TRI-STATE INVITATIONAL: Post Falls repeats

COEUR d’ALENE — You might not hear Post Falls High senior Alius De La Rosa bragging about his accomplishments. It’s not bragging if you’re backing it up.

And Saturday night, he did just that, beating Trysten Perales of Lake Stevens 5-2 in the 145-pound championship match of the 44th annual Tri-State Invitational on Saturday at North Idaho College.

De La Rosa also won a Tri-State title as a freshman.

“It’s a good feeling,” De La Rosa said. “I’m a little disappointed with my match and feel I could have wrestled a litte better than that. Doesn’t take away from that — winning a Tri-State title is a really big deal.”

He becomes the first two-time champion at Tri-State in program history, and the first Trojan wrestler to place at Tri-State in all four years. He was fifth as a sophomore and sixth as a junior.

“It’s a tremendous honor,” Post Falls coach Pete Reardon said “He’s a really humble kid. All of our kids are really great and humble and just work hard for each other.”

De La Rosa used near fall points to gain a 5-2 advantage in the third period of his match against Perales. De La Rosa beat Perales by a 13-5 major decision when the two faced off in the Sidney (Mont.) Duals on Dec. 4.

“I knew it was going to be a tough match,” De La Rosa said. “I just had to remain focused on what I do and wrestle my match.”

Already a 10-time national champion at the junior level, Post Falls’ Ridge Lovett didn’t show his freshman stripes in his first trip to the spotlight of the finals.

Not even a little bit.

Lovett beat Lakeland sophomore William Edelblute by a 7-0 decision to improve to 14-0 on the season.

“It was my first big high school tournament, so I was a little nervous coming into it,” said Lovett, who was seeded second in his weight class. “It’s pretty exciting to win and help my team get the win. I just came out and wrestled at my pace.”

Edelblute, the son of Lakeland coach Rob Edelblute, finished sixth last year at Tri-State.

“I was just a little too slow,” Will Edelblute said. “I needed fresher legs to keep up with him. He kind of caught me off guard, but give him credit, he’s a great wrestler.”

“In my first couple of matches, I just came out and wrestled hard,” Edelblute added. “That last match just wasn’t my style. He kept the pressure on me the entire time and did a really good job of that. He’s a great wrestler.”

“They’ve wrestled a lot during their careers,” Lakeland assistant coach Zach Horsley said. “Willy has always came up short, but is kind of closing the distance. This wasn’t the closest match, but maybe we’ll get him at some point.”

Post Falls won its second straight team title with 212.5 points, followed by Hermiston (Ore.) in second with 188.

“These guys, just to be gamers, is great to see,” Reardon said. “To go 4 for 4 in the semis, that’s what really springboarded everything. Jordan (Grimm, who was runner-up at 106), a kid that’s never been in a finals like this, is just amazing. Guys slamming the door, it was cool to see. Ridge is just so seasoned. He’s been through so many big matches, he’s a competitor and going to be at his best when the finals get there.”

“We lost a few bigwigs on our team (Drake Foster, who went to Wyoming and Seth McLeod, who moved onto Boise State), but I liked showing that we’re just as good now,” De La Rosa said. “We picked up Ridge, who is a super-talented technical wrestler. Picked up my little brother (Mathieas), who was scoring some points for us. Just had to remain humble and just remain focused on what was next. Knew I just needed to wrestle my best.”

Sandpoint junior Casey Randles was so much in the zone, that while all the other finalists were warming up on the center mat, nobody wanted anything to do with him.

After winning by major decision over University’s Levi Meinzinger, it was just business as usual.

“Winning state was cool, but I’ve been looking forward to winning this since elementary school,” Randles said. “I didn’t worry about winning or losing in each match. Just came out and tried my best in each match and took care of what I can control.”

“Since the third round, he was firing on all cylinders,” Sandpoint coach and Casey’s dad Mike Randles said. “He’s been really consistent and it’s fun right now because he’s been really mentally prepared. When he’s in that zone and attacking, attacking the legs, then keep the guy away and attack again, it’s really fun to watch. It’s huge for him to get this win, but more than anything, just happy to see he adjusted well to the environment.”

Ethan Rotondo of Union pinned Grimm in the 106 final, Grimm’s first appearance in the championship match.

“Been working hard in the room,” Grimm said. “I never thought I’d have a chance to be in the finals at Tri-State. My neutral positioning was nice all weekend and I’ve been working hard on it all year with my coaches. Coach Reardon has been such a good coach. Our coaches, ever since our club seasons, they’ve been bringing us up really well and we’ve had such a good program.”

Jake Douglas of Lake Stevens held off Post Falls senior Tyler Wolf, who was seeking a second straight title, for a 3-2 decision in the 138 final.

