Five Bulldogs place at Best of the West Tourney

PASCO, Wash. — Five Sandpoint wrestlers were able to bring home medals from the Best of the West Tournament on Saturday.

The Bulldogs that placed were junior Tanner Dickson (113), sophomore Kaleb Fleck (132), senior Malachi Fleck (138), senior Brady Nelsen (145) and senior Jake Suhr (195).

As a team, Sandpoint finished 14th out of the 20 schools that competed in the tournament. Head coach Jake Stark said it was hectic at times with multiple Bulldogs wrestling simultaneously but he was encouraged by what he saw from his team.

“We got a lot of experience over the weekend and I feel like we’ve grown and kind of figured out where we need to get too,” Stark said. “There is things that we did good, there is things we can work on, but it was definitely a good learning experience.”

Dickson led the way for Sandpoint as the Bulldogs highest finisher, placing fourth. He made it all the way to the semifinals, before losing two straight matches by pin to capture fourth.

Stark said Dickson is a smaller kid but he’s one of the strongest ones you’ll find at the 113 pound weight class.

“He’s wrestling really smart,” Stark said. “He’s turned it on on the offensive side, he’s attacking more ... he’s just physically dominating his opponents.”

The Fleck brothers continued to show they will each be a force to be reckon with in their respective weight classes this season as Malachi secured a fifth place result and Kaleb took home eighth.

Stark said the Fleck brothers possess all the required attributes to be successful wrestlers and are proving right now.

“They got a tough family,” Stark said. “They just don’t make those type of kids anymore, they’re hard-nosed, tough kids. They get out there and leave it on the mat every match.”

Nelsen battled his way to a seventh place result after falling in the quarterfinals. The senior edged out Pasco’s Antonio Ramos in the eighth place bout to take seventh.

Suhr was the final Bulldog to medal, placing eighth. The senior intended on eventually dropping down from 220 pounds and wrestling at 195 before the season began but its never an easy transition. Suhr made it look seamless though, going 3-1 during duals Friday and making it to the quarterfinals Saturday.

“He just has a good work ethic and a great attitude,” Stark said about Suhr. “No matter if he’s having a rough day or not, he brings his best foot forward and I’m proud to coach him. He’s a good kid and he’s going to do good things down the stretch. He’s putting in that work and its going to payoff down the road.”

Sandpoint will get some time to rest up with the holiday season upon us before traveling to University High in Spokane for the Pacific Northwest Classic on Jan. 3-4.

Sandpoint results, Bulldog athletes in bold

Best of the West Individual Tournament

106: Champ. Round 1 — Otterson received a bye, Champ, Round 2 — Boone d. Otterson, Fall 5:11, Cons. Round 2 — Otterson received a bye, Cons. Round 3 — Otterson d. Clark, Fall 1:53, Consolation 1st — Kratofil d. Otterson, Dec. 11-5.

113: Champ. Round 1 — Dickson received a bye, Champ. Round 2 — Dickson d. Croft, MD 13-1, Quarterfinal — Dickson d. Hlat, Dec 6-3, Semifinal — Thee d. Dickson, Fall 1:15, 3rd Place Match — Wallway d. Dickson, Fall 0:44.

120: Champ. Round 1 — Birkhimer received a bye, Champ. Round 2 — Godinez d. Birkhimer, Fall 0:58, Cons. Round 2 — Chavez d. Birkhimer, Fall 2:39.

126: Champ. Round 1 — Eldridge received a bye, Champ. Round 2 — Negra d. Eldridge, Fall 1:10, Cons. Round 2 — Eldridge d. Kershaw, Fall 1:43, Cons. Round 3 — Eldridge d. Fisher, Fall 1:30, Consolation 1st — Cazares d. Eldridge, Dec 9-5.

132: Champ. Round 1 — Ryan d. Lucatero, Fall 1:33. Champ. Round 2 — Morales d. Ryan, TF-1.5 4:22 (17-2), Cons. Round 2 — Williams accepted forfeit over Ryan. Champ. Round 1 — K. Fleck received a bye, Champ. Round 2 — K. Fleck d. Williams, Fall 1:38. Quarterfinal — Morales d. K. Fleck, Dec 8-2, Cons. Round 3 — Friesen d. K. Fleck, Dec 5-0, 7th Place Match — Jimenez d. K. Fleck, Dec 2-0.

138: Champ. Round 1 — M. Fleck received a bye, Champ. Round 2 — M. Fleck d. Paradis, Dec 6-4, Quarterfinal — Barnes d. M. Fleck, Fall 1:16, Cons. Round 3 — M. Fleck d. Yates, MD 14-3, 5th Place Match — M. Fleck d. Atkins, Dec 9-7. Champ. Round 1 — Adam d. Escalera, Fall 3:41, Champ. Round 2 — Atkins d. Adam, Fall 3:39, Cons. Round 2 — Adam d. Conroy, TF-1.5 4:22 (18-3), Cons. Round 3 — Ruiz d. Adam, MD 12-4.

145: Champ. Round 1 — Hinds d. Rosas, Fall 1:57, Champ. Round 2 — Ramos d. Hinds, Fall 1:55, Cons. Round 2 — Hinds d. McGlathery, Fall 3:46, Cons. Round 3 — Schmidt d. Hinds, Fall 3:00. Champ. Round 1 — Nelson d. Nay Lay, Fall 1:34, Champ. Round 2 — Nelson d. Sepulveda, Dec 6-0, Quarterfinal — Evans d. Nelson, Dec 13-6, Cons. Round 3 — Covington d. Nelson, Fall 1:50, 7th Place Match — Nelson d. Ramos, Dec 7-3.

152: Champ. Round 1 — Caralis received a bye, Champ. Round 2 — Poe-Hatten d. Caralis, Fall 5:59, Cons. Round 2 — Ayala d. Caralis, Dec 9-3.

160: Champ. Round 1 — Spinks/Vazquez d. Wimmer, Fall 1:27, Cons. Round 1 — Wimmer received a bye, Cons. Round 2 — Wimmer d. Coffman, injury default, Cons. Round 3 — Bogle d. Wimmer, Fall 0:58.

182: Champ. Round 1 — Breier d. Belgarde, Fall 1:02, Cons. Round 1 — Belgarde received a bye, Cons. Round 2 — Belgarde received a bye, Cons. Round 3 — Bonilla d. Belgarde, Fall 3:59.

195: Champ. Round 1 — Suhr received a bye, Champ. Round 2 — Suhr d. Finch, Fall 0:57, Quarterfinal — Stewart d. Suhr, Fall 3:17, Cons. Round 3 — Hudson d. Suhr, Fall 0:32, 7th Place Match — Andrade d. Suhr, Fall 4:32.

220: Champ. Round 1 — Darr d. Tonge, Fall 1:48, Cons. Round 1 — Castillo d. Tonge, Dec 6-4.

285: Champ. Round 1 — Mavity received a bye, Champ. Round 2 — Martin d. Mavity, Fall 1:09, Cons. Round 2 — Mauseth d. Mavity, Fall 1:21. Champ. Round 1 — Twienham received a bye, Champ. Round 2 — Prieto d. Twienham, Fall 0:27, Cons. Round 2 — Rodriguez d. Twienham, Fall 0:34.