Another title for Lovett, a taste of the big time for Romero

For all the accolades that the Post Falls High wrestling team has achieved already this year — and more could be on the way soon — both junior Ridge Lovett and freshman Roddy Romero added another feather in the cap of the program last weekend, taking on the best of the best in the USA Wrestling Folkstyle national tournament March 29-30 at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

A national championship by Lovett, and a runner-up finish by Romero later, it’s been a great year to be a Trojan.

LOVETT BEAT Jackson Currier of Colstrip, Mont., 1-0 in the championship match in the Junior Division at 132 pounds. It was a step up in weight classes for Lovett, who won the state 5A title at 126 this year.

“It was a good feeling,” Lovett said. “The kids were a little bigger than what I’ve been facing, but it felt good to be wresting well and scoring points.”

It wasn’t the first time the two had wrestled each other either.

“I’d wrestled him when I was little at Western Regionals in my fourth- or fifth-grade year,” said Lovett, who won that match as well. “Finally, I started catching up to him. It was mixed emotions for me because we’re friends and we’ve been to big tournaments together. It felt good to win, but would have felt better if it was a kid from somewhere else and not from out West.”

The win is Lovett’s 11th USA Wrestling national title since 2010, but first at the Junior level. He’s now won two national titles in folkstyle, four in freestyle and five in Greco-Roman.

Romero lost to Maxximus Martinez of California in the Cadet 94-pound finals by a 6-0 decision. It was Martinez’s second straight title.

“It was probably the biggest tournament I’ve ever been to,” Romero said. “It was a huge arena, with a lot of mats.”

Romero compared the competition to that of the Rollie Lane Invitational at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa. Romero finished fifth at Rollie Lane, then went on to win the state 5A title at 98 pounds.

“Wrestling in Idaho is really tough,” Romero said. “As the high school season went on, I definitely got a lot of confidence as the season went on.”

Folkstyle is the style used in high school wrestling.

Both Lovett and Romero are finalists for 5A-4A Wrestler of the Year at next Saturday’s North Idaho Sports Awards Banquet at the Best Western Plus Coeur d’Alene Inn.

GETTING TO the finals was a task in itself, Lovett added.

“I was a little nervous at first when I saw the draw,” Lovett said. “But then they changed it. I still ended up wrestling all the tough guys anyway, so it really didn’t matter in the end.”

Having Post Falls teammates Isaac Jessen and Braydon Huber competing also helped keep him on track. Huber, a senior, went 2-2 in the Junior 152-pound class and Jessen, a freshman, went 1-2 in the 120-pound Cadet class.

“It just felt normal,” Lovett said. “Just having them around and messing around with them kept things loose.”

The event also was an eye-opener for Romero.

“I just need to go back to the basics,” Romero said. “I was really nervous, but it helped a bit having those guys there.”

While he’s still got another year of high school, Lovett is also beginning the process of settling on a college following graduation.

“I’ve been talking to (Post Falls coach Pete) Reardon, (former Boise State assistant wrestling coach) Chris Owen and my dad (Lonnie) about that,” said Lovett, who is undefeated in his high school career. “I’m in pretty good contact with the coaches that are interested in me and just talking with my dad about those decisions.”

WITH THE recent success, Reardon hopes it can show other wrestlers — no matter where they’re from — they can compete as well.

“It’s great for us as a program, and a great measuring stick,” Reardon said. “It sort of opens the gate for other kids to think that’s a possibility. It was Roddy’s first time, and Ridge has gone a few times before. But to have those kids compete at that level, you can have that conversation with everyone else and kind of say, ‘Why not you?’”

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 jelliott@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter @JECdAPress.