Trojans back on top

COEUR d’ALENE — Talk about redemption.

They’ll be talking about the Trojans after Saturday night at the prestigious Tri-State Invitational at North Idaho College.

One year after coming up 1.5 points short to Havre, Mont., for a third-straight team title, Post Falls rolled to a title this year, finishing with 220 points — winning by 46.5 points — behind three individual champions.

“Our team is like a family,” Post Falls coach Pete Reardon said. “They’re like a big amoeba and they all group together. They really love to be around each other and take care of each other. There’s 8 to 10 coaches that are behind this group of kids from club all the way up to high school. It’s a great group and I’m proud of these guys. Everyone’s going to go to Denny’s together and just talk. It feels so good for everyone to win together. It’s awesome.”

Flathead of Kalispell was second with 173.5 points.

After missing most of last season, senior Coleton Kazmierczak wasn’t going to let his opportunity go past, winning the 170-pound title with a 9-5 decision over Pullman’s Kiran Srikanth.

“I knew coming into the weekend I wasn’t going to be seeded,” said Kazmierczak, who was listed 15th in his bracket. “I knew they’d overlooked me. After beating the No. 2 seed on Friday, I just carried it through. It’s a good feeling to close on a good note. I’ve been working really hard to get better each and every day.”

“I’m just so happy for him and his success right now,” Reardon said. “He had a season-ending knee injury in the first tournament last year. It’s been frustrating for him, but he’s been putting it all together this year. He’s making the most of his opportunities and wrestling so hot this year.”

Kazmierczak was joined as a Tri-State champion by teammates Ridge Lovett at 126 and Braydon Huber at 152. It’s the third straight for Lovett, a junior whose high school record moves to 90-0, and first for Huber after finishing fourth last year.

“I’ve just been taking it one match at a time,” Lovett said. “I’ve just been focusing one tournament at a time and it paid off.”

Lovett beat Clayton Gilliam of North Central by a 12-2 major decision.

“Ridge just went out and does what he does,” Reardon said. “He just scores points. At times, sometimes it’s frustrating for him because they try to slow him down and he was able to get some bonus points.”

Huber, a senior, beat Nate Moore of White River 5-1. Huber lost to Moore in last year’s semifinals.

“He beat me here last year,” Huber said. “I had a lot of momentum going for me and was just waiting for him to take a bad shot, and was able to take him down in the first period and carried it throughout the match.”

“It was a great payback for Braydon,” Reardon said. “He’d never won here, or a state title. So it’s a great weight lifted off his shoulder.”

Jordan Grimm was fourth at 120 pounds, Roddy Romero seventh at 98, Braxton Mason sixth at 98 and Jason Burchell seventh at 145 to round out placers for Post Falls.

Lakeland senior William Edelblute joined his father, Pat, as well as Brandon Richardson — now an assistant coach at North Idaho College — as Tri-State champions with a 4-3 win over Chase Tebbets of Mead at 120.

“I was really surprised,” Edelblute said. “Last year, I lost to him and didn’t wrestle a great match. As a senior, I just went out with nothing to lose and got a takedown early.”

“He worked hard and had a gameplan going into it,” said Lakeland coach Rob Edelblute, William’s uncle. “It was just great to see. He’s been working so hard for it.”

Larry Johnson, who’d finished runner-up as a freshman and junior as well as third as a sophomore, pinned Riley Cisne of Chiawana for his first Tri-State title at 145 pounds.

“Watching Willy and being in the same position really pumped me up,” Johnson said. “After losing in the finals two of my three years, I wanted to prove I was the most dominant wrestler here. I was super calm and pushed the pace. I’m really happy with how it ended.”

“There was a couple of opportunities that he missed in the past couple of seasons,” Rob Edelblute said. “He had an attitude that nobody was going to take it from him.”

Lakeland finished fifth with 147.5 points. Sam Edelblute was fifth at 113, Alex Edelblute finishing sixth at 106, Chandler Axtell eighth at 106 and Logan Kelley eighth at 160.

“I was really happy with the kids’ performance this weekend,” Rob Edelblute said. “We were right up there all weekend. This early in the year, how hard they’re working, it’s really good to see this early in the year.”

