Flathead wins Tri-State Tournament

The Daily Inter Lake

COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho - Two down.

The Flathead Braves checked off wrestling preseason goal No. 2 Saturday night, winning the 36th annual Tri-State Tournament at North Idaho College.

Goal No. 1 was to win the Mining City Duals, which the Braves accomplished Dec. 7-8.

"Oh, what a day for the Flathead Braves!" said Flathead head coach Jeff Thompson.

A Montana team had never before won the Tri-State, but the Braves did it in style.

They not only ran away with the tournament, scoring 208 points to 155 for second place Lake Stevens, Wash., they may have been one of the top scoring teams in the history of the tournament.

"The talk is it could be possibly, if not the highest score, right up there in the top three," Thompson said.

Rounding out the top 10 teams were: Lakeside, Wash., third with 154.5 points, Deer Park, Wash. scored 115, University, Wash. was fifth at 104.5, Lewiston, Idaho scored 102.5 for sixth, Auburn, Wash, 98, Hermiston, Ore, 92, Sedro-Woolley, 80, Wash. and Coeur d'Alene High had 78.

"It was really nice for us to come in here, to not just wrestle for Kalispell or for Flathead, but for the state of Montana," he said.

"It was a total team effort. We had everybody make it to the second day, everybody won three matches or more," Thompson said.

Brian Ham (130) is the first Flathead Brave to claim a Tri-State individual title, defeating a Sedro-Woolley wrestler in the championship.

Overall, Flathead had one champion, three finalists, eight wrestlers in the top four and one seventh place finisher.

T.C. Decker and Shawn Lau took second.

"It was mind boggling, very exciting for our team. It was a lot of fun to sit in the corner and watch," Thompson said.

"We knew we couldn't have complacency. We knew we had to have them be challenged. There is no complacency at this tournament. A lot of guys got challenged. You build on that. You learn a lot more from your losses than from your wins. This is going to prepare us for when we get back in the state," the coach said.

There was nothing complacent about the way the Braves approached this tournament, according to Ham.

"We were ready for it. We stepped it up.

"This was one of the toughest weeks of practice we've had. We worked that much harder. We drilled twice as hard, we wrestled live. We were ready to battle this whole week," the senior said.

"It was a pretty tough tournament.

"To win this tournament as a team is huge. Overall, we won the ones we should have and we won a few we shouldn't have," he added.

The Braves soaked in the victory with burgers and shakes Saturday night, but they will be back to work on Monday and back on the mat on Wednesday. They head to Missoula for a pair of duals with Missoula Big Sky and Missoula Hellgate. From there, they'll head to Gillette, Wyo. for the Pat Weed Invitational.

TEAM SCORES

1, Flathead (Kalispell, Mont.), 208. 2, Lake Stevens (Wash.), 155. 3, Lakeside (Nine Mile Falls, Wash.), 154.5. 4, Deer Park (Wash.), 115. 5, University (Spokane), 104.5. 6, Lewiston, 102.5. 7, Auburn (Wash.), 102. 8, Hermiston (Ore.), 92. 9, Sedro-Woolley (Wash.), 80.5. 10, Coeur d'Alene, 78. 11, Graham-Kapowsin (Wash.), 75. 12, Auburn-Riverside (Wash.), 73. 13, Orting (Wash.), 72. 14, Mead (Spokane), 71. 15, Eastmont (Wash.), 69. 16, Kuna, 68.5. 17, East Valley (Spