Making the most of some bad breaks

You can’t control when injuries, illnesses or other things might come up that derail a team’s march toward a goal.

Friday night was of those nights for the North Idaho College wrestling team.

IN THE midst of a quick road trip that included duals at Highline Community Colllege in Des Moines, Wash., as well as the Mike Clock Open in Forest Grove, Ore., the Cardinals also ventured north of the border to take on Simon Fraser in Burnaby, British Columbia.

Well, some of them did.

NIC competed without one starting freshman, who didn’t have a current passport and was unable to travel to Canada.

“We had to leave a few others behind as well,” NIC coach Pat Whitcomb said. “They didn’t have their original birth certificates with them, so we had to leave them at the hotel.”

In case you missed it, NIC lost 27-19 after having to forfeit at two different weights.

“It was a good match for us really,” Whitcomb said. “You’d like to never lose, but the guys that we had with us battled hard.”

No passports will be necessary this weekend as the Cardinals open their home schedule with a dual against Clackamas on Friday, followed by duals vs. Highline and Umpqua on Saturday.

NIC is tied for second in the first NJCAA poll, released Nov. 6, with Clackamas checking in at 10th. Highline received 10 votes, but was unranked in the season’s initial poll.

WHETHER IT was last Thursday, or at some point during practice, it appeared that Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman knew he was going to tear his Achilles tendon at some point this year.

Unfortunately for him, it happened.

What happens next, well that could be interesting.

Since Sherman became a regular starter on the team in 2011, he’s been one of the better players in the Seahawks defense, sometimes eliminating that side of the field with quarterbacks choosing not to throw his way.

That’s going to change soon.

No matter who lines up as the left side cornerback when the Seahawks play again, they’ll get tested.

Seattle will attempt to fill Sherman’s shoes with Byron Maxwell, the guy that became a starter when the team went on its Super Bowl run in 2013.

Whether or not he’s the best option, well that’s up for debate.

Maxwell didn’t exactly pan out that well in Philadelphia after signing as a free agent, getting traded to Miami after one year and released a few weeks ago.

For now, he’s likely the best option the Seahawks have due to his experience with the team in the past.

They haven’t changed too much since his time with the team.

Outside of that whole staying healthy thing.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at (208) 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JECdAPress.