Wrestlers taking it to another level late
As Lakeland wrestling coach Rob Edelblute described following Wednesday’s match against Post Falls, anything can happen.
Between injuries and injuries, the grind of the season can keep coaches up late at night, just trying to figure out a lineup for that given day.
LOOKING TO fill a spot at 195 pounds, Edelblute opted to move up senior Colton Boettcher from his normal spot at 170 pounds to 195 for a match against Isaiah Laguna of Post Falls on Wednesday.
Boettcher, who won at Tri-State in December at 170, weighed in at 172.1 pounds on Wednesday.
“He was a little on the light side, and was giving up a lot of weight,” Edelblute said. “But he wanted to do what was best for the team and went up there. We knew it could be an upset that could have turned the match for us.”
Boettcher won the match by a 5-1 decision. Laguna won the 195 title at the North Idaho Rumble last Saturday.
“With the offseason training Colton has done, he felt comfortable knowing he could go up there and pull it off,” Edelblute said. “It could have been a backfire for us as well.”
“We anticipated it a little bit,” Post Falls coach Pete Reardon said. “It wasn’t the decision I thought they were going to make, and it surprised us that he went up two weights, but it was a tough match.”
Despite Boettcher’s victory, Post Falls beat Lakeland 52-21 in the dual at The Arena.
“The kids wrestled hard against a great team,” Reardon said. “Hats off to Lakeland, they’re a great team. On paper, it was a match we could have lost, and when you look at some of the matchups, it could have been a nail-biter. We started at a good weight (160) and got things rolling in the right direction.”
“We knew going in that we didn’t match up very well at some weights,” Edelblute said. “But if we could upset them in a few spots, it could have been close. What’s great about wrestling is you really don’t know what the outcome is going to be until the guys go out on the mat.”
FOR YEARS, both Lakeland and Post Falls competed in the Prairie Pig spirit games on the basketball floor. While it wasn’t a part of those events, the wrestling matches can get a little loud as well.
“Lakeland has a great crowd, and great wrestling people that know a lot about what’s going on,” Reardon said. “It was a great atmosphere in the gym.”
During the match — where the Trojans honored 2020 Post Falls Wrestling Legend Mike Booth, a three-time state placer for the Trojans and now a coach for some two decades in the Post Falls wrestling program — the schools also raffled off a car donated by Parker Subaru, won by Karen Wood.
“It was a cool night,” Reardon said. “It was a really big community event for sure.”
Post Falls has beaten Lakeland in each dual since 2012.
“I just think Lakeland has some tough kids, wrestle hard and in each part of the lineup, they’re going to show up and wrestle,” Reardon said. “We know they’re going to bring it. They’re out trying to win and moving guys around and trying to find a way to win.”
Every coach is trying to find a way to win get a spark at this point in the season.
Now if it works, we’ll see soon.
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.