A Decade of Champions: yet another three-peat
SANDPOINT — Hard as it is to fathom from a team featuring three future college wrestlers and coming off two of the most dominating seasons in the history of Idaho, but the 2003 Bulldog wrestlers viewed themselves as underdogs.
It was a role they were largely unaccustomed to after boasting nationally ranked teams prior, yet one they seemed to relish. Head coach Mike Randles used the foreign theme as motivation, and it worked, with the Bulldogs claiming their third consecutive 4A championship and sixth in 10 years.
The win marked the third three-peat for Sandpoint that school year, as the boys and girls soccer teams also accomplished the feat.
n 2003 Sandpoint wrestling team
ROSTER: Gale Belgarde (112), Eric Lichty (171), Josh Ratigan (152), Luke Feist (160), Jared Rosholt (215), Alex Watson (103), Jeremiah Watson (130), Chad Coon (140), Kyle Brookings (145), Justin Ziegler (125), Eric Roberts (275), Quinn Walkington (119), Brian Kelly (135), Jason Cates (171), Justin Watson (189), Dan Roos (215), Brian Taylor (275), Wade York (112), Auggie Thornton (119), Joe Heil (189) and head coach Mike Randles.
After thoroughly dominating the field in 2001 and 2002, the Bulldogs faced a stiff test for a three-peat from Blackfoot and Mountain Home, each of whom were predicted to win a state title and qualified more wrestlers to state than Sandpoint.
“We certainly are not as dominating as we’ve been in the past, but that is measured against our standards,” said head coach Mike Randles of the 2003 team. “To be pretty honest, at the beginning of the year, I wasn’t sure we’d be in a position to win No. 3.”
Led by state championships from junior Luke Feist (160), sophomore Jared Rosholt (215) and senior Jason Cates (171), and second place finished from Quinn Walkington (119) and Justin Watson (189), the Bulldogs managed to edge Blackfoot by a slim margin, comparatively.
“That’s what made it special — being an underdog made it special in some ways,” said Randles after the state meet. “We had so many kids that didn’t start wrestling until high school, and that shows they’re an incredibly hard-working group of kids.”
Feist won the second of his three titles before moving on to Stanford, Rosholt won his second title before moving to Oklahoma, where he would wrestle for Oklahoma State, and Cates overcame an injured collar bone to win his first title, before heading off to wrestle at Boise State.
Quote of the Year: “Being an underdog kept them hungry, you always want to defend your title,” said Randles. “The only thing better than two hamburgers is three.”
See tomorrow’s Daily Bee for a look back at the 2003 Sandpoint boys track team, which claimed the school’s lone track championship.