Row with JASON ELLIOTT Sept. 25, 2011
Members of Trevor Prangley's American Kickboxing Academy went out last Saturday night to bring a positive light to the sport of mixed martial arts in the Coeur d'Alene area.
A week later, the first "North Idaho Fight Night" seems like mission accomplished.
PRANGLEY estimates nearly 1,000 people attended the event, held at Christianson Gymnasium last Saturday in Coeur d'Alene.
"We'd really hoped to have a full house," said Prangley, who printed 1,400 tickets for the event. "We did good for a show in town. It was a pretty good night overall and we're looking forward to doing it again next year."
Prangley added that the gym could have held more than 1,400 fans, but organizers wanted to keep problems with the crowd a non-factor.
"We didn't want to have an overcrowd and any problems," Prangley said. "It wasn't that bad at all. Nobody has brought any problems to our attention yet."
In the amateur fights, AKA fighters went 0-2 with Thomas Thompson submitted by way of a guillotine choke by Chris Florea and Dwight Emerson lost by decision to Priest River High alum Wayde Rabidue in their three-round bout.
The academy's professional fighters went 5-0, headlined by Prangley's knockout win over Tony King in the first round.
COEUR d'ALENE resident Josh Queen beat Kyle Keeney by an arm bar submission and Arley George beat Austin Peaker after doctors stopped the fight in the second round.
"I was really surprised with Josh Queen's fight," said Prangley, who also was his trainer for the fight. "He was really exhausted, but pulled it off in the last moments. He showed a bunch of heart to battle back. It was really good to see."
George improved to 12-1 in his fighting career. Jordan Cook, a 19-year old from Coeur d'Alene, was supposed to make his final amateur fight, but had his opponent back out at the final moments, according to Kevin Martin, who worked with Prangley on promoting the fights.
Will Noland, who installed drywall before training to become a fighter, beat Chris Ensley by a rear naked choke to improve his record to 4-2.
“Everyone had tough fights,” Prangley said. “We wanted to get all the fights equally matched and put on a good show for everyone.
As for his main event match against King, Prangley added he was a little surprised with the quick finish.
“The guy was coming off a three-round war,” Prangley said. “I caught him in the first 36 seconds with a high knee, grabbed his head, caught him and put him out.”
And while the main event may have gone a bit shorter than expected, Prangley was pleased overall with the night.
“The crowd may have wanted it to go a little longer,” Prangley said. “But everyone likes a knockout. At this point, I’ll take what I can get.”
Prangley added that there will be another fight night in the near future.
“Probably next year,” Prangley said. “It won’t be this year — but we’re hoping for a couple next year.”
Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at [email protected]