TRI-STATE INVITATIONAL: A first for Vikings

By JASON ELLIOTT

Sports writer

COEUR d’ALENE — Coeur d’Alene High might have been shorthanded, but you’d never know by the finish to Saturday’s 50th Tri-State Invitational at North Idaho College.

Senior Rylan Rogers, the team’s lone champion, pinned Flathead’s Chase Youso in 3 minutes, 26 seconds to capture the 195-pound title, leading the Vikings to their first Tri-State team title.

While it was his first time wrestling at Tri-State, Rogers is real familiar with the spotlight at NIC.

“I grew up watching my cousins (Chandler and Jordan Rogers of Mead in Spokane), so there’s a lot of memories here,” said Rogers, who signed to wrestle at Michigan earlier this month. “It’s always good to wrestle here. I love competing under the spotlight and it’s always good to win a tournament, no matter what the competition is like.”

Senior Demarco Piazza advanced to the finals, falling to Gabe Smith of Pullman in the 152-pound final.

“Hadn’t placed here before,” Piazza said. “I pretty much had to wrestle it match for match and take it one step at a time. I tried not to look too far ahead. Not looking ahead, I wasn’t like looking forward.”

Coeur d'Alene claimed its first team title at Tri-State in program history, finishing with 205.5 points. The Vikings previous high was second in 2009.

Also placing for Coeur d’Alene were: Christian Kelly (third at 98 pounds), Bode Alexander (sixth at 98), Logan Bradley (eighth at 106), Dax Larsen (fourth at 132), Sebastian Prangley (third at 160), Beau Speelman (seventh at 220) and Jaxson Washington (fourth at 285).

Coeur d’Alene was without Gunner Giulio, who won in 2019 in the last Tri-State held, and Dylan Moffat, who was out with an elbow injury.

“We’ve still got plenty of room for improvement,” Coeur d’Alene coach Jeff Moffat said. “We did the things we needed to do this weekend to get it done. We’ve got to keep making adjustments and not get complacent and plugging along, worry about ourselves and just keep improving.”

Rogers, who was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler, was runner-up at 195 at the Walsh Ironman in Ohio last weekend.

“He’s just so tough and solid,” Moffat said. “He’s just on another level. That’s all there is to it is that he’s on a different level right now.”

In his first Tri-State appearance, Rider Seguine treated his time in the spotlight as a learning experience.

“The biggest thing for me was learning how to wrestle against those bigger guys,” Seguine said. “I came into this tournament weighing 96 pounds, and I know guys are cutting down two weights. I’ve got to find different ways to fight around that.”

Seguine lost to Frenchtown’s Isaac Stewart by a 13-0 major decision in the 98-pound final.

“He just felt stronger than my other opponents,” Seguine said. “I just felt I couldn’t move around much. That’s not an excuse, and I’ll get back in the training room. I’ll be working with our 113- or 120-pound kid from now on and working with those stronger kids. I’m not going to catch up to them in just one year. I’ve just got to get stronger.”

“He’s a tough kid and progressing,” Post Falls coach Pete Reardon said. “As tough as he is, he’s been getting better. He’s coachable and a great kid. He’s been in big matches and big tournaments, and I’m excited to see him progress.”

Tyson Barnhart (sixth at 120), Jose Laguna (fourth at 170), Gentry Smith (third at 182), Malcolm Duthie (sixth at 195) and Trevor Miller (fourth at 195) also placed for Post Falls, which finished fifth. The Trojans won the 2019 tournament.

“We’re really happy with how our kids fought,” Reardon said. “We had a couple of kids step in and stepped up and placed. We’re really, really proud of our kids and how they’ve been progressing. We’re on a course to get better.”

Junior Zach Macdonald became the first Lake City wrestler to advance to the finals since Orin Luther-Lund in 2001, but an injury kept him from the top of the podium on Saturday night after being pinned by Alan Salguero of Orting in 2:24.

“That first shot he took, he landed on my left shoulder and it popped a few times, so I really couldn’t use it to get anything going,” Macdonald said. “It gives me a lot of confidence going forward knowing I can get this far in a tournament like this.

