THE FRONT ROW with JASON ELLIOTT: Prangley back in his competitive element

Trevor Prangley doesn’t have much else to prove at this point.

He’s been to the top of the mountain in mixed martial arts, wrestling and whatever other fighting promotion you can think of.

This trip, Prangley didn’t climb alone.

Prangley, as well as Cale Coast and Mark Stephens of the Hayden-based AKA Jiu-Jitsu gym, where Prangley is an instructor, placed at the Pan-American IBJJF competition in Kissimmee, Fla., last Saturday, with Prangley winning his Master 5 black-belt category in the super heavyweight division (221.6 pounds and up).

“It’s a pretty big tournament with all of Canada, the United States and all of South America there,” Prangley said. “I hadn’t competed in the Pan Ams before, mainly because I’d fought all those years in mixed martial arts. I didn’t do many Jiu-Jitsu tournaments because of that.”

IT HAD been 12 years since Prangley had competed in a Jiu-Jitsu competition.

Prangley stepped away from MMA in 2015 after his final bout in the King of the Cage promotion at the Coeur d’Alene Casino in Worley.

“There was a lot on the line,” Prangley said of competing in Jiu-Jitsu again. “You’re putting yourself out there and everyone has this idea of who you are and what you’ve accomplished. And you can go out and lose your first match.”

Prangley, now 51 years old, went 34-11 in his MMA career, was a three-time light heavyweight champion and held the middleweight title for BodogFight. At NIC, Prangley was a two-time All-American wrestler.

“I really didn’t have to do it,” Prangley said. “I’ve accomplished enough in my career. But it’s also important to understand where your abilities are. If you’re working in a gym, and teaching Jiu-Jitsu, you’ve got to keep up with it and be able to compete at a high level.”

For Coast, it was a little unknown as he’d suffered a torn left meniscus just days before the competition.

“I was absolutely nervous,” Coast said. “I’d injured my knee a week before the tournament and was really concerned about that. I really didn’t expect to do as well as I did. I had the cartilage kind of folding over and locking my joint up. I don’t know how it happened, but it kind of smashed back into place and has since without locking up again.”

COAST, WHO wrestled at Post Falls High, finished second in the Masters 5 purple belt heavyweight division (up to 207.9 pounds).

“I wrestled a little bit in high school and played rugby in an adult men’s league in Montana,” Coast said. “I discovered at 33, I was getting a little old for that, so I got my son into Jiu Jitsu.”

Of course, that came with a catch.

“I was told if I was going to coach from the sideline, I had to put a Gi on and come out on the mat,” Coast said. “So I did. I’m 39 now, and it’s been one of the best things that has happened in my life. Doing this has absolutely changed my life.”

So much so, Coast is already thinking about what’s next.

“This really ignited my fire for competition,” Coast said. “I’ve got my sights on Master Worlds in Las Vegas at the end of August. I’ve got an MRI (on his left knee, for a possible torn meniscus) scheduled in three weeks, but right now my knee feels good. My knee is telling me I’m good to go.”

Stephens, who was second in the Master 4 brown-belt category (up to 154.3 pounds), won the state A-3 wrestling championship for Kootenai High in 1996 as a senior. Stephens was sixth at state as a junior.

“We moved to North Idaho when I was 15 years old,” Stephens said. “I grew up here and wrestled and met Trevor in college and we both wrestled at NIC. I was there a little over a semester, then went into the military. When I got back, I started fighting (MMA) for Trevor out of Lion’s Den in Coeur d’Alene and fought for five years and took some time off. Nine years ago, I decided to get clean and sober and clean up my life and I needed some help, and these guys took me in and started to do Jiu-Jitsu again, and here we are.”

Stephens also played football and was a pole vaulter at Kootenai High.

“I was kickboxing at the time, too, with a studio and boxing since I was 8 years old,” Stephens said. “My dad has kept me super active and it’s all played a role. I’m 46 now, and still at it.”

As for what keeps them coming back, it’s each other and being there each step of the way.

“I really enjoy this team,” Stephens said. “It’s a big family environment here. It’s an individual sport, but before that, we help each other get ready for our fights and competitions. This place, I just love this place.”

“You’re really got to have a good team around you,” Prangley said. “And I appreciate everything these guys did and how they pushed everybody. Everyone in the gym really came together and sacrificed their time for us. And it was pretty cool to see.”

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 ‘X’, formerly Twitter @JECdAPress.

    TIM HOPF/Moonhed Media Cale Coast of Post Falls competes in the IBJJF Pan-American Jiu-Jitsu tournament last weekend in Florida.
  

    TIM HOPF/Moonhed Media Mark Stephens, a 1996 graduate of Kootenai High, competes in the IBJJF Pan-American Jiu-Jitsu tournament in Florida last weekend. Stephens was second in his division, his first as a brown belt.