Spartans grab 2nd at Ted Kato, go 1-2 at IML Duals

THOMPSON FALLS, Mont. — The Priest River wrestling team wreaked havoc on the competition they encountered this weekend — and nearly took home all the glory.

The Spartans captured second at the Ted Kato Memorial Tournament on Saturday, and were a point away from tying 4A Sandpoint for the team title. The Bulldogs edged out Priest River 162-161.

The Spartans, who beat Sandpoint 45-39 in a dual earlier this season, really wanted that first-place trophy, but head coach Quinton Holbrook was proud of the way his team attacked the mat in Thompson Falls.

"That was a bummer there, but it made the tournament pretty exciting," he said about just missing out on the team title. "Everybody was kind of into it."

Priest River was without a few varsity wrestlers who were stuck in quarantine, but that didn't seem to faze the team one bit.

"We had a couple JV guys that cut weight and got in the weight classes to fill some spots, so they really stepped it up," Holbrook said.

Five Spartans made it to the championship match in their respective weight classes — Hayden Sorbel, Collin Magers, Keith Poirier, Charles Bennett and Matyus McLain.

Sorbel was the only one who emerged victorious in their title bout, taking down Micah Acker from Superior by pin to claim first at 113 pounds.

Holbrook was glad to see Sorbel, the defending district champion at 106 pounds, breakthrough for a title.

"That was a big one, especially for him," he said. "Him pulling that one off I think is a big confidence booster in the right time of the season. He needed that one."

McLain fell to Sandpoint's Austin Smith to grab second at 205 pounds. Poirier, who has won two tournament titles this season, lost the title match at 126 pounds by majority decision to finish 3-1 at the tourney.

At 145 pounds, Charles Bennett placed second with a 2-1 mark, and Magers secured runner-up at 120 pounds.

Magers typically wrestles on the JV team, but he got an opportunity to compete on varsity this past week and took full advantage of it.

"I'm really proud of him," Holbrook said. "He's stepped it up a lot."

Freshman phenom Colm McLaimtaig (103) brought home third with a 3-1 mark, and Bradley Bennett earned the same finish at 160 pounds thanks to a 4-1 record.

Caeden McLaimtaig (132) and Austin Reeves (145) both captured fourth in their respective weight classes.

On Friday, Priest River was scheduled to compete in three duals in Thompson Falls, but instead they just did a mixer with a few of the schools.

Holbrook said the team really enjoyed the experience of sleeping overnight Friday on the mats at Thompson Falls High, and it was nice to get some matches in against schools they don't get to see on a regular basis.

Last Thursday, Priest River traveled up to Bonners Ferry to take on the Badgers, Kellogg and Timberlake in the Intermountain League duals.

The Spartans went 1-2. They beat the Wildcats 43-31, and fell to Timberlake 42-36, and Bonners Ferry 53-32.

Priest River wasn't at full strength for the event and Holbrook said he is excited to get another crack at the Spartans' league foes in the coming weeks.

"For the most part they did pretty good," he said. "We still get a chance to wrestle Bonners and Timberlake with our full roster, so we'll see how that goes."

Poirier and Caeden McLaimtaig both went undefeated at the IML duals.

Holbrook said he was really proud of Kailee Davis for getting her first victory of the season this past week.

Holbrook likes where his team is at as they head into the home stretch of the season.

"They are doing really good," he said. "Like I told them, 'The trophy that counts is districts and that's coming up, and I think we should be able to pull that one off.'"

Priest River travels to Kellogg on Thursday for a dual with American Falls and a couple exhibition duals. The team heads to Coeur d'Alene on Friday and Saturday for the North Idaho Rumble.

Holbrook is looking forward to the dual with American Falls, who finished fifth at state in 2021, because Poirier will get a chance to battle Grayson Williams, who won the 3A state title at 106 pounds last year. He said the winner of that match could be seeded No. 1 at 126 pounds heading into state.

Results

Ted Kato Memorial Tournament

TEAM SCORES — 1, Sandpoint 162. 2, Priest River 161. 3, Superior 120. 4, Fairfield 103. 5, Bigfork 100.5. 6, Plains/Hot Springs 75.5 7, Cascade 69.5. 8, St. Ignatius 60.5. 9, Whitefish 58. 10, Polson 48. 11, Thompson Falls 45. 12, Arlee 39. 13, Shelby 32. 14, Valier 15. 15, Missoula Sentinel 12. 16, Missoula Big Sky 6.5.

