PREP WRESTLING: St. Maries set for annual Ross Invitational today

A busy weekend in wrestling in the St. Maries area is going to get even busier as the seventh Chad E. Ross Invitational begins today at 9 a.m. at St. Maries High.

On Thursday, St. Maries hosted a Central Idaho League duals tournament, with the annual invitational as part of the 16-team tournament following.

“So many of the teams are coming from the south like Grangeville and Clearwater Valley and traveling so far to be here,” St. Maries coach Dennis Humphrey said. “They started coming and staying the night after. After a while, we figured since everyone was here, why not do something like this.”

The invitational, named after Ross — who passed away on Jan. 17, 1990 — in a car accident, was at one time held in late January.

“It was kind of a deal where it was starting to become outdated, and with pods on Friday nights, then the tournament on Saturday, it was becoming too expensive,” Humphrey said. “The tournament went away for a few years, then brought it back,” Humphrey said. “We thought after a while it would be a great way to honor Chad and give it some meaning.”

The tournament will have extra meaning for both Lumberjack wrestlers Trey Gibson and Aiden Yearout, who were nephews of Ross. Both Gibson and Yearout placed at the Tri-State Invitational Dec. 16 at North Idaho College.

“To me, Chad represented a lot of what St. Maries is and was,” said Humphrey, who was teammates with Ross at St. Maries. “They’re hard working, blue collar kids. We don’t have the funding like some other bigger schools have, but we make up for it in hard work and determination. Chad was the first one to have someone’s back, and he was tougher than nails. I see a lot of what Chad was in both Trey and Aiden. Trey has a heart of gold and the stride he’s made in football and wrestling this year is totally on him. Aiden just works hard as well. They’ve got a good work ethic and just good, solid wrestlers.”

This year’s tournament will have some newcomers like Enterprise, Ore., Lapwai and Ridgeline of Spokane Valley.

“Most of the teams have been really consistent about coming back each year,” Humphrey said. “If we lose someone, we’ll usually add another. We used to do it the same weekend as Rollie Lane (in Nampa). Doing it this week, we’ve seemed to find a good niche with everyone. As a coach, the week of the holiday break, you’re always looking for something to fill the gap and it seems to work for most of the local teams.”

Championship finals are scheduled for tonight at 5.

Kellogg takes two at

Central Idaho duals

ST. MARIES — The Wildcats defeated St. Maries 43-39 and Priest River 47-37 in a pair of Central Idaho League duals at St. Maries High.

Teams will compete in the Chad E. Ross Invitational today at St. Maries High starting at 9 a.m.

KELLOGG 43, ST. MARIES 39

98 — Johnny Stovern, Kell, by forfeit. 106 — Aiden Figueroa, Kell, by forfeit. 113 — Colton Storey, Kell, p. Kelby Harvey, 2:31. 120 — Landyn Rollins, Kell, p. Beau Wentzel, 1:04. 126 — Chase Scribner, Kell, by forfeit. 132 — Kolter Wood, Kell, md. Landon Tweedy, 10-1. 138 — Zach David, SM, p. Tanner Williams, 5:46. 145 — Jaeger Hall, Kell, p. Logan Darnold, :56. 152 — Amando Stewart, SM, p. Brady Vergobbi, 3:20. 160 — Aiden Yearout, SM, d. Andrew Lewis, 7-0. 170 — Zack Sotin, SM, p. Travis Eixenberger, 1:33. 182 — Trey Gibson, SM, p. Ramsey Rainio, 4:29. 195 — A.J. Peak, Kell, p. Kris Brusseau, 1-0. 220 — Jackson Nantell, SM, p. Kyle VanVleet, 2:20. 285 — Scott Sotin, SM, p. Russell Fields, 5:36.

KELLOGG 47, PRIEST RIVER 37

98 — Johnny Stovern, Kell, p. Jack Zalewski, 1:25. 106 — Colton Storey, Kell, p. Liam Pettit, :44. 113 — Bayden Lamanna, PR, md. Aiden Figueroa, 14-1. 120 — Orion Grimes, PR, p. Landyn Rollins, 2:42. 126 — Chase Scribner, Kell, p. Collin Magers, 5:10. 132 — Kolter Wood, Kell, p. Garrett Reynolds, 1:30. 138 — Colm McLaimtaig, PR, p. Tanner Williams, 3:29. 145 — Jaeger Hall, Kell, tf. Jacob Sateren, 16-0. 152 — Caeden McLaimtaig, PR, p. Brady Vergobbi, 3:30. 160 — Elijah Blaine, PR, p. Andrew Lewis, 4:46. 170 — Travis Eixenberger, Kell, p. Keagin Poirer, 5:25. 182 — Ramsey Rainio, Kell, p. Darien Ratzlaff, :29. 195 — Gunnar Eversole, PR, d. A.J. Peak, 4-2. 220 — Caleb Grow, PR, p. Kyle VanVleet, 3:03. 285 — Russell Fields, Kell, p. Gabriel Grow, 1:18.

Lakeland at Reno