Eight Top Dogs end season with championships

SANDPOINT — With nearly 500 competitors in the field, the Top Dog Wrestling Club sent 23 of its 47 competitors to the podium at the Panhandle Wrestling Championships held last Saturday at Sandpoint Middle School.

It was the league’s biggest tournament in more than a decade with some pretty tough youth groups coming in from across Washington.

Post Falls Real Life Wrestling Club nabbed the large team title with Top Dog finishing second, while Bonners Ferry claimed the small team title.

“We seem to have a second wave of youth coming through Top Dog,” said coach Mike Randles. “The first wave of kids are all pretty much in middle school now, with a few in high school.”

This year’s Panhandle field drew some of the top youth wrestlers from North Idaho, Spokane, Moses Lake and the Seattle area.

Leading the charge for the Top Dogs was Tyssen Case. Case finished the season undefeated with few opponents making it past the second period against the hard-charging Top Dog. Joining Case as lead dogs amongst a new wave of k-6 Top Dogs were fellow Panhandle champions Tyson Hodges and Mathew and Gavin Clifton.

Top Dog placers:

n First Place: Tyssen Case, Tyson Hodges, Casey Randles, Tyronne Larsen, Antonio Lopez, Matthew Clifton, Gavin Clifton and Kerry Johnson.

n Second Place: Amos Crossingham and Coleman Inge.

n Third Place: Shane Sherrill, Adam Belgarde, Scout Nash and Andrew Webster.

n Fourth Place: Blake Sherril, Ryan McNelley, Brycen Hughes, Bridger Andres, Sonny Aitken and Calvin Hinds.

n Fifth Place: Canyon Nash, Gregory Belgarde and Sam Becker.