“It was a really good tournament that Zach had,” Lake City coach Corey Owen said. “In the finals, he ran into a really good kid from Orting, made a few mistakes that cost him the match, but super proud of him. He wrestled hard all weekend long. To be the second one in school history is a big deal. I’m super proud of him.”

Jaren Knopp (fourth at 98), Matthew Williams (eighth at 113) and Devon Suko (eighth at 170) placed for Lakeland, which was 19th.

Evan Howell (160) and James Billingsley (220) each finished sixth for Timberlake, which was 22nd.

TEAM SCORES — 1, Coeur d’Alene 205.5. 2, Flathead 191. 3, Mead 164. 4, La Grande 159.5. 5, Post Falls 154. 6, Orting 140. 7, University 135. 8, Central Valley 132. 9, Chiawana 129. 10, Frenchtown 126. 11, Granger 118.5. 12, Tonasket 116.5. 13, Lewiston 115. 14, Hermiston 106. 15, Mt. Spokane 105.5. 16 (tie), Othello, Pullman 84.5. 18, Kamiakin 80. 19, Lakeland 74. 20, Lake City 67. 21, Colville 65. 22, Timberlake 62. 23, Kelso 59.5. 24, Deer Park 57. 25, Kellogg 55. 26, Liberty (Spangle) 48. 27, Royal 48. 28, Ferris 47. 29 (tie), Bonners Ferry, Glacier Peak, Priest River 40. 32, Potlatch 39. 33, Hanford 37. 34 (tie), Cheney, Lake Roosevelt 32. 36, Lakeside (Wash.) 27. 37, East Valley 26. 38, Gonzaga Prep 24. 39 (tie), Freeman, Riverside 22. 41, Jenkins (Chewelah) 19, 42, Davenport 16. 43, Clarkston 14. 44, Liberty Bell 12. 45, Reardan 10. 46, Medical Lake 6. 47, Mary Walker 4.

CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHES

98 — Isaac Stewart, Frenchtown, md. Rider Seguine, Post Falls, 13-0. 106 — Alan Salguero, Orting, p. Zach Macdonald, Lake City, 2:24. 113 — Quentin Harding, Orting, d. Bennett Beard, Central Valley, 5-2. 120 — Hoyt Hvass, Lewiston, p. Juan Hoffman, Kamiakin, 4:00. 126 — Kai Carson, La Grande, p. Tyler Walker, University, 5:46. 132 — Tristan Bremer, Lewiston, d. Ethan Freund, Kelso, 7-2. 138 — Braden Carson, La Grande, d. Ivan Acosta, Pullman, 9-6. 145 — Q’Veli Quintanilla, University, d. Owen Cline, Orting, 7-5. 152 — Gabe Smith, Pullman, d. Demarco Piazza, Coeur d’Alene, 6-1. 160 — Gabe Lake, Flathead, d. Benjamin Larson, Hermiston, 12-6. 170 — Darion Johnson, Chiawana, md. Conan Northwind, Granger, 16-8. 182 — Noah Poe-Hatten, Flathead, d. Noah Rausch, Frenchtown, 4-3. 195 — Rylan Rogers, Coeur d’Alene, p. Chase Youso, Flathead, 3:26. 220 — Emil Thiele, Central Valley, d. Jakob Connors, Mead, 3-1. 285 — Gage Cook, Granger, p. Jaxin McCallum, Kamiakin, 4:19.

