Bulldogs fall to Vikings in final dual of season

COEUR d'ALENE — Braden Mowry hit the on switch at just the right time.

The Coeur d'Alene sophomore saw his freshman season end at 25-0 with a neck injury. He struggled through some knee problems this year, lost a few times.

But he had a breakout match Tuesday night in the final dual of the season with a 12-4 decision over defending 4A state champion Tim Pepperdine, leading Coeur d'Alene past Sandpoint 63-15.

"Pepperdine is as tough as they come," Viking coach Jeff Moffat said. "But Braden's been training hard. He shook off some rust from the injuries and wrestled hard.

"This is a huge confidence booster for him going into districts."

Jesse Nielsen improved to 38-1 with a dominant showing in the 160-pound match. He dismantled Paul Marienau by technical fall, 17-1.

"I thought the key tonight was our conditioning. There was no huffing or puffing, we wrestled straight through with no problem," said Moffat, whose team has not wrestled a dual this late in the season.

Austin Posey (Hvy), Sid Winter and Leonard Fister registered the three wins for Sandpoint.

Bulldogs coach Kirk Hartzell is taking nearly his entire team to the 4A Regionals Saturday in Post Falls, hoping to qualify anywhere between 10-14 kids to the state tournament.

COEUR d'ALENE 63, SANDPOINT 15

171 — Justin Allen, Cd'A, p. Jacob Knaggs, :44. 189 — James Pass, Cd'A, won by forfeit. 215 — Shawn Duff, Cd'A, p. Terry Taylor 2:51. Hwt — Austin Posey, S, p. Zack Kidwell 3:50. 103 — Kenny Staub, Cd'A, p. Kyle Csizmar 1:39 112 — Braden Mowry, Cd'A, d. Tim Pepperdine, 12-4. 119 — Sam Howard, Cd'A, p. Jacob Porter, 1:08. 125 — Jake Graham, Cd'A, p. Colter Sigman, 3:16. 130 — Zack Stamper, Cd'A, p. Will Hughes, 3:52. 135 — Sid Winter, S, p. Reese Hyde, :22. 140 — Kevin Moore, Cd'A, p. Anneliese DeAragon, :21. 145 — Leonard Fister, S, d. Mark Hunting, 6-1. 152 — Alex Krapas, Cd'A, won by forfeit. 160 — Jesse Nielsen, Cd'A, Paul Marienau t.f. 17-1.