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De La Rosa, Ivie repeat at state high school wrestling tournaments

by Bradley Guire
| March 2, 2014 8:00 PM

NAMPA - After a grueling two days of takedowns, reversals, near falls, and pins, four area wrestlers reached the summit of their sport to claim state championships.

Alius De La Rosa of Post Falls, Matt James of Coeur d'Alene, Blake Ivie of Kellogg, and Preston Rhodes of Timberlake all took home the top medal in their respective divisions and weight classes at the 2014 Idaho High School Wrestling Championships, held Saturday at the Idaho Center in Nampa.

CLASS 5A

Of Post Falls' three returning state champions from last season, De La Rosa was this year's lone champion, earning his second title (he captured the 106-pound title in 2013). The sophomore defeated Borah's Devaughn Sapien in a 4-1 decision to claim the 120-pound title.

De La Rosa and Sapien finished the first round scoreless, but Sapien jumped to an early 1-0 lead in the second. De La Rosa turned the tide later in the period and maintained his momentum in the third, quickly tallying four unanswered points on escapes and a reversal.

"There were a lot of things I was working on that I struggled with before," De La Rosa said. "I had wrestled him a few times earlier this season, so I knew where he was good. It seemed to keep me in control through the match."

De La Rosa finished the season 43-6.

"Alius winning a title was a highlight," said Post Falls coach Pete Reardon. "Being a two-time state champion as a sophomore says a lot about how hard he works."

Four other Post Falls grapplers reached the championship finale but did not capture a state title. Junior Justin Farnsworth (43-11) fell to Coeur d'Alene rival James in the 285-pound title bout by a 10-3 decision.

Two-time state champion Drake Foster fell short of winning a third title, losing 4-3 in the 126-pound final to Centennial grappler Jaron Chavez. The junior finished his season with a 45-2 record.

Sophomore Tyler Wolf (42-9) and junior Seth McLeod (36-3) both fell to Centennial wrestlers as well. Wolf lost a 4-2 decision to Dakota Wall at 138 pounds, while McLeod's season ended with Jon Jay Chavez earning the 3-1 decision at 170 pounds.

Post Falls freshman Cierra Foster made state wrestling history by being the first female to medal as high as third. She pinned Vallivue's Pedro Villagomez in 4:26 in the 106-pound third-place match to finish the season with a 29-17 record.

Other medalists for Post Falls included a third-place finish for Casey Benton (jr., 32-16) at 113 pounds, and sixth-place finishes for David Booth (so., 30-15) at 120, Ryan Failor (sr., 28-20) at 195, and Elijah Bennett (jr., 22-21) at 220.

Post Falls, second the past two years, finished with 194.5 team points, enough for third place. Centennial repeated as 5A champs.

"We made a few mistakes here and there, and there are a few matches we'd like to have back," Reardon added, "but I'm proud of how hard our guys wrestled."

Vikings senior James overcame a knee injury that sidelined him for much of February, including the Region 1 championship tournament. Without the heavy brace, it was not apparent James was injured at all as he dominated the 285-pound championship match.

Farnsworth scored an early takedown, but James' first reversal and a three-point near fall put him at a 5-2 advantage by the end of the first round. He kept up the pressure in the second and third rounds to stay comfortably ahead of his region rival.

"Farnsworth is really good, really dangerous," James said. "I think this is the third time I've wrestled him."

James, headed to Washington on a football scholarship, completed his senior season with a 34-4 record.

Teammate Hudson Staub (sr., 37-2) reached the 182-pound title tilt but fell in a 7-3 decision to Meridian's John Hensley. Phoenix Duncan (sr., 34-11) also fell to a Meridian opponent, losing a 4-1 decision in the 195-pound championship bout.

"We got about as much mileage as we could out of today," said Coeur d'Alene coach Jeff Moffat. "All three guys in the finals wrestled really hard. They just came up a little bit short."