Brayden Herbert of Timberlake was fifth at 98 pounds and Isaiah Evans was sixth at 120.

Payton Keough of Coeur d’Alene was eighth at 132 pounds.

Alex Cruz of Orting, who beat Martin Wilkie of Havre in the 138-pound championship match, was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler.

TEAM SCORES — 1, Post Falls 220. 2, Flathead 173.5. 3, Moses Lake 156. 4, Havre 151. 5, Lakeland 147.5. 6, Mead 147. 7, White River 145. 8, University 130.5. 9, Camas 123. 10, Mt. Spokane 119. 11, Frenchtown 113. 12, Kelso 108.5. 13, Central Valley 108. 14 (tie), Chiawana, Lake Stevens 106. 16, Orting 96. 17 (tie), Polson, Tahoma 89. 19, Othello 84. 20, East Valley 82. 21, Hermiston 78. 22, Bethel 74. 23, Deer Park 70.5. 24, La Grande 67. 25, Sentinel 65. 26, North Central 60. 27, Auburn Riverside 55.5 28, Colville 53. 29 (tie), Pullman, Tonasket 51.5. 31, Kamiakin 51. 32, Graham-Kapowsin 50. 33, Freeman 49. 34, Capital 48. 35, Coeur d’Alene 46. 36 (tie), Castle Rock, Lewiston 45. 38, Timberlake 44. 39, Jenkins 42. 40, Reardan 38. 41, Ferris 37. 42, Moscow 36. 43, Potlatch 32. 44 (tie), Kentridge, Lakeside 29. 46, Battle Ground 24.5. 47, Nathan Hale 23.5. 48, Riverside 23. 49 (tie), Oregon City, Shadle Park, Vashon Island 22. 52, Libby 20. 53, Medical Lake 19. 54 (tie), Darrington, Lake City 18. 56 (tie), Juanita, Northwest Christian 15.5. 58 (tie), Bonners Ferry, Priest River 15. 60, Newport 13. 61, Auburn 11. 62 (tie), Gonzaga Prep, Kellogg 10. 64 (tie), Meadowdale, Okanogan 8. 66, Royal 7. 68, Liberty Bell 6. 68 (tie), Kennewick, Liberty 0.

CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHES

98 — Donnie Krissak, Bethel, p. Eli Warner, Frenchtown, 3:14. 106 — Jacob Bennett, Lake Stevens, p. Maximus Zamora, Moses Lake, 1:59. 113 — Chase Randall, Mead, d. Yusef Nelson, Auburn Riverside, 9-3. 120 — William Edelblute, Lakeland, d. Chase Tebbets, Mead, 4-3. 126 — Ridge Lovett, Post Falls, md. Clayton Gilliam, North Central, 12-2. 132 — Riley Gurr, Frenchtown, p. Tanner Craig, Camas, :50. 138 — Alexander Cruz, Orting, d. Martin Wilkie, Havre, 10-6. 145 — Larry Johnson, Lakeland, p. Riley Cisne, Chiawana, :51. 152 — Braydon Huber, Post Falls, d. Nate Moore, White River, 5-1. 160 — Hunter Cruz, Moses Lake, p. Tyson Stover, Chiawana, 1:21. 170 — Coleton Kazmierczak, Post Falls, d. Kiran Srikanth, Pullman, 9-5. 182 — Tucker Nadeau, Flathead, d. Masin Sabin, White River, 8-3. 195 — Hunter Gregorson, University, p. Joey Gutierrrez, Hermiston, 2:59. 220 — Kione Gill, Tahoma, p. Payton Castro, Moses Lake, 1:57. 285 — Josh Alvarez, Chiawana, d. Wyatt Whickham, Central Valley, 3-1.

