STATE HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLING TOURNAMENTS: 19 might be enough
The bulk qualifier game has gotten a little closer between the top teams for this year's state 5A wrestling tournament.
What that means for the Post Falls Trojans, which qualified 19 this year -stay tuned.
"It's a numbers game," said Post Falls coach Pete Reardon, in his sixth season. "That's been the name of the game for the last couple of years. It's a big advantage to get that many, and certainly sets the stage for us to have a shot."
Wrestling begins today at 8:30 a.m. PST at Holt Arena in Pocatello. Semifinals will be Saturday at 8 a.m., with championship finals starting at 2:30 p.m.
Live scoring can be found on www.trackwrestling.com.
Post Falls finished third with 194.5 points, with Centennial running away with the championship for a second straight year with 320.5 points.
Alius De La Rosa, a two-time state champion, and is joined by runner-ups Tyler Wolf, Seth McLeod, Justin Farnsworth, Drake Foster and third-place finisher Casey Benton for the Trojans.
"Quality is something we've always had," Reardon said. "We've been blessed to have some talented kids. We bring back five state finalists, and nine placers. It's a good mix."
David Booth and Elijah Bennett return after finishing sixth last year for Post Falls.
"We're really hoping that our guys, whether our starters or backups, they're all battling," Reardon said. "If that's the case, good things are going to happen."
Bonneville, which moved up from the 4A classification after a third-place finish in last year's tournament, qualified 23.
"They're the other team that we're looking at as having a shot," said Reardon of Bonneville. "They're a really talented team with numbers. They're talented and no-joke. It's going to be interesting to see what happens."
In Post Falls and Bonneville's only tournament they both competed in, the Trojans won the Rollie Lane Invitational, with Bonneville finishing third.
"We handled them pretty well at that tournament," Reardon said. "But they had some kids dinged up that might have created some of that distance. Rollie Lane gives an advantage because of placing points. At state, it's everybody and all those kids have a chance to score points."
Coeur d'Alene, which finished third behind Lewiston in the 5A Region 1 tournament last Saturday in Rathdrum, qualified eight, with Kaleb Maciosek (sixth), Drew Gorringe (fifth) placing for the Vikings.
Lake City's Zion Dixon (285) won the regional title and Kieron Ove (98), Mike Kelley (106), Michael Carr (145) and Ron Schmidt (220) finished third to advance.
4A: Killian Estes returns after a runner-up finish in last year's state 4A tournament for Lakeland, which qualified 19 wrestlers.
William Edelblute (98 pounds), Tavis Woempner (106), Bryan Edelblute (113), Tyler Siegford (120), Justin Wright (126), Jorden Pennock (132), Chris Washburn (182), Estes (1895) and Connor Shepherd (220) won Region 1 championships last Saturday in Rathdrum.
Kuna won last year's state championship, with Lakeland finishing 12th.
3A: Noah Herbert (98), Garek Pennington (113), Dailyn Johnson (126), Tyler Badertscher (152) and Brock Herbert (160) won District 1 championships for Timberlake, which finished 14th last year.
Kellogg senior Blake Ivie will go for his third-straight state 3A title.
Fruitland won last year's championship.
2A: Senior Josh Richmond finished third and Isaac Walters was sixth for St. Maries at last year's tournament, helping the Lumberjacks finish 10th.
Malad won last year's tournament with 149 points, edging Firth by two points.