YOUTH WRESTLING: America's Cup tournament coming to Post Falls High
They’ve had their run of the rest of the state in the 5A wrestling tournament in the past two years.
Now, members of the Post Falls High wrestling team will take sights on the rest of the nation this weekend as they host the America’s Cup duals tournament starting on Saturday at The Arena.
Sponsored by IDAWAY (Idaho Amateur Wrestling Association for Youth) and NUWAY (National United Wrestling Association for Youth), the duals tournament begins on Saturday at 8 a.m. with matches in the high school division. A middle school division will have matches between 2 and 6 p.m. on both days.
Championship matches will be held on Sunday at noon in the high school division and 4 p.m. in the middle school division.
“The last four or five years, it’s been in California,” Post Falls High wrestling coach Pete Reardon said. “It’s an invitational tournament with teams coming from all over the country.”
Teams from Michigan, Wyoming, Oregon, Washington and Montana will join a group of three all-star teams from Idaho. Teams from Idaho will have a mix of wrestlers from the Post Falls, Coeur d’Alene, Lakeland High and Sandpoint rosters.
Among the Post Falls wrestlers competing will be Ridge Lovett, Jordan Grimm, Matt McLeod, Braydon Huber, TJ Wolf and Alius De La Rosa. Of that group, De La Rosa, Wolf, McLeod and Lovett won state titles this year, with Grimm and Huber finishing second. Rosters are still being finalized for other Idaho teams.
“Organizers thought this would be a good area with the (Coeur d’Alene) Resort, the lake and it was going to be a great event,” said Reardon, who will coach the Idaho (North) team. “They initially looked at this area and thought it would be a good fit.”
Buchanan High of Clovis, Calif., — the top-ranked team in California and fifth in the nation according to FloWrestling rankings — will make up the California team.
“It’s going to be great to bring in great teams from around the country,” Reardon said. “They want to have it here for a few years and make it a premier event in this area. It’s going to be great to have some great wrestling. The IDAWAY guys are looking to build this into a high powered tournament. It’s a great thing for us and I was thrilled when they talked about coming up here. We’ve had some kids that went to California, but with that, there was some cost involved. When our kids found out, they were a little bummed because they looked forward to that trip and didn’t get to go to California.”
There is no cost associated with attending the event.
“The middle school tournament will be in a beginning state because it’s a newer concept to bring that lower level of kids together,” Reardon said. “Only in the last couple of years have groups been forming teams and competing in tournaments like this. It’s giving them a chance to be a part of a team score. There’s not as many teams involved this year, but we’re hoping to bring it into something where they’ll be involved in the future.”