STATE TOURNAMENT WRESTLING: Priest River’s Colm McLaimtaig wins 138-pound title; Tyler second, Sherrill third for Sandpoint

BOYS

POCATELLO – Junior Colm McLaimtaig led all Bonner County Wrestlers on Saturday after capturing the 2A/1A 138-pound state title at the IHSAA Wrestling State Championship held Feb. 23-24 at Holt Arena.

Last year, competing at 120 pounds, Colm qualified, but did not place at the state wrestling tournament. After moving up a couple of weight classes and working hard in the offseason, he got the job done — definitely not a small feat.

Colm pinned Pearlli Lillibridge of Raft River (5:09) and Jace Waggoner of Tri-Valley (4:32) in his first two matches on Friday. On Saturday, he won by a 11-2 major decision over Hunter Gamble of Orofino in the semifinal. In the championship match, Colm defeated Jack Eddins of Grace by a narrow 8-7 decision. 

Also reaching the championship match was junior Jorden Tyler of Sandpoint, who placed second. Tyler pinned Kaleb Strunk of Burley (1:04) and Quincy Turner of Twin Falls (3:43) in his first two matches. In the semifinal, he won by 6-0 decision over Wesley Hodges of Mountain Home. In the championship match, Tyler fell by a narrow 4-2 decision after a hard-fought battle against Minico’s Preston Sonner-Cranney.

Tyler finished third last year at 195 pounds.

Sandpoint’s Shane Sherrill (138) and Priest River’s Caeden McLaimtaig (152) both finished third after working their way through their respective consolation brackets. Both wrestlers finished with four wins after all was said and done. Sherrill finished fifth at 138 pounds in last year's state tournament, Caeden was second at 138 pounds.

Priest River’s Caleb Grow (220) also notched a fifth-place finish after going 4-2 in his first state tournament. All four of the matches he won were by pin.

Sandpoint finished tied for 11th overall in 4A. Priest River finished 13th in 2A/1A.

4A

TEAM SCORES — 1 (tie), Bishop Kelly, Minico 248. 3 (tie), Blackfoot, Lakeland 125.5. 5, Century 124.5. 6, Caldwell 117.5. 7, Bonneville 98. 8, Shelley 88. 9, Jerome 87. 10, Canyon Ridge 67. 11 (tie), Preston, Sandpoint 62. 13, Ridgevue 58. 14, Emmett 56. 15, Idaho Falls 50.5. 16, Mountain Home 42. 17, Burley 39. 18, Hillcrest 38. 19, Twin Falls 37.5. 20, Skyline 35. 21, Vallivue 21. 22, Pocatello 18.5. 23, Moscow 17. 24, 7. 25, Skyview 6. 26, Columbia 1. 

CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET

Championship matches

195 — Preston Sonner-Cranney, Minico, d. Jorden Tyler, Sandpoint, 4-2.

Third-fourth place

138 — Shane Sherrill, Sandpoint, d. Marquez Arredondo, Caldwell, 3-1.

Semifinals

138 — Manuel Valdez, Bishop Kelly, p. Shane Sherrill, Sandpoint, 1:54.

195 — Jorden Tyler, Sandpoint, d. Wesley Hodges, Mountain Home, 6-0.

CONSOLATION BRACKET

Semifinals

113 — Jett Hone, Blackfoot, p. Aidan Rork, Sandpoint, 3:31. 

138 — Shane Sherill, Sandpoint, d. Peyton Gurney, Ridgevue, 8-2. 

2A

TEAM SCORES — 1, Malad 183.5. 2, New Plymouth 159. 3, Kellogg 155. 4, West Side 127. 5, Firth 127. 6, Grace 114.5. 7, Tri-Valley 98. 8, North Fremont 96.5. 9, St. Maries 92.5. 10, Ririe 83. 11, Soda Springs 78. 12, Declo 72.5. 13, Priest River 71. 14, Melba 60. 15, Aberdeen 57. 16, Glenns Ferry 52.5. 17, Clearwater Valley 45. 18, Bear Lake 40. 19, Challis 36. 20, Marsing 34. 21, Wendell 31. 22, Nezperce 28. 23, Kamiah 25. 24, Raft River 24. 25, Orofino 13. 26, West Jefferson 12. 27, Nampa Christian 8. 28, Greenleaf 7. 29 (tie), Garden Valley, Lakeside, Valley 6. 32, Kendrick, Potlatch 5. 34, Hagerman 4. 35 (tie), Grangeville, Kootenai, Lapwai 3. 38, Salmon 2. Oakley 0.

CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET

Championship matches

138 — Colm McLaimtaig, Priest River, d. Jack Eddins, Grace, 8-7.