“Main goal was to go out and push the pace as much as I can,” Wolf said. “Wanted to see if I could push and see if I can make him earn all the points he could get. Thought I did that, and there were some things I could have worked on and competed better at, but I feel like I wrestled as tough as I could. I knew it was going to be a tough battle. All I could do was give it the best effort I could.”

“Coming here, being two-time Tri-State champs, it’s something amazing for our program,” Wolf said. “Just the team we have, working our butts off, I think we deserve it. We’re family and we’re all part of it and it’s a great feeling.”

Lakeland sophomore Larry Johnson fought his way back for third at 126, with Antonio Brown placing seventh at 220 for Lakeland, which finished 11th.

“Larry wrestled awesome in what could have been the toughest bracket in the tournament,” Horsley said. “That bracket was tough. Beat a few state champs to get there. We wrestled well as a group. We’ve got some room for improvement and some get intimidated by this tournament, and I think we were prepared for it.”

Seniors Dylan Lockwood (138) and Vince Rey (170) finished sixth for Coeur d’Alene, which was 19th with 86 points.

East Valley’s Trey Meyer was named the tournament’s most outstanding wrestler, beating Michael Soler of Lake Stevens 3-1 in the 170-pound championship.

Samuel Colbray of Hermiston won his fourth Tri-State title, beating Trevor Eicher of Deer Park 3-2 at 220. Colbray is only the second wrestler in the history of the tournament to win all four years.

TEAM SCORES — 1, Post Falls 212.5. 2, Hermiston 188. 3, Lake Stevens 162. 4, Central Valley 160. 5, Orting 155. 6, Havre 150.5. 7, Moses Lake 141.5. 8, Colville 138. 9, Sentinel 134. 10, University 118.5. 11, Lakeland 118. 12, Tahoma 111. 13, Mead 107. 14, Bethel 106. 15, Edmonds-Woodway 99.5. 16, Mt. Spokane 96.5. 17, East Valley 91.5. 18, Kuna 91. 19, Coeur d’Alene 86. 20, North Central 77. 21, Kelso 73. 22, Sandpoint 70.5. 23, Lakeside 63. 24, Freeman 62.5. 25, Deer Park 60.5. 26, Kentridge 50. 27, Snohomish 49.5. 28, Polson 49. 29 (tie), Graham-Kapowsin, Shadle Park 46. 31, Tonasket 44. 32, Vashon Island 43. 33, Royal 38. 34, Lewiston 37. 35, Union 36. 36, Reardan 32. 37 (tie), Kellogg, Libby 27. 39, Darrington 26. 40, Lake City 25. 41, Richland 24. 42, Ferris 23. 43, La Grande 21. 44, Kent-Meridian, Potlatch 18. 46, Priest River 17. 47 (tie), Liberty Bell, Mission, Moscow, Quincy 13. 51, Timberlake 11. 52, St. Maries 9.5. 53, Meadowdale 9. 54, Inglemoor 8. 55, Bonners Ferry 7. 56 (tie), Frenchtown, Liberty Spangle 4. 58, Northwest Christian 2. 59 (tie), Chiawana, Juanita, Mary Walker, Omak, Othello, Riverside, Selkirk, Wapato, Washington 0.

CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHES

98 — Ridge Lovett, Post Falls, d. William Edelblute, Lakeland, 7-0. 106 — Ethan Rotondo, Union, p. Jordan Grimm, Post Falls, 3:03. 113 — Alex Cruz, Orting, d. Derek Freitag, Kentridge, 6-4. 120 — Nick Hara, Moses Lake, d. TJ Baun, Colville, 13-9. 126 — Bryson Beard, Central Valley, d. Clai Quintallia, North Central, by injury default. 132 — Dalton Young, Lakeside, d. Cooper McCullough, Moses Lake, 3-0. 138 — Jake Douglas, Lake Stevens, d. Tyler Wolf, Post Falls, 3-2. 145 — Alius De La Rosa, Post Falls, d. Trysten Perales, Lake Stevens, 5-2. 152 — Dante Springsteen, Bethel, d. Braden Gamble, Havre, 3-2. 160 — Mason McDaniel, Edmonds-Woodway, d. Malachi Lawrence, Lake Stevens, 4-3. 170 — Trey Meyer, East Valley, d. Michael Soler, Lake Stevens, 3-1. 182 — Casey Randles, Sandpoint, md. Levi Meinzinger, University, 10-2. 195 — Levi Perry, Kuna, md. Sebastian Hyta, Freeman, 13-4. 220 — Samuel Colbray, Hermiston, d. Trevor Eicher, Deer Park, 3-2. 285 — Hunter Mullins, Orting, p. Nick Workman, Richland, 3:05.

