Sandpoint wrestling returns from quarantine, dominates Moscow on Senior Night

SANDPOINT — Thursday's Senior Night dual with Moscow had a much different feel than years past.

That's because it was the first event for the Sandpoint wrestling team in nearly two weeks.

After being exposed to someone who had tested positive for COVID-19, the Bulldogs went into quarantine following a bus ride home from the first day of the North Idaho Rumble on Jan. 29.

The team returned to school and practice on Monday and it was evident how much they enjoyed being back on the mat across from another team on Thursday night.

"I'm happy that we finally got to celebrate a wrestling match with the fans," head coach Jake Stark said. "That felt really good."

It was the second time Sandpoint had to quarantine this season. The first occurred during Christmas break and fortunately for the Bulldogs, they weren't forced to miss any key events. But their second quarantine occurred during the most crucial part of the season.

The few weeks prior to districts is when every wrestler wants to be at their strongest and when every coach wants his team to be rolling. COVID-19 had other plans for the Bulldogs, but this team is no stranger to adversity.

Injuries, sickness and canceled tournaments have become par for the course and Stark said his team isn't letting all the added obstacles bring down their attitude.

"I admire our team because we've been thrown a lot this year and we've been able to comeback and overcome everything that's been thrown at us," he said. "I'm just happy we've been able to go this far."

And Sandpoint is taking extra precautions to make sure they can compete in districts next week.

"We're implementing a lot more protocols and procedures and things we do to kind of keep guys separated," Stark said. "We put guys in pods, so if one or two guys get sick, it's not the whole team."

Sandpoint made the most of its return to the mat and throttled rival Moscow 55-15.

The dual only lasted about 30 minutes because the Bears were significantly outnumbered. Moscow had just nine wrestlers due to COVID-19 protocols and were forced to forfeit seven matches to the Bulldogs.

Andrew Duke (98), Forest Ambridge (113), Tanner Dickson (120), Jacob Crum (152), Sam Becker (160), Blake Sherrill (182) and Austin Smith (195) all accepted forfeits. The team's double forfeited at 106 and 126.

"They're in the same boat as us," Stark said about Moscow.

The first contested bout of the night came at 132 pounds between Shane Sherrill and Moscow's Jack Bales. Shane dominated and earned a 15-2 major decision.

"I was really happy to start with him in our dual just because I know he's intense and he's a competitor," Stark said. "Every time he gets on the mat, it's 100 percent even if he's not in 100 percent shape."

At 138, Jordan Birkhimer lost 1-0 and at 145, senior captain Trevan Adam earned a gritty 6-4 victory over Moscow's Diego Deaton.

Adam typically wrestles at 152, but he dropped down a weight class to allow Crum, a senior, a spot in the varsity lineup in his final home dual, Stark said.

Kai Mckinnon was pinned at 170 pounds and Moscow's Logan Kearney, the 2020 4A state runner-up at 220 pounds, pinned Matt Thurlow with just two seconds left in the first period.

Despite the loss, Stark said Thurlow wrestled with great technique.

"He wrestled that kid really good," Stark said. "A couple more seconds and he would have been in that second round. I think it would have been a whole different match if he could have gone to the second round or third round because Matt gets better the longer he wrestles."

Sophomore Carson Laybourne capped the night with a pin of Moscow's Oscar Kearney at heavyweight in 1:02.

Only six Sandpoint wrestlers got to face an opponent during the varsity dual and Stark said it was tough to build any momentum.

"It was so few and far between that it was hard to get a roll going and hard to get energy," he said, "and sometimes that's what duals are all about. One or two guys get going and then everybody feeds off of it ... and it was just hard to catch that."

Prior to the dual, the Bulldogs honored their eight seniors — Tag Benefield, Kayelin Johansen, Trevan Adam, Sam Becker, Jacob Crum, Isaac Webb, Matt Thurlow and Tanner Dickson.

Benefield and Johansen were unable to compete due to season-ending injuries.

When Stark took over as head coach, this group was in their freshman year. Because of that, this senior class will always be special to Stark.

"They've meant a lot to me," he said. "It's just awesome to see these guys grow and I'm going to miss them because they're a good bunch. They got good character and they're fun to be around on and off the mat."

Stark had a special message for Thurlow.

"Matt has grown tremendously not only on the mat, but in the way he holds himself and the way he walks around," he said. "He's grown into such a great young man, I'm really proud of him."

This was Sandpoint's final tune-up before the 4A Region 1 championships next Friday at Lakeland High.

"I just wish we could have had more matches leading into districts," Stark said. "You can only wrestle yourselves so many times, you never get that real feeling like you're at a match. We're just going to have to roll with the punches and go and make a push."

It will be a tall mountain for the Bulldogs to climb, but Stark said his team is capable of making some noise at districts.

"There's guys like Blake Sherrill that haven't wrestled in a good month and a half," he said. "We're really going to have to put in a lot of work in practice and try to make it as match-like as we can to get a good look and get ready for districts, but there's a lot of question marks. Hopefully, we can clear those up through some hard practice and get to where we need to be."

98 — Andrew Duke, Spt., by forfeit. 106 — Double forfeit. 113 — Forest Ambridge, Spt., by forfeit. 120 — Tanner Dickson, Spt., by forfeit. 126 — Double forfeit. 132 — Shane Sherrill, Spt., md. Jack Bales, 15-2. 138 — Eli Lyon, M, d. Jordan Birkhimer, 1-0. 145 — Trevan Adam, Spt., d. Diego Deaton, 6-4. 152 — Jacob Crum, Spt., by forfeit. 160 — Samuel Becker, Spt., by forfeit. 170 — Micah Harder, M, p. Kai Mckinnon, 1:52. 182 — Blake Sherrill, Spt., by forfeit. 195 — Austin Smith, Spt., by forfeit. 220 — Logan Kearney, M, p. Matt Thurlow, 1:58. 285 — Carson Laybourne, Spt., p. Oscar Kearney, 1:02.