Three Bulldogs grab second at St. Maries

St. MARIES — Garret Belgarde (119 pounds), Payton Dillon (103) and Leonard Fister (160) each placed second to lead the Bulldogs in their season opening wrestling tournament last weekend at the two-day St. Maries Invitational.

Belgarde posted five consecutive pins before being upended in the finals by Lake City’s Marcus Banducci. Fister also cruised through his bracket, but fell in the finals to Coeur d’Alene All-American Johnny Peregrinna. Dillon also won five straight matches before falling in the finals.

Kyle Csizmar (125), David Marienau (145) and Pat Charland (171) each finished third for the Bulldogs in the tournament which featured teams from St. Maries, Moscow, Kellogg, Post Falls, Lake City, Coeur d’Alene, Priest River and Bonners Ferry.

Bulldogs head coach Mike Randles had high praise for the wrestling of Troy Williams (125), who finished third in the JV tournament, posting a 6-2 record.

A contingent of Sandpoint sophomores which included Williams, Dillon, Justin Pepperdine, Devin Schalk and Damon Rodriguez had a terrific tournament, posting several wins but more importantly staying on the attack throughout all of their matches.

Sandpoint will compete at the prestigious Tri-State tournament this weekend in Coeur d’Alene.