The Front Row with JASON ELLIOTT Jan. 12, 2013
The vacation is now over for the top-ranked North Idaho College Cardinals wrestling team.
Sort of.
THE CARDINALS will hit the road to face Region 18 schools Highline of Des Moines, Wash., Southwest Oregon of Coos Bay, Ore., and Clackamas (Ore.) next week in their first matches since early December.
"We're back now to two-a-days and starting to get after it again," NIC coach Pat Whitcomb said. "Everyone is healthy and eligible and we didn't lose anyone to grades or eligibility - so we're back at full strength."
V.J. Giulio (197 pounds) and Curtis Berger (285), who both transferred to NIC at the start of the fall semester, are now eligible to compete after sitting out the first 16 weeks of the season due to NJCAA rules concerning transfers from NCAA schools.
Giulio, a four-time state champion from American Falls, won his weight class at The HUB Open in November. He transferred from Wyoming, where he redshirted last year.
"He's a big strong kid," Whitcomb said of Giulio. "A lot of locals have seen him wrestle at the Kellogg tournament. He just gets on the offensive and scores some points."
Berger, who redshirted at North Dakota State, graduated from Hermiston (Ore.) - who won the Tri-State Invitational in December. Berger will compete with Bryan Smith for the starting spot at heavyweight.
"He's a real solid kid," Whitcomb said. "He's been to Tri-State, so some people will know who he is and can score some points for us at heavyweight. It will be a good match between Smith and him for that spot. This upcoming road trip and tournament will have a lot to do with it and they'll likely match up at some point in that tournament.
Whitcomb added the addition of Guilio and Berger should give his team more depth.
"Having both of those guys available gives us a real boost moving into the spring semester," Whitcomb said. "We'll get it started next weekend and see what we’ve got from there.”
NIC WAS supposed to get back to wrestling Saturday against the University of Great Falls in Missoula, but due to a scheduling conflict, it was canceled.
“They’re at the national duals (in Springfield, Ill.),” Whitcomb said of Great Falls. “Originally, we were supposed to have a college match before the finals at the Rocky Mountain Classic (high school tournament in Missoula), but they ended up moving up the duals a week.”
After this week, the team will compete in tournaments every weekend until Feb. 15-16, the weekend before the NJCAA tournament.
“Right now, they look good,” Whitcomb said. “We’ve been hitting it hard at two-a-days. We’re heading into the final sprint now and the final duals of the year.”
The home finale is Jan. 31 against Simon Fraser at 7:30 p.m.
Next week’s matches will be a good indication of what to expect.
“These freshman kids, this next week, it’s big for them,” Whitcomb said. “They’re not used to going this long (practices and workouts began on Aug. 27). They’re used to getting going and keep going in three months — where we’ll go for five. Right now, the breaks are over. It’s time to step on the gas and see what happens from there. Next week, with duals and the tournament, some guys will be getting 8 to 10 matches and we’ll see how they handle it.”
Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or by email at jelliott@cdapress.com.