Sandpoint wrestling tops Priest River 75-6 in season opener

SANDPOINT — Sandpoint wrestling took care of business in its season opener Friday night.

The Bulldogs downed Priest River 75-6 in a dual.

Head coach Jake Stark liked what he saw from his squad.

"One of our keys was to come out and work on our technique we've been practicing on and drilling day in and day out," he said, "and I was pretty happy with the way we performed tonight."

Eight Bulldogs won their matches by pin: Tanner Dickson, Shane Sherrill, McLean Weig, Darrian Resso, Trevan Adam, Isaac Webb, Blake Sherrill and Austin Smith.

Smith had the fastest victory of the night, pinning Priest River's Landon Reynolds in 46 seconds at 195 pounds.

Adam, a senior captain, pinned Keegan Poirier from Priest River in 58 seconds in a 152-pound bout.

Sandpoint's Andrew Duke (98), Sam Becker (160), Tag Benefield (220) and Carson Laybourne (285) all accepted victories by forfeit.

The dual started at 170 pounds with Webb, a senior, taking on Priest River's Matyus McLain. It was Webb's first match since his sophomore year and he pinned McLain in 1:23. The Bulldogs rolled after that.

Keith Poirier claimed the sole victory for the Spartans at 126 pounds, pinning Braden Norris in 1:36.

The most intriguing bout of the night happened at 113 pounds between Sandpoint's Jacob Albany and Priest River's Hayden Sorbel.

Sorbel nearly pinned Albany in the first period, but Albany survived and trailed 4-0 heading into the second.

Sorbel earned a couple takedowns and stretched his advantage to 10-4 entering the third period.

However, Albany didn't go away quietly and knotted the match at 11-11 to force overtime.

Late in the one-minute overtime round, Albany earned a takedown to secure a 13-11 sudden-death victory over Sorbel.

Stark said it was a fun match to watch and he was proud of the resiliency Albany showed.

"He's that type of kid," Stark said. "He just never gives up the fight, he's got a lot of heart, keeps working hard and he pulled it off."

Priest River head coach Quinton Holbrook said that bout was a true battle.

"They battled back and forth last year," he said, "and I know [Sorbel] was really wanting that one and maybe I should have put him on top in the third period. I usually go against that until the end of the season, but I could have put him on top there and maybe rode that period out with the cushion he had."

Stark was impressed by all his wrestlers Friday night.

"I thought everyone wrestled technically solid," he said. "Our red and white night we were a little bit sloppy. We really tightened up the strings and I felt like we performed right where we should be to start the season off on a good note."

Sandpoint heads to Bonners Ferry at 6 p.m. Thursday to battle for the "B" Cup.

Results (Sandpoint athletes in bold)

Sandpoint 75. Priest River 6.

98 — Duke accepted forfeit

106 — Double forfeit

113 — Albany d. Sorbel, SV 13-11

120 — Dickson d. McLaimtaig, Fall 1:15

126 — Keith Poirier d. Norris, Fall 1:36

132 — S. Sherrill d. Troumbley, Fall 0:45

138 — Weig d. Nessel, Fall 1:01

145 — Resso d. Brokew, Fall 2:50

152 — Adam d. Keegan Poirier, Fall 0:58

160 — Becker accepted forfeit

170 — Webb d. McLain, Fall 1:23

182 — B. Sherrill d. Bennett, Fall 1:26

195 — Smith d. Reynolds, Fall 0:46

220 — Benefield accepted forfeit

285 — Laybourne accepted forfeit