THIRD-FOURTH PLACE

98 — Chase Tebbets, Mead, d. Jacob Bennett, Lake Stevens, 4-0. 106 — Blake Haney, Mt. Spokane, d. Trevor Morrison, Colville, 2-1. 113 — Bryce Miller, Kelso, d. Liam Tarvin, Hermiston, 1-0. 120 — Jake Howerton, Mt. Spokane, d. Bridger Wenzel, Polson, 6-2. 126 — Larry Johnson, Lakeland, d. Nick Whitehead, Tahoma, 5-2. 132 — Jason Burchell, Post Falls, d. Justin Sipilla, Tahoma, 4-1. 138 — Dylan Duffalo, Sentinel, d. Ryden Fu, Tahoma, 5-4. 145 — Breadon Orrino, Central Valley, d. CJ Hendon, Hermiston, 9-3. 152 — Dusty Jones, Kuna, d. Bryce Hoisington, Vashon Island, by injury default. 160 — Phillip Springsteen, Bethel, d. Zach Stratton, Central Valley, 9-2. 170 — Bryar Newbary, Sentinel, p. Logan Nelson, Vashon Island, 1:40. 182 — Bob Coleman, Hermiston, d. Jase Stokes, Havre, 3-2. 195 — John-Henry Line, Hermiston, d. Tyler Schaub, Havre, 7-0. 220 — Mason McKenzie, Darrington, d. Erik Jacobson, Orting, 6-1. 285 — Avyion Fisher, Bethel, p. Wyatt Gardner, Snohomish, 2:20.

FIFTH-SIXTH PLACE

98 — Buddy Doolin, Libby, p. Noah Cortez, Graham-Kapowsin, 1:57. 106 — Ryan Stewart, Havre, d. Mitchell Martinez, Edmonds-Woodway, by injury default. 113 — Trent Baun, Colville, d. Everett Pierce, Deer Park, 3-2. 120 — Martin Wilkie, Havre, d. Steven Kindya, North Central, 8-1. 126 — Alec Hoover, Mt. Spokane, d. Braydon Huber, Post Falls, 5-1. 132 — Cam Sorensen, University, d. Trevor Peterson, Tonasket, 4-0. 138 — Bridger Beard, Central Valley, d. Dylan Lockwood, Coeur d’Alene, 1-0. 145 — Riley Seward, Edmonds-Woodway, d. Bryden Uyehara, Shadle Park, 2-1. 152 — Chandler Paulson, Sentinel, d. Cristian Hunter, Mead, 2-0. 160 — Chance Stack, Sentinel, d. Ryley Smith, Colville, 11-9. 170 — Hudson Mauseth, Moses Lake, d. Vince Rey, Coeur d’Alene, 7-3. 182 — Josey Anderson, Reardan, p. Dylan Morris, Moses Lake, 1:14. 195 — Tele Seemann, Colville, p. Spencer Schultz, Edmonds-Woodway, 3:52. 220 — Tim Jarrad, Lakeside, p. Evan Barger, Orting, 2:30. 285 — Ethan Goss-Dickey, Mission, d. Kenny Marll, Orting, 11-9.

SEVENTH-EIGHTH

98 — Chandler Axtell, Lakeland, p. Markus Johnson, Lake Stevens, 2:44. 106 — Kreede Peterson, Kuna, tf. Tim Westbrook, University, 15-0. 113 — Ryan McGhee, Kelso, d. Mathias De La Rosa, Post Falls, 4-2. 120 — Bryce Gardner, Central Valley, md. Sidat Kanyi, Edmonds-Woodway, 13-3. 126 — Andy Wagner, Hermiston, md. Mason Eaglin, Graham-Kapowsin, 9-1. 132 — Logan Pleninger, Havre, d. Lane Holland, Graham-Kapowsin, 6-1. 138 — Logan Sundheim, East Valley, d. Jace Kovalicky, Sentinel, 6-0. 145 — Cole Wallen, Potlatch, d. Ben Gore, Orting, 10-4. 152 — Wyatt Butler, Snohomish, d. Braden Gamble, University, 3-2. 160 — Joel Torres, Moses Lake, d. Isaiah Shores, Kentridge, 5-2. 170 — Brock McDonough, Hermiston, d. Darrin Miller, Royal, by forfeit. 182 — Jared Walker, Lakeland, p. Iche Ramirez, Quincy, 1:18. 195 — Keaton Flannigan, Mead, d. Dagen Kremer, Tahoma, by injury default. 220 — Antonio Brown, Lakeland, d. John Keiser, Central Valley, by injury default. 285 — Travis Adams, Havre, p. Justin Chase, Lewiston, :52.