Six Bulldogs competing at prestigious Tri-State

COEUR d'ALENE - For the first time since the mid-80s, maybe even since his brother Tim wrestled back in the very first one (1971), John Owen will not be at the Tri-State Tournament.

The long-time tournament director is scheduled to take his West Valley (Spokane) team to Yakima, Wash.

In fact, this will be the first time in 10 years that there will not be an Owen in the bracket.

But the torch has been passed to a J.O. protégé in North Idaho College coach Pat Whitcomb, who in turn drug his assistant coach Jeremy Zender, another Owen protégé, into the fold.

"It's definitely a new era without J.O. or an Owen wrestling. It's a changing of the guard. But I'm very happy with the caliber wrestlers we do have," Whitcomb said. "(Former NIC coach) Bill Pecha started Tri-State as a recruiting tool because of the central location for Montana, Idaho and Washington to come and compete.

"From there it turned into the biggest wrestling tournament in the Pacific Northwest and it's definitely the tournament to be at."

The 37th annual Tri-State Tournament starts at 10 a.m. today at Christianson Gym. Despite this week's record snowfall, tourney organizers said the event will go on.

The tournament features five returning Tri-State champions in Ben Jorgensen (Hermiston, Ore.), Kyle McCrite (Lakeland), Derek Garcia (Sedro-Woolley, Wash.), Taylor Meeks (Orting, Wash.) and Jake Swartz (Auburn, Wash.).

They're all tough, but the 125-pound bracket is without question the most brutal in the tournament.

"There's two returning (Tri-State) champs with Kyle McCrite (2008) and Braden Mowry (2006) and nine returning placers," Zender said. "Some of them have won two, but there are seven high school state champions in that bracket.

There might not be an Owen in the bracket, but Matt Owen's defending Tri-State champion Flathead team from Kalispell, Mont., is loaded for bear.

Flathead has 11 state placers, four returning Tri-State placers, five returning Montana state finalists on a 10-senior roster.

The top seeds include Andrew Palmer (103, Coeur d'Alene), Josh Heinzer (112, Lake Stevens), Ben Jorgensen (119, Hermiston), Kyle McCrite (125, Lakeland), Jake Love (Sentinel, 130), Scotty Bacon (Republic, 135), J.J. Gubler (Republic, 140), Cody Lords (Kuna, 145), Derek Garcia (Sedro-Woolley, 152), John Tuck (La Grande, 160), Taylor Meeks (Orting, 171), Jake Swartz (Auburn, 189), John Lambert (Gonzaga Prep, 215) and Tyler Thomas (Flathead, heavyweight).

The top 28 teams from 2007 can wrestle with full rosters. The remaining programs in the projected 51-team tournament, can enter only partial lineups.

Lewiston was the top Idaho team last year, finishing sixth. Coeur d'Alene was 10th and Lakeland was 27th. Sandpoint finished 35th and Bonners Ferry was 43rd.

Because the Bulldogs finished below 28th place last year, they were only allowed to bring six wrestlers. Head coach Mike Randles believes each has a chance to win multiple matches, and that Sid Winter and Garret Belgarde are the likeliest candidates to place. The Bulldogs will be without Leonard Fister, who Randles said would also be capable of placing.