TerHark Cup: Emotional win for Vikings
<p>Jason Sprague of Coeur d’Alene High school attempts to pin Lake City’s Jake Farnsworth Friday in their 152 pound match in the annual TerHark Cuo wrestling dual at Coeur d'Alene High.</p>
<p>Kolt Kinder, left, of Lake City and Tristin Dunn of Coeur d’Alene grapple during the first round of Friday’s 145 pound match.</p>
COEUR d'ALENE - Michael Moffat was a strong supporter of the Coeur d'Alene wrestling team.
The memory of the recently deceased father of Vikings coach Jeff Moffat lived on in the hearts and minds of Coeur d'Alene, after the Vikings' 51-15 win in the annual TerHark Cup dual against rival Lake City on Friday at Coeur d'Alene High.
It was the 12th straight TerHark Cup victory for the Vikings (8-4). The trophy is named after Ron TerHark, a former wrestling coach and teacher who founded the Coeur d'Alene High wrestling program in the 1960s.
Michael Moffat died Jan. 14 at the age of 66 of cancer. He was a member of the 1965-66 Spokane Community College baseball team which was later inducted into the school's hall of fame.
"There's a big void with my dad not being here," Jeff Moffat said. "He was a big Viking fan. All the kids really loved him. I wish he could've been here."
The match started at 120 pounds, with Coeur d'Alene's Hunter Northington pinning Lake City's Dylan Woodworth 32 seconds into the match.
The matchup was what the Timberwolves (7-9) actually wanted, but it did not work out. Coeur d'Alene opened the meet with seven straight victories, including pins by Tristin Dunn (145) and Colton Johnson (160), which gave the Vikings a 30-0 lead.
"We felt like we had a good matchup," Lake City coach Corey Owen said. "For them to get that pin (by Northington) was tough. Both matches had calls that didn't go our way. They (Coeur d'Alene) got momentum from there."
Coeur d'Alene sophomore Dylan Lockwood won one of the closest matches of the night, defeating Nate Lambert 8-6 at 126 pounds.
Lockwood took a 6-0 lead, but Lambert fought back despite hurting his left shoulder, with a two-point near fall and a two-point reversal to tie the score at 6.
Lockwood picked up a takedown in the match's final 30 seconds to win. He was battling a stomach flu suffered Thursday night.
"I knew I had to gut it out for my team," Lockwood said. "He shot in there, then right as he came up, I took a re-shot right at the edge of the mat."
Lockwood was among several wrestlers whose lives were touched by Michael Moffat.
"He was a big part of all the wrestlers' lives," Lockwood said. "He helped pay for camps. He was a great guy."
Lake City freshman Chase Latham (106) beat Mike Bingham in a hard-fought 14-11 victory. Latham pulled out a two-point reversal to take a 13-11 lead with 20 seconds left in his match.
Corey Cook (170) won 5-1 over Nic Fuchs, and Zion Dixon won the heavyweight match over Jake Lunceford, who filled in for Matt James.
"I thought I was going to lose at first," Latham said. "But I fought through it. I wanted to keep my head up and I took my shots (at Bingham's leg)."
"It was a winnable dual meet," Owen said. "We have 13 returners coming back next season. We have a chance to win (the TerHark Cup) next year."
Next Wednesday, Coeur d'Alene travels to Sandpoint, and Lake City hosts Timberlake.
120 - Hunter Northington, Cd'A, p. Dylan Woodworth, :32. 126 - Dylan Lockwood, Cd'A d. Nate Lambert, 8-6. 132 - Mario Peregrina, Cd'A, d. David Rushe, 8-2. 138 - Drew Gorringe, Cd'A d. Michael Carr, 6-3. 145 - Tristin Dunn, Cd'A, p. Kolt Kinder, 4:30. 152 - Jason Sprague, Cd'A, d. Jacob Farnsworth, 11-8. 160 - Colton Johnson, Cd'A, p. Cory Dan, 1:25. 170 - Corey Cook, LC, d. Nic Fuchs, 5-1. 182 - Hudson Staub, Cd'A, p. Justus Grammer, 3:08. 195 - Phoenix Duncan, Cd'A, p. Jake Ramey, 1:08. 220 - Dakota Graves, Cd'A, d. Austin Porter, 6-1. 285 - Zion Dixon, LC, d. Jake Lunceford, 3-2. 98 - Kaleb Maciosek, Cd'A, p. Hayden Chatwin, :45. 106 - Chase Latham, LC, d. Mike Bingham, 14-11. 113 - David Rodriguez, LC, p. Darrian Goltz, :54.