9 Sandpoint wrestlers will head to state after receiving at-large bids Sunday

RATHDRUM — It was a tough district championship for Sandpoint wrestling on Saturday at Lakeland High as the Bulldogs failed to receive any automatic bids to state.

But that all changed Sunday when the Bulldogs found out nine wrestlers were awarded at-large bids to the state championships.

All it took was a plane ride to Boise by head coach Jake Stark on Sunday morning and some vouching from him to help Forest Ambridge (98), Jacob Albany (98), Trevan Adam (138), Brady Nelsen (145), Blake Sherrill (145), Isaiah Caralis (152), Jake Suhr (195), Tag Benefield (220) and Matt Thurlow (220) all earn at-large bids.

Stark said the Bulldogs didn’t wrestle to their potential at districts but he’s glad the team was able to send nine wrestlers to state, the same amount they brought last year.

“We kind of dropped the ball and it was a rough going for us,” Stark said about districts. “Luckily, we have good enough records and our kids have wrestled hard throughout the season and earned it with their records.”

For the second straight year at the 4A Region 1 tournament, the champions of each weight class were the only ones to lock-up guaranteed state berths. This is the result of a state qualification process established last year that cut the 4A bids to state in half.

This forced every Sandpoint wrestler to gun for an individual district title in order to secure a state berth and unfortunately the Bulldogs came up empty handed as Lakeland won 13 of the 15 titles and Moscow took the other two.

Stark said the limited automatic state bids at districts were a difficult hurdle that his team couldn’t overcome.

“It’s tough when you only get to take one to state,” Stark said. “It puts a lot of pressure on the guys and pressure on everybody. It’s just a mental challenge knowing that you got to be the No. 1 dude or you spot is not guaranteed.”

But a pair of Bulldogs came within seconds of claiming district titles. Nelsen (145) and Benefield (220) both faced early deficits in their championship matches but battled back to tie up their respective bouts in the third round.

Nelsen fell behind 4-1 in the first round and Benefield was down 4-3 after the second. Nelsen tied his bout with Lakeland’s Carson Heim at 7-7 with about 30 seconds remaining and Benefield equalized his match with Moscow’s Logan Kearney late as well.

However, Nelsen ended up falling 9-7 and Benefield lost 7-6 as their opponents scored points just before the final whistle blew. They both suffered heart-breaking defeats that Stark believes will make the duo stronger.

“Those were definitely some tough matches to sit through and be there for when it comes down to the wire,” he said, “and it’s that close and they were frustrated too and sometimes that’s a good thing to motivate you and walk into state saying, ‘hey this is not how I’m going to let my season end, I got another shot I’m going to make the best of it.’”

Lakeland won the district title for the 12th straight year beating out second place Sandpoint 488-290. Overall, 22 Bulldogs placed at districts and 15 brought home top-three finishes.

The 4A state championships are this Friday and Saturday at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa.

Results

TEAM SCORES — Lakeland 488, Sandpoint 290, Moscow 235.5.

Guaranteed places in each weight class (Sandpoint athletes in bold)

98 — 1. Skyla Zimmerman, Moscow, 2. Jacob Albany, Sandpoint, 3. Forest Ambridge, Sandpoint, 4. Matt Williams, Lakeland, 5. Darren Gosch, Lakeland. 106 — 1. Peyton Wysong, Lakeland, 2. Kai Reynolds, Moscow, 3. Kayelin Johansen, Sandpoint. 113 — 1. Tanner Korst, Lakeland, 2. Zach Domras, Moscow. 120 — 1. Callum Mickey, Lakeland, 2. Jordan Birkhimer, Sandpoint, 3. Heather Wallace, Sandpoint. 126 — 1. Alex Edelblute, Lakeland, 2. Jack Bales, Moscow, 3. John Meredith, 4. Raphael Eldridge, Sandpoint. 132 — 1. Lucas Williams, Lakeland, 2. Andrew Stone, Moscow, 3. Soren Sabatke, Lakeland, 4. Calvin Pfund, Moscow, 5. James Marker, Sandpoint, 6. Jake Ryan, Sandpoint. 138 — 1. Riley Segford, Lakeland, 2. Colton Dow, Lakeland, 3. Trevan Adam, Sandpoint, 4. Eli Lyon, Moscow. 145 — 1. Carson Heim, Lakeland, 2. Brady Nelsen, Sandpoint, 3. Blake Sherrill, Sandpoint, 4. Deigo Deaton, Moscow, 5. Matt Foley, Lakeland, 6. Erik Blaker, Moscow. 152 — 1. Rhonin Edwards, Lakeland, 2. Cooper Johnson, Lakeland, 3. Isaiah Caralis, Sandpoint, 4. Cameron Vetter, Moscow, 5. Micah Harder, Moscow, 6. Kai McKinnion, Sandpoint. 160 — 1. Ryan Quimby, Lakeland, 2. Blaise Wright, Lakeland, 3. Samuel Becker, Sandpoint, 4. Owen Wimmer, Sandpoint, 5. Owen Wallace, Moscow. 170 — 1. Colton Boettcher, Lakeland, 2. Devon Howell, Lakeland, 3. Christian Troumbley, Sandpoint, 4. Samual Greene, Moscow. 182 — 1. John White, Lakeland, 2. Gregory Belgarde, Sandpoint, 3. Bradley Grubham, Lakeland. 195 — 1. Hayden Berger, Lakeland, 2. Jake Suhr, Sandpoint, 3. Josh Howell, Lakeland. 220 — 1. Logan Kearney, Moscow, 2. Tag Benefield, Sandpoint, 3, Matt Thurlow, Sandpoint, 4. Kyran Mutart, Moscow, 5. Jarrod Killian, Lakeland. 285 — 1. Sam Feusier, Lakeland, 2. Johnny Sullivan, Lakeland, 3. Bennett Marsh, Moscow, 4, Evan Twineham, Sandpoint, 5. Wyatt Salisbury, Moscow, 6. Carson Mavity, Sandpoint.