PRIEST RIVER RESULTS (Records only)

103 — 3, Colm McLaimtaig 3-1; Kailee Davis 0-2. 113 — 1, Hayden Sorbel 3-0; Brayden Lamanna 0-2. 120 — 2, Collin Magers 2-1. 126 — 2, Keith Poirier 3-1. 132 — 4, Caeden McLaimtaig 3-2. 145 — 2, Charles Bennett 2-1; 4, Austin Reeves 3-2; Helena White 0-2. 152 — Dalton Brown 1-2. 160 — 3, Bradley Bennett 4-1. 170 — Hunter Rose 0-2. 182 — Gunnar Eversole 0-2. 205 — 2, Matyus McLain 1-1. 285 — Caleb Grow 0-2; Gabriel Grow 0-2.

IML Duals

Bonners Ferry 53, Priest River 32.

106 — Colm McLaimtaig, PR, accepted forfeit. 113 — Hayden Sorbel, PR, accepted forfeit. 120 — Collin Magers, PR, d. Shaylynn Richards, BF, 9-5. 126 — Keith Poirier, PR, accepted forfeit. 132 — Caeden McLaimtaig, PR, p. Porter Blackmore, BF, 2:27. 138 — Tully Reinhardt, BF, accepted forfeit. 145 — Marcus Regehr, BF, tf. Charles Bennett, PR, 15-0. 152 — Dakoda Heller, BF, p. Dalton Brown, PR, 2:28. 160 — Daniel Zech, BF, p. Bradley Bennett, PR, 3:05. 170 — Cleo Henslee, BF, p. Hunter Rose, PR, 0:18. 182 — Eli Richards, BF, p. Gunnar Eversole, PR, 1:14. 195 — Matyus McLain, PR, p. Joshua Pinkerton, BF, 1:31. 220 — Jackson Richter, BF, p. Gabriel Grow, PR, 0:09. 285 — Donald Reiss, BF, p. Caleb Grow, PR, 1:42. 98 — Brandon Williams, BF, accepted forfeit.

Priest River 43, Kellogg 31.

98 — Double forfeit. 106 — Colm McLaimtaig, PR, accepted forfeit. 113 — Hayden Sorbel, PR, md. Ricky Haralson, K, 13-3. 120 — Kolter Wood, K, p. Collin Magers, PR, 1:29. 126 — Keith Poirier, PR, d. Jaeger Hall, K, 5-0. 132 — Caeden McLaimtaig, PR, p. Tanner Williams, K, 5:34. 138 — Ethan Guy, K, accepted forfeit. 145 — Raymond Heely, K, d. Charles Bennett, PR, 8-5. 152 — Brady Vergobbi, K, md. Dalton Brown, PR, 12-0. 160 — Bradley Bennett, PR, accepted forfeit. 170 — Hunter Rose, PR, accepted forfeit. 182 — Austin Miller, K, p. Gunnar Eversole, PR, 1:21. 195 — Matyus McLain, PR, accepted forfeit. 220 — Kyle VanVleet, K, p. Gabriel Grow, PR, 3:34. 285 — Caleb Grow, PR, accepted forfeit.

Timberlake 42, Priest River 36.

98 — Double forfeit. 106 — Paul Sundstrom, TL, d. Colm McLaimtaig, PR, 9-4. 113 — Ayden Meehan, TL, d. Hayden Sorbel, PR, 9-8. 120 — Stryker Houston, TL, p. Collin Magers, PR, 2:28. 126 — Keith Poirier, PR, p. James Moore, TL, 0:50. 132 — Caeden McLaimtaig, PR, p. Callum Micke, TL, 2:50. 138 — Tristyn Frank, TL, by forfeit. 145 — Charles Bennett, PR, p. Jonathan Hansen, TL, 1:39. 152 — Ashton Peightal, TL, p. Dalton Brown, PR, 1:02. 160 — Bradley Bennett, PR, by forfeit. 170 — Paul Shaner, TL, p. Hunter Rose, PR, 1:13. 182 — Gunnar Eversole, PR, by forfeit. 195 — James Billingsley, TL, p. Matyus McLain, PR, 0:40. 220 — Trevor Cady, TL, p. Gabriel Grow, PR, 0:27. 285 — Caleb Grow, PR, p. Matt Soito, TL, 0:44.