Sandpoint wrestling bids farewell to 7 seniors, falls to Lake City

SANDPOINT — The walkout music played and the fog machine spewed smoke onto to the floor at Les Rogers Court on Wednesday night. It was just like every home dual for Sandpoint wrestling this season.

But not for the Bulldogs seven seniors; Brady Nelsen, Heather Wallace, Evan Twineham, Malachi Fleck, Jake Ryan, Isaiah Caralis and Jake Suhr, who were honored before the match. It was their final time stepping onto the mat at home and they left it all out there.

Head coach Jake Stark said this group of seniors has left its mark on the program.

“I’m going to miss them,” he said. “This is a good group. They’re hard-working, they don’t ever complain, they just step it up and work hard every day and that’s all I can ask from them.”

The atmosphere was ratcheted up thanks to the special night as the student section was decked out in black.

Unfortunately, the Bulldogs weren’t able to send their seniors off on a high note as they fell 66-17 to a tough Lake City team.

The dual started perfect for Sandpoint as Fleck took the mat first at 138 pounds. He dominated Lake City’s Ayden Johnson the entire bout and with 37 seconds left, Fleck pinned Johnson and put the Bulldogs on the board first, 6-0.

Next up was Nelsen who wore down his opponent at 145 pounds across the three rounds and claimed victory by technical fall 18-3 to give Sandpoint a 11-0 advantage.

Caralis then showed why he has earned the nickname Diesel throughout his high school career by overpowering Lake City’s Gavin Tuttle to claim a 7-2 win.

The Timberwolves took control of the dual after that bout, winning five of the next six matches by pin to take a commanding 36-14 lead.

The best match of the night happen at 98 pounds between sophomore Jacob Albany and Lake City’s Zach Macdonald. Albany trailed after the first and second rounds but in the decisive third he battled back and in the closing seconds of the bout nearly put Macdonald flat on his back. The match went into overtime tied at 9-9 and Albany emerged with a 11-9 sudden victory.

The Bulldogs lost the final five matches of the night by pin.

“We battled at some weights,” Stark said about his team’s performance. “We came out super strong with our seniors and they kind of set the tone for us but we’re young at a couple weights and that’s OK, we’re going to learn and get better.”

With their final home dual in the books, the Bulldogs head north for the Bonners Ferry Invite on Saturday.

Results (Sandpoint athletes in bold)

Lake City 66, Sandpoint 17.

98: Albany d. Macdonald, SV-1 11-9, 106: Leonard p. Otterson, 1:49, 113: Hess p. Dickson, 0:47, 120: Amick p. Birkhimer, 1:27, 126: Garner p. Eldridge, 1:51, 132: Lindsay p. Wilson, 1:01, 138: Fleck p. Johnson, 5:23, 145: Nelsen d. Richardson, TF 18-3, 152: Caralis d. Tuttle, Dec. 7-2, 160: Howard p. Becker, 3:23, 170: Nutting p. Troumbley-Karkoski, 2:58., 182: Anderson accepted forfeit, 195: Clark p. Belgarde, 1:19, 220: Dremann p. Laybourne, 0:59, 285: Hughes p. Twineham, 1:14.