Other medalists for Coeur d'Alene included fifth-place finishes for Drew Gorringe (jr., 31-15) at 132 pounds, Damion Rawson (sr., 12-3) at 182, and Dakota Groves (sr., 29-15) at 220, and sixth-place finishes for Kaleb Maciosek (fr., 24-18) at 98, and Mike Bingham (fr., 20-21) at 106.

The Vikings earned 150 team points, enough for fifth place.

"I'm happy with the entire team. We knew we'd have to wrestle beyond our potential to get a trophy. We came up a little bit short, but it happens," Moffat said. "We placed eight guys. If you had told me that on the way down, I'd have been pretty happy."

Three wrestlers medaled for Lake City, including Zion Dixon (jr., 31-14), who took fourth at 285 pounds, Dylan Woodworth (jr., 25-17) sixth at 113, and Corey Cook (jr., 33-18) fifth at 170.

CLASS 4A

Two area wrestlers reached the championship final - Killian Estes of Lakeland and Josh Travers of Sandpoint - but both fell to their opponents to finish second.

Estes (jr., 43-7) lost a 9-0 major decision to Jerome's Zachary Argyle at 182 pounds. Two Lakeland teammates also medaled. Brandon Mailhot (sr., 42-10) took fourth at 160 pounds, while Austin Hoobler (sr., 30-20) placed sixth at 126.

Travers (sr., 40-6) was pinned at 1:57 by Canyon Ridge's first state champion in school history, Jordon Crist, in the 220-pound final. Three more Sandpoint grapplers earned medals: Casey Randles (sr., 42-10) third at 160 pounds, Jacob Williams (so., 22-13) fifth at 182, and Lewis Dunton (sr., 32-14) sixth at 145.

CLASS 3A

Ivie, the junior from Kellogg, picked up his second career state championship in a match that he said isn't his usual form. He won a high-scoring 14-7 bout against Marsh Valley's Braxton James in the 132-pound final.

Ivie (44-2) took an early lead, but James wouldn't go away, scampering away with an escape or reversal every time Ivie claimed a takedown for points. Each period was the same story, with Ivie leading 6-3 after the first round and 11-5 at the end of the second.

"I usually grind it out. I score a little bit, and I usually don't let the other guy score a lot," Ivie said. "He was good at scrambling. Didn't feel like I was at my best, but it was still a win."

Kellogg teammate Casey Jerome (sr., 28-6) also made the championship final at 138 pounds but fell in a 10-2 decision against Shelley's Takoda Bingham. Three more Kellogg grapplers medaled, including a pair of third places from Mike Hyndman (sr., 21-11) at 106 pounds and Davin Wadsworth (sr., 30-7) at 170. Tanner Figueroa (fr., 27-16) finished fourth at 113.

Timberlake's Rhodes, a senior, went into his 160-pound title match against Dustin Kistenmacher cold, having never faced the Weiser grappler or learning much about him. It didn't stop him from a near shutout.

Rhodes (31-8) cruised to a 7-1 decision for his first state championship, allowing his opponent a lone point late in the third period.

"I felt like I needed to keep from making mistakes, and if I did that I would come out on top," Rhodes said.

Tristan Obrian (sr., 16-4) of Timberlake took third at 126 pounds, and teammate Anthony Reimer (so., 18-21) finished sixth at 170.

Priest River featured three medalists in Dallas Hopkins (sr., 35-6), third at 145 pounds; Greg Fitzmorris (so., 20-9), fourth at 160; and Clayton Bowman (fr., 22-17), fifth at 152.

Bonners Ferry's Jonathan Gaspar (sr., 31-11) came in fourth at 285 pounds.

CLASS 2A

No District 1 wrestlers claimed a state championship, but St. Maries senior Aaron Kolar did make the 138-pound title match. Kolar (34-9) lost a 3-2 decision to McCall-Donnelly's Rainier Montes. A pair of teammates also medaled: Josh Richmond (jr., 36-11), third at 145; and Isaac Walters (jr., 27-12) finished sixth at 160 after forfeiting due to injury.