THE FRONT ROW WITH JASON ELLIOTT: The road for wrestlers is clear for right now

At this point in the season, things can go either way in a hurry.

One minute, you could be coasting along and arrive at your destination safe and sound.

In another moment, you could get buried in the snow, slush and ice to the point where you’ve just got to go to a Plan B.

Fortunately, for now anyway, it has been full speed ahead for area prep wrestling programs.

WE HAVE come to expect a team from this area to challenge for the Tri-State Invitational wrestling championship, with Post Falls winning four times since 2014. This year, it was Coeur d’Alene which ran away with its first Tri-State title.

Maybe more impressive, the Vikings had two finalists — Demarco Piazza (152 pounds) and Rylan Rogers (195) — with Rogers winning his championship match.

Keep in mind that Gunner Giulio, a three-time state champ who won a Tri-State title in 2019, is still out with an injury suffered during football season. Dylan Moffat, also a senior, was out with an elbow injury suffered during the quarterfinals of the Inland Empire Classic at Central Valley High on Dec.10.

“We’re heading in the right direction,” Coeur d’Alene coach Jeff Moffat said. “It’s only December, and we’ve got a lot of things to work on and improve. The thing that impressed me is how they were competing. Our kids were going out and competing hard, looking to score points and trying to win matches. They were just competing just as hard as they could.”

Coeur d’Alene had seven other wrestlers place, including Sebastian Prangley (third at 160) and Dax Larsen (fourth at 132).

“Sebastian won six of his seven matches by pin,” Moffat said. “Dax lost his first match and fought all the way back to finish fourth. He wrestled seven or eight matches on the weekend, but just kept grinding at it and it was unbelievable to see.”

Larsen lost in the first round to Jose Toscano of Granger by a 12-10 decision. Larsen then beat Toscano in a consolation semifinal to advance to the third-place match.

As for Prangley, he entered the tournament unseeded.

“Something just clicked with Sebastian this week,” Moffat said. “He was down a weight (from 170, where he wrestled at the CV tournament the previous weekend), which was better for him. But he had a hard workout on Thursday (Dec. 16) with Rylan. I told Rylan that whatever you did with Sebby, it worked, because he just kept battling all weekend.”

COEUR d’ALENE IS chasing the program’s first state title since 2011, when the Vikings won the second of back-to-back titles. Post Falls has won five of seven titles since 2015.

“Overall, we’re really pleased with where we’re at,” Moffat said. “People don’t understand that to do really well in February, everything has to click. You can’t have injuries. You can’t have any grade issues. You can’t have weight issues. Everything really has to fall into place over the next two months.”

That includes getting both Giulio and Moffat back, which could happen after the winter break at the Rollie Lane Invitational at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa Jan. 7-8.

“Knowing we can win (Tri-State) without our top two guys gives us a lot of confidence going forward,” Piazza said. “Knowing we can win this without them, we should be able to win at state if we’re able to get to full strength.”

And as Post Falls gains experience, its chances for another title will improve as well.

“There were some great kids that came into Tri-State thinking they didn’t have a chance to place that fought their guts out and placed,” Post Falls coach Pete Reardon said. “When you’ve got kids that are doing that, you’re in a good place and improving. We’re feeling good about the way things are moving.”

Freshman Rider Seguine was the Trojans’ lone finalist. Gentry Smith (third at 182), Jose Laguna (fourth at 170), Trevor Miller (fourth at 195), Tyson Barnhart (sixth at 120) and Malcolm Duthie (sixth at 195) also placed for Post Falls.

Barnhart won a state championship at 106 pounds last February.

“Overall, we felt good about our matches,” Reardon said. “Sure, there’s a few that we wish we could have back. But we talked about coming into Tri-State and being tough as a team. When your kids are doing that, things are going well. When they’re fighting and battling each match, win or lose, that’s what you want to see.”

Keep it up and we’ll see a championship back in the north this year.

Just keep that path clear.

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.