Third-fourth place

152 — Caeden McLaimtaig, Priest River, p. Eli Noah, Tri-Valley, 2:10.

Fifth-sixth place

220 — Caleb Grow, Priest River, p. Jonathan Leon, Marsing, 1:51.

Semifinals

138 — Colm McLaimtaig, Priest River, md. Hunter Gamble, Orofino, 11-2.

152 — Hiatt Beck, Aberdeen, md. Caeden McLaimtaig, Priest River, 9-0.

CONSOLATION BRACKET

Semifinals

152 — Caeden McLaimtaig, Priest River, p. Mac Hall, West Jefferson, 2:39.

220 — Matthew Goostrey, Bear Lake, p. Caleb Grow, Priest River, :52.

Third round

220 — Caleb Grow, Priest River, p. Caleb Mathews, Malad, 4:36.

GIRLS

POCATELLO – Emma Garman (120) and Lilli Marti (235) both placed sixth to lead Sandpoint at the all-class state wrestling tournament.

Garman picked up three wins, pinning Alexa Allen of Rocky Mountain (4:53), Dusty Longtin of Tri-Valley (4:47), and defeating Maliyah Garcia of New Plymouth by 6-4 decision.

Marti picked up two wins, pinning both Charlie Robinson of Rigby (1:01) and Emry Woods of Eagle (5:11).

Sylvia Becker (165) did not place but picked up two wins for the Bulldogs.

Sandpoint finished 19th out of 60-plus teams.

TEAM SCORES — 1, Thunder Ridge 130.5. 2, American Falls 83. 3, Bonners Ferry 73.5. 4, Eagle 67. 5, Jerome 61. 6, Canyon Ridge 58. 7, Rocky Mountain 51. 8, Buhl 48. 9, Skyline 47.5. 10, Columbia 46. 11 (tie), Caldwell, Coeur d’Alene 45. 13, Kuna 44. 14, Potlatch 38. 15 (tie), Lewiston, Mountain Home 37. 17, Blackfoot 36. 18, Bear Lake 33. 19, Sandpoint 32. 20 (tie), Centennial, Kimberly 30. 22, Salmon 39. 23, Burley 28. 24 (tie), Bonneville, Meridian 27. 26 (tie), Boise, Lake City, Middleton, Minico 26. 30, Weiser 24. 31, Emmett 23. 32 (tie), Century, Ririe 22. 34, Lakeland 20. 35 (tie), Marsh Valley, Moscow, Owyhee, Vallivue 18. 39, West Side 16. 40 (tie), Kellogg, Snake River 13. 32, Clearwater Valley 12. 43, Rigby 11. 44 (tie), Glenns Ferry, Preston 10. 46, Malad 9. 47 (tie), Borah, Twin Falls 8. 49, Timberlake 7. 50 (tie), Fruitland, Garden Valley, Madison, Tri-Valley 6. 54, Timberline 5. 55, Filer 4. 56 (tie), Challis, Grace, New Plymouth, Wendell, West Jefferson, Wood River 3. 62 (tie), Hillcrest, Nampa, Post Falls, South Fremont 1. 66 (tie), Idaho Falls, Marsing, Pocatello, Priest River, Ridgevue, Soda Springs, Sugar-Salem 0.

CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET

Fifth-sixth place

120 — Jordan Reynolds, Snake River, d. Emma Garman, Sandpoint, 2-1.

235 — Cameron Spicer, Rocky Mountain, d. Lilli Marti, Sandpoint, by medical forfeit.

Semifinals

235 — Ashley Barnes, Thunder Ridge, p. Lilli Marti, Sandpoint, 1:16.

CONSOLATION BRACKET

Semifinals

120 — Allister Dillow, American Falls, md. Emma Garman, Sandpoint, 12-3.

235 — Olivia Silvester, Thunder Ridge, p. Lilli Marti, Sandpoint, 1:41.

Third round

120 — Emma Garman, Sandpoint, d. Maliyah Garcia, New Plymouth, 6-4.

165 — Eliza Dugan, Jerome, d. Sylvia Becker, Sandpoint, 7-2.

    Sandpoint's Jorden Tyler placed second at the IHSAA Wrestling State Championship held Feb. 23-24 at Holt Arena in Pocatello. Tyler improved upon his third-place finish at last year's state tournament.
  

    Sandpoint's Shane Sherrill placed third at this year's state tournament, an improvement from his fifth place finish last year.
  

    Sandpoint's Emma Garman (far right) placed sixth in her first ever state tournament appearance.
  

    Sandpoint's Lilli Marti (far right) placed sixth at this year's state tournament, her first time placing at the girls state tourney.