McNelly claims Clearwater Classic championship

LEWISTON — Sandpoint wrestler Tanner McNelly continued an impressive sophomore campaign, overcoming an error-prone semi-final win at 113 pounds to claim his first Clearwater Classic, leading a solid showing by the Bulldog wrestling team last weekend at Lewis-Clark State College.

Josh Travers, the No. 8 ranked 220 pound 4A wrestler in the state according the Idahowrestlingnews.com, also had a solid showing for the Bulldogs, finishing fourth after dropping down to 195 pounds.

“In the finals, Tanner wrestled a confident and aggressive match to pin his opponent,” said Bulldogs head coach Mike Randles, also praising the improvement of Travers. “Despite being a junior, he is only in his second year of high school wrestling. With each match he is finding more technical consistency.”

Adam Weindl (182 pounds) was upended by the eventual champion and then lost in the consolation semis to a 5A state placer from Lewiston, Quinton Grimmage, to finish fifth . Weindl bounced back to soundly defeat his opponent from Moscow.

Some of the best efforts came from a handful of freshmen and sophomores, who fell just short of the podium. Tyler Brown, Tyler Presser, Alex O’Shea and Jake Williams all posted multiple wins. It was O’Shea’s first varsity tournament, and Williams, a freshman at 160 pounds, posted three wins and fell one match away from placing.

“While we continue to make strides in the right direction, we continue to have those hiccups,” admitted Randles. “And the only way to overcome those is by getting mat time.”

The Bulldogs are at the Coeur d’Alene Tournament on Friday and Saturday.