Post Falls beats Lakeland, wins fourth straight River City Duals
JASON ELLIOTT/Press Lakeland’s Larry Johnson takes down Post Falls wrestler Jason Burchell in the 145-pound match in the River City Duals championship dual on Saturday at The Arena. Post Falls won its fourth straight team title.
JASON ELLIOTT/Press Members of the Post Falls High wrestling team celebrate a pin during the championship dual of the 21st annual River City Duals on Saturday at The Arena.
JASON ELLIOTT/Press Lakeland’s Hayden Berger attempts to escape out of bounds during his bout with Post Falls wrestler Kaden Noesen at 195 pounds in the championship dual of the 21st annual River City Duals tournament at The Arena. Post Falls won its fourth-straight team title, beating Lakeland 54-21 on Saturday.
POST FALLS — If Saturday’s championship dual in the 21st annual River City Duals is any indication, there’s going to be a lot to celebrate on the prairie come late February.
For now, Post Falls is just a little bigger than its neighbors to the north at Lakeland.
The Trojans won the River City Duals for the fourth straight years, beating Lakeland 54-21 in the championship dual.
“It’s really tough,” Post Falls coach Pete Reardon said. “Lakeland’s a really tough team and had a great tournament. They beat White River in the semifinals, and they’re the No. 1 team in their division in Washington. They’re an awesome team, and Lakeland had to wrestle really tough to beat them. It says a lot about wrestling in North Idaho and I think that’s why we’ve got some tough kids is because these kids grew up wrestling against each other.”
Lakeland finished the weekend 5-1, beating White River of Auburn, Wash., in the semifinals.
“Hopefully it’s a good sign that we’ve got some good wrestlers up north,” Lakeland coach Rob Edelblute said. “We don’t get the recognition down south and it would be nice to see us both come back with the state (title) trophy this year, but the kids have to work and put some stuff together in the next month. With the size of our school, and competing as one of the smallest 4A schools in the state, it would be nice to bring something like that back to the little ol’ town of Rathdrum.”
Roddy Romero (98 pounds), Jordan Grimm (120), Ridge Lovett (126), A.J. De La Rosa (132), Wyatt Shelly (152), Tyler Morris (160) and Braydon Huber (170) went 5-0 over the tournament for Post Falls.
“I was really proud of our kids,” Reardon said. “They really stepped it up for the finals, especially Ridge (Lovett) who was wrestling a really tough kid in William Edelblute (of Lakeland), and he left no doubt. They’ve had some really close matches and he’s a tough kid. Tyler and Braydon really got us going. Even those kids that lost, they wrestled tough and didn’t give anything up. We didn’t give up any pins and it makes a difference when you’re giving up majors and decisions instead of pins. It feels good to win again, especially considering the teams that were here. We’ll enjoy it for a few days, give the kids a break, and then get ready and recharged and get ready for the next phase.”
Alex Edelblute (106), Sam Edelblute (113) and Larry Johnson (145) went unbeaten over the weekend for Lakeland.
“The kids wrestled hard this week,” Rob Edelblute said. “I’m a little disappointed in that final match because there was a lot of pins we gave up. They wrestled tough, and that’s what matters now.”
Coeur d’Alene advanced to the championship match of the Silver Bracket, falling 52-36 to Kamiakin. Timberlake lost to Emmett to finish sixth in the Silver Bracket.
GOLD BRACKET
Post Falls 59, East Valley 24
Toppenish 37, Bonneville 36
Lakeland 42, Pasco 35
White River 56, Freeman 18
Post Falls 63, Toppenish 24
Lakeland 43, White River 36
East Valley 52, Bonneville 24
Pasco 48, Freeman 28
Post Falls 54, Lakeland 21 (championship dual)
160 — Tyler Morris, PF, p. Logan Kelley, :30. 170 — Braydon Huber, PF, p. Curtis Johnson, 1:35. 182 — Coleton Kazmierczak, PF, tf. Hunter Oles, 15-0. 195 — Hayden Berger, LL, p. Kaden Noesen, 5:00. 220 — Lucas Gardner, LL, p. Isaiah Laguna, :38. 285 — Austin Tipton, PF, p. Johnny Sullivan, 2:19. 98 — Roddy Romero, PF, p. Tanner Korst, 1:57. 106 — Alex Edelblute, LL, md. Lane Reardon, 11-2. 113 — Sam Edelblute, LL, d. Isaac Jessen, 5-1. 120 — Jordan Grimm, PF, p. Riley Siegford, :52. 126 — Ridge Lovett, PF, p. William Edelblute, 1:59. 132 — A.J. De La Rosa, PF, p. Luke Hellem, 1:47. 138 — Matt McLeod, PF, md. Ryan Quimby, 10-1. 145 — Larry Johnson, LL, d. Jason Burchell, 7-1. 152 — Wyatt Shelly, PF, d. Cage Hendry, 3-0.
Toppenish vs. White River (third-fourth place)
Pasco 42, East Valley 34 (fifth-sixth place)
Bonneville 47, Freeman 21 (seventh-eighth place)
SILVER BRACKET
Eureka 43, Rocky Mountain 39
Coeur d’Alene 48, Timberlake 40
Mead 45, Emmett 36
Kamiakin 66, Davis 15
Coeur d’Alene 42, Eureka 30
Kamiakin 51, Mead 27
Timberlake 48, Rocky Mountain 42
Emmett 57, Davis 27
Kamiakin 52, Coeur d’Alene 36 (championship)
Eureka 45, Mead 31 (third-fourth)
Emmett 48, Timberlake 39 (fifth-sixth)
Rocky Mountain 61, Davis 23 (seventh-eighth)
BRONZE BRACKET
Ephrata 42, Sandpoint 37
Hillcrest 57, Post Falls No. 2 27
Medical Lake 43, Moscow 24
Lake City 48, Lakeland No. 2 37
Ephrata 45, Hillcrest 39
Medical Lake 46, Lake City 33
Post Falls No. 2 43, Sandpoint 30
Moscow 48, Lakeland No. 2 40
Ephrata 36, Medical Lake 34 (championship)
Hillcrest 48, Lake City 36 (third-fourth)
Moscow 48, Post Falls No. 2 36 (fifth-sixth)
Lakeland No. 2 49, Sandpoint 36 (seventh-eighth)
COPPER BRACKET
Bishop Kelly 58, Post Falls No. 3 18
Shadle Park 36, Priest River 33
Gonzaga Prep 45, Whitefish 39
Bonners Ferry 51, West Valley 33
Shadle Park 58, Post Falls No. 3 21
Bishop Kelly 48, Priest River 26
Gonzaga Prep 53, West Valley 34
Bonners Ferry 56, Whitefish 25
Priest River 40, Post Falls No. 3 30
Bishop Kelly 36, Shadle Park 31
Bonners Ferry 66, Gonzaga Prep 22
Whitefish 40, West Valley 40
Bishop Kelly 49, Gonzaga Prep 21
Bonners Ferry 48, Shadle Park 35
West Valley 41, Priest River 31
Whitefish 48, Post Falls No. 3 15
Hall claims title
at Orofino invite
OROFINO — St. Maries wrestler Caden Hall won via pin in the 160-pound championship at the Orofino Invitational.
Dylan Sotin (106 pounds), Hayden Villa (138) and Shaun Anderson (145) finished runner-up in their weight classes for St. Maries, which competes in the Clearwater Classic next Friday and Saturday at Lewiston High.