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Close, but still some work ahead

| December 8, 2018 12:00 AM

As some prep teams take breaks over the holidays, others will stay on the court, or wrestling mat to find the best challenges they can before entering league games starting in 2019.

Area wrestlers here will get a little bit of a test next weekend at the Tri-State Invitational on the campus of North Idaho College.

IF NOTHING else, Thursday’s wrestling dual between Post Falls and host Lake City was a good indication that the Trojans are well stocked to win another state 5A championship.

Fans knew that already.

But between all the matches, some that were close and others that might not have been, there was Lake City. Sure, the Timberwolves had some pins and a few decisions, and kept things closer than that 54-21 final score might have indicated.

Last year, when the schools faced off in Post Falls, the Trojans beat the Timberwolves 72-9.

That wasn’t the case on Thursday.

“(Post Falls High’s) Lane’s (Reardon) match ended 7-4, but he had to fight for each position,” Post Falls coach Pete Reardon said. “Mathias (De La Rosa), that kid he faced (Lake City’s Porter Howard), he wrestled hard.”

Both Howard and Caden Hess earned wins that caught coach Reardon’s attention.

“Hess is a tough kid and has fought Braxton (Mason of Post Falls) hard in the past,” Reardon said. “They’ve had some battles where one gets the other. That’s what makes it fun as a coach — to have tough kids battling and fighting for everything they get.”

Throw Coeur d’Alene and Lakeland, teams that opened the season on Friday at the Inland Empire Classic at Central Valley, and you could see well see a lot more battles this season.

Whether that be next weekend at Tri-State, or in a little over a month in the North Idaho Rumble, they’ll see each other plenty as they fight toward the state tournament at Holt Arena in Pocatello.

BETWEEN THE Mariners dealing away most of their All-Stars this week — Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz are now New York Mets — the city of Seattle’s biggest free-agent addition had nothing to do with baseball.

In case you missed it, Seattle was awarded an NHL franchise to begin play in 2021 at a newly renovated KeyArena.

It’s a step in the right direction, but it’s still not the SuperSonics.

If you needed an indication of just how much the fans of that city miss the NBA, just rewatch the video of a preseason game between Sacramento and Golden State on Oct. 5 in Seattle.

A handful of NHL legends, current players and coaches were also excited at the possibility of having another franchise out west.

No, they might not have the success of Vegas, which advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals in its inaugural season, but who cares?

There’s another reason to get excited for some professional sports in the northwest.

Now if something can be done about that NBA team ...

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