THIRD-FOURTH PLACE

98 — Christian Kelly, Coeur d’Alene, md. Jaren Knopp, Lakeland, 9-1. 106 — Isaac Campos, Othello, d. Mason Wolcott, La Grande, 3-0. 113 — Daeton Johnson, Chiawana, d. Wyatt Hei, Kellogg, 9-5. 120 — Aaron Polito, Tonasket, p. Oscar Alvarez, Granger, :29. 126 — Nathan Gregory, Deer Park, p. Jaysen Rodriguez, Hermiston, 1:58. 132 — Waylon Thomas, Tonasket, d. Dax Larsen, Coeur d’Alene, 9-2. 138 — Jake Mark, Mead, d. Joshua Collins, La Grande, 7-2. 145 — Fin Nadeau, Flathead, d. Jeroen Smith, Pullman, 4-2. 152 — Gavin McLean, Frenchtown, d. Hunter Williams, Central Valley, 4-0. 160 — Sebastian Prangley, Coeur d’Alene, p. Smokey Stoker, Frenchtown, 1:11. 170 — Eli Richards, Bonners Ferry, d. Jose Laguna, Post Falls, 6-0. 182 — Gentry Smith, Post Falls, d. Jeshua Cwik, Liberty, 5-0. 195 — Jarom Liljenquist, Mt. Spokane, p. Trevor Miller, Post Falls, 1:51. 220 — Jacob Erickson, Glacier Peak, d. Carson Sasse, Tonasket, 7-2. 285 — Sam Candenas, Hermiston, p. Jaxson Washington, Coeur d’Alene, 1:05.

FIFTH-SIXTH PLACE

98 — Tanner Crosby, Mt. Spokane, md. Bode Alexander, Coeur d’Alene, 12-3. 106 — Roger Cate, Lake Roosevelt, p. Colm McLaimtaig, Priest River, 2:49. 113 — Aiden Downing, Flathead, p. Jeison Ingram, Ferris, :27. 120 — Kolter Wood, Kellogg, d. Tyson Barnhart, Post Falls, 4-3. 126 — Apollo Cruz, Orting, d. Tomio Yamada, Lakeside, 3-1. 132 — Jose Toscano, Granger, d. Brysen Penaloza, La Grande, by forfeit. 138 — Asher Kemppainen, Flathead, p. Lance Stover, Chiawana, :30. 145 — Johnny Mason, Mead, d. Caden Wilson, Hanford, by disqualification. 152 — Cade Troupe, Flathead, p. Austin Justice, Mead, 1:48. 160 — Noah Holman, Gonzaga Prep, p. Evan Howell, Timberlake, 3:48. 170 — Anders Thompson, Flathead, p. Logan Meisner, Lewiston, 1:48. 182 — Dalton Reed, Ortin, p. Samuel Schneider, Davenport, :18. 195 — Tanner Goff, Colville, d. Malcolm Duthie, Post Falls, 8-5. 220 — Daren Airey, Mt. Spokane, p. James Billingsley, Timberlake, 1:52. 285 — Brady Phillips, Kelso, d. Philip Herald, Frenchtown, 1-0.

SEVENTH-EIGHTH PLACE

98 — Jordan McKamey, Clarkston, md. Brandon Williams, Bonners Ferry, 13-4. 106 — Ricky Haralson, Kellogg, d. Logan Bradley, Coeur d’Alene, 9-3. 113 — Nolan Crosby, Mt. Spokane, p. Matthew Williams, Lakeland, 1:06. 120 — Aiden Favorite, Hermiston, d. Colton Jackson, Lake Roosevelt, 5-3. 126 — Blaine Beard, Central Valley, md. Sam Arai, Mead, 14-1. 132 — Bryan Dickerson, Orting, md. Jordan Tobias, Chiawana, 14-5. 138 — Waylon Wilson, Tonasket, d. Hudson Buth, Mt. Spokane, 4-3. 145 — Dalton Taylor, Cheney, d. Logan Hydorn, Colville, 12-5. 152 — Cody Northwind, Granger, d. Eli Prather, Potlatch, 8-1. 160 — Tyson Tucker, Potlatch, d. Kameron Pfiefer, Central Valley, 7-0. 170 — Brian Hernandez, Royal, d. Devon Suko, Lakeland, 7-5. 182 — Holden Hohman, Mt. Spokane, p. Jaxson Gribskov, Hermiston, 3:34. 195 — Brody MacMillian, La Grande, p. Ethan Buroker, Kamiakin, 4:36. 220 — Beau Speelman, Coeur d’Alene, p. Seth Yorgesen, Royal, 3:22. 285 — Kevin Dominguez, Royal, d. Alonzo Vargas, East Valley, by injury default.