All the right moves

While they didn’t immediately start their journey in high school wrestling at Lake City High, seniors Zane Monaghan and Devin Sorrelle are two big reasons why the Timberwolves are on a path to make some noise at the state 5A level this year.

Monaghan, who wrestles at 182 pounds, transferred from Idaho Falls High.

“My mom ended up getting a better job in Coeur d’Alene, so I ended up moving here after my freshman year,” Monaghan said. “I kind of wanted to stay in Idaho Falls, and didn’t want to move. When I first got here, I wasn’t sure if I was even going to wrestle again. I was just going to focus on school, but my dad ended up talking me into wrestling here and I really liked it.”

A back injury early on at Idaho Falls made him question his desire to keep wrestling.

“I ended up wrestling three matches at the end of the year as a freshman,” Monaghan said. “I broke my L-4 vertebre, and herniated my L-4 and L-5 disc in my back during my freshman year. When it first happened, I didn’t think I was going to wrestle again. It hurt so bad, I really didn’t want to do anything. Just doing normal stuff kind of sucked because of having all this pain. But then it started to feel better during the summer. Going into my sophomore year, the pain started to go away a little bit. My doctors told me it later it was more of a pull injury from when I got hit that injured it.”

Monaghan added he feels about as healthy as can be right now.

“Occasionally, it will flare up again,” Monaghan said. “But that was during football season. I’ve felt fine all of wrestling season. The only time I’ve been nervous about hurting my back again was my junior and senior year of football. Other than that, I haven’t really felt I was going to hurt. For the most part, I feel like it’s healed up now.”

As for Sorrelle, who wrestles at 132 pounds, it was more of a financial thing.

“I moved here from Boise after my freshman year,” Sorrelle said. “I’d moved from here a few years ago and went to Dalton Elementary as a kid, but then went to Rocky Mountain High in Meridian my freshman year.”

At Rocky Mountain, athletes are on a pay-to-play system.

“They had a thing where you’ve got to pay $500 per season to compete,” Sorrelle said. “So it just wasn’t happening that year. Coeur d’Alene is home, and my family is here. I came back because I just wanted an opportunity to continue to wrestle.”

Neither has faced former teammates from their old schools in tournaments.

“Most of my friends from the team were seniors when I was at Idaho Falls,” Monaghan said. “They were all gone by the time I got here. I’ve seen a few when we’ve been at the state tournament, but we’re in different divisions now.”

Monaghan has moved from Idaho Falls, Montana and Coeur d’Alene. John Warner, who wrestled at 145 pounds when the Timberwolves competed against Frenchtown in a January dual, is a close friend.

“I’ve kind of made friends all over that I’ve kept in touch with,” Monaghan said. “We just had a tournament they (Frenchtown) were at, and we dualed them, and I keep in touch with him. He’s at 145 (pounds), so I didn’t have to wrestle him, but we’ve kept close.”

And while he hasn’t encountered any former teammates from Rocky Mountain, Sorrelle is fairly familiar with the wrestlers at Coeur d’Alene High from grade school at Borah Elementary.

“Most of my friends from school are at Coeur d’Alene High,” Sorrelle said. “So, I’m kind of a traitor being here, but Lake City is my school now. I don’t know why I chose Lake City, but I wouldn’t want to wrestle anywhere else, or have anyone else as teammates.”

So, why wrestling?

“When I was younger, I got put into it,” Monaghan said. “My parents put me into a ton of different sports when I was younger. Wrestling, I just felt connected to everybody on the team. It was all about if you wanted to win, it was up to you to win the match. It wasn’t about the other 10 guys on the field, but it was all up to you. If you want to work hard all year, and grind, then good things will happen.”

For Sorrelle, it was pretty simple.

“I’m too short for basketball,” said Sorrelle, who is 5-foot-3. “Wrestling is a sport that anyone can do. The thing that sets people apart is who works harder and the determination. And that’s what I like about it. When it’s you out there, it’s just you. There’s nobody else.”

So far this season, Lake City has been runner-up at the Owen Invitational on the campus of Salish Kootenai College in Pablo, Mont.; third at the Pacific Northwest Classic at University High in Spokane and had seven wrestlers finish unbeaten on the way to the team title at the Van Tuinstra duals tournament at Timberlake High.

“Last year had a lot to do with this year,” Monaghan said. “Since I moved here two years ago, I’ve made some really good friends. During the summer, I’d invite all the guys on the team over and we’d have a bunch of people at the house hanging out. The group bonding just made us work harder for each other, besides ourselves.”

“Everyone is really confident in their abilities this year,” Sorrelle said. “Everyone is just having fun, feeling confident and feeling good about what we’re doing. We’ve got guys at the right weight classes, and everyone is wrestling really well right now.”

“They have both grown so much since transferring in their sophomore year,” Lake City coach Corey Owen said. “They have always been hard workers, but toward the end of last year — and this year — they have really stepped up as leaders. I give them a lot of credit for this year’s success.”

Both plan to attend the University of Idaho in the fall.

“I’m pretty good at math, so I want to maybe get into mechanical engineering,” Monaghan said. “My grandfather was a mechanical engineer and his father before him was an electrical engineer. He (his great-grandfather) helped design the trigger for the atomic bomb, so that was pretty cool. That was always something that had an influence on me as a kid. My dad always had muscle cars growing up as well. All of that probably pushed me toward mechanical engineering because I just love that kind of stuff now.”

Sorrelle added that unless a chance to continue his career came up, he’ll be a Vandal as well.

“If I happen to get any offers to wrestle anywhere, I’d gladly take it,” Sorrelle said.

“They have really helped elevate the intensity of our practices,” Owen said. “Both of them area always trying to help those around them and make them feel part of the team. From our teaching staff, I only hear positive things about them. They are both just great kids.”

Both Monaghan and Sorrelle have advanced to state in the past, but neither have placed.

“If I get back there, it will be my third time getting to state,” Monaghan said. “This year, it would mean a lot more because it’s my last, final chance to go. It’s the last time you’ll get at a state tournament, so I’m looking forward to it and finishing the season on a high note.”

“It would mean everything to me,” said Sorrelle, who has qualified the previous two years. “It’s what I’ve been working for all three years that I’ve been here. It would just mean everything to me.”

Lake City finished 18th at state last year.

“Coach Owen has always been there to push me to get better all the time,” Monaghan said. “A lot of times, if I’m having outside problems, I’ll go into his office and talk to him. He’s a good coach, and probably the best I’ve had. As a team, all the athletes and coaches have really connected well.”

“Coach Owen has taught me to believe in myself,” Sorrelle said. “He told me small things win big matches.”