THIRD-FOURTH PLACE

98 — Brendan Barnes, Flathead, p. Mick Chagnon, Havre, 2:36. 106 — Noah Cortez, Graham-Kapowsin, d. Walker Dyer, Frenchtown, 7-2. 113 — Jake Bibler, Frenchtown, d. Mateo Quinones, Polson, 6-0. 120 — Hunter Nees, Freeman, p. Jordan Grimm, Post Falls, 3:48. 126 — Terrell Sanders, University, d. Blake Haney, Mt. Spokane, 4-3. 132 — Ky Haney, Mt. Spokane, d. Bridger Wenzel, Polson, 3-2. 138 — Dominic Damon, Nathan Hale, d. Rylan Thompson, Camas, 8-2. 145 — Bradley Wiggs, Central Valley, d. Weston Lyver, White River, 5-0. 152 — John Shores, Kentridge, p. Brent Hodgson, Deer Park, 4-2. 160 — Gideon Malychewski, Camas, d. Gunner Starren, Tahoma, 7-5. 170 — Jack Ervien, White River, p. Kaden Krouse, Jenkins, 2:21. 182 — Ryan Redford, White River, d. Winston Scott, East Valley, 5-2. 195 — Samuel Malychewski, Camas, p. Nathan Halladay, Castle Rock, :47. 220 — John Keiser, Central Valley, d. Luke Eskelsen, Kamiakin, 5-3. 285 — Alex Paul, Flathead, d. Dietrik Mueller, Pullman, 3-1.

FIFTH-SIXTH PLACE

98 — Brayden Herbert, Timberlake, p. Braxton Mason, Post Falls, 2:13. 106 — Chris Melo, Othello, d. Alex Edelblute, Lakeland, 6-1. 113 — Sam Edelblute, Lakeland, md. Cameron Pleninger, Havre, 12-0. 120 — Ryan Stewart, Havre, d. Isaiah Evans, Timberlake, 3-0. 126 — Trent Baun, Colville, d. Bryce Miller, Kelso, by injury default. 132 — Lane Young, Lakeside, d. Kyler Anstrom, University, 3-0. 138 — Cade Krishnek, Capital, d. Jake Howerton, Mt. Spokane, by injury default. 145 — Tanner Russell, Flathead, md. Aidan Villareal, Hermiston, 12-4. 152 — Parker Adler, Polson, d. Wayne Baker, Castle Rock, 4-0. 160 — Cameron Crawford, Mead, d. Josh Johnson, North Central, 6-5. 170 — Payton Hume, Flathead, d. Zack Stratton, Central Valley, by injury default. 182 — Elijah Livingston, La Grande, d. Brandon Iris, Freeman, 5-0. 195 — Layton Paul, Potlatch, d. Tyler Schaub, Havre, by injury default. 220 — Caleb Thomas, University, d. Adam Wallace, Moscow, 5-1. 285 — Michael Lee, Flathead, p. Isaiah Perez, Othello, :42.

SEVENTH-EIGHTH PLACE

98 — Roddy Romero, Post Falls, p. Isaiah Bodhaine, Orting, 1:29. 106 — Buddy Doolin, Libby, d. Chandler Axtell. Lakeland, 7-1. 113 — Ben Hunnicut, Kelso, d. Bryce Shaffer, Flathead, 3-0. 120 — Tim Westbrook, University, d. Kyle LaCoursiere, Lake Stevens, 4-0. 126 — Gabe Hawthrone, White River, d. Jack Latimer, Camas, 3-0. 132 — Reece Eckley, Sentinel, p. Payton Keough, Coeur d’Alene, 1:47. 138 — Cameron Brown, Polson, d. Christian Freund, Kelso, 4-2. 145 — Jason Burchell, Post Falls, p. Kadin Shaw, North Central, 2:41. 152 — Parker Robinson, La Grande, d. Brayden Liebe, Kelso, 6-0. 160 — Mason Dionne, Havre, p. Logan Kelley, Lakeland, 3:54. 170 — Nathan Reed, La Grande, p. Jared Boharski, Mead, 2:22. 182 — John Knight, Colville, d. Tayven King, Mt. Spokane, 6-0. 195 — AJ Hoggatt, Kelso, d. Mason Miethe, Mt. Spokane, 6-3. 220 — Chris Sparks, Graham-Kapowsin, d. Malachi Areta, Ferris, 7-3. 285 — Lane Marshall, Oregon City, p. Neftali Lopez, University, 2:36.