THE FRONT ROW WITH JASON ELLIOTT: All the right moves adding up

Just moments after winning his first national wrestling title on Thursday evening, North Idaho College sophomore Sal Silva admitted he was unsure of how the 2021 season was going to go.

He’s not alone.

Between the coronavirus pandemic, the delayed start of his season and all the protocols in place — not just in wrestling — did you just think things were going to go smoothly?

BACK TO the newly crowned NJCAA champion Silva, who beat Pratt’s Jacob Beeson 3-1 in the 149-pound championship in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

“At the beginning of the year, I didn’t know if I was going to have a season,” Silva said. “I had my doubts for sure.”

Then again, with wrestling being such a contact sport, competitors are tested frequently for skin issues, well before they take those coronavirus tests.

“My coaches were on top of me from the start of the season about procedures and making good decisions outside of wrestling,” Silva said. “I’ve been practicing sometimes two to three times a day. I’ve been training with (NIC assistant) coach (Junior) Lule. Once we found out we were able to have nationals, I was really excited and happy.”

Silva, who is from Tucson, Ariz., added that he never thought about staying home from school during the pandemic.

“Coeur d’Alene is the nicest city I’ve been to,” said Silva, who signed to wrestle at NAIA Arizona Christian in Glendale, Ariz., starting next year. “Even if the season was going to get canceled, I would have been fine staying around and finishing school. My experience at NIC has been great. I love NIC and as far as any other junior college, it’s the best place to be.”

It didn’t take long for second-year NIC coach Mike Sebaaly to shift his focus following nationals, where the Cardinals finished sixth.

“I’m relieved that it (nationals) happened,” Sebaaly said. “It’s done, and now we’ve got three weeks remaining in the semester. I told our guys ‘let’s finish strong in the classroom and get our academics taken care of next.’”

Talk about staying on top of your team.

MAYBE THE biggest benefit of having a neighbor with artificial turf on its field is the fact that if it rains a little, you know you’ll still get the game in during the spring.

Playing on the new artificial turf at War Memorial Field in Sandpoint for the first time, like Lakeland’s baseball team did on Thursday, might have taken a bit of an adjustment period.

“I didn’t like all the lines they have on the turf,” Lakeland baseball coach Jason Bradbury said. “Since they share with softball, football and soccer, there are lines everywhere. It would look so much better if it were just a baseball field. However, I get why they did it that way and wish we could do the same thing in our park.”

As for the game ...

“The turf played pretty fast in the outfield,” Bradbury said. “We really had to adjust to the speed of a typical line drive and adjust our routes to the baseball. If you didn’t do that, the ball will get by you in a heartbeat. It rained a little during our games and the turf got slippery. I called for a steal, and we had the base stolen easily, but my runner slid past the bag and got called out. That was unfortunate and we had to adjust how we slid on the bags. Other than that, though, it was great to play on.”

Maybe, maybe the best thing about it could only been seen through the eyes of a coach.

“Those coaches never have to pick up a rake again,” Bradbury said. “After every practice or game, they can just leave without having to spend hours putting the field away.”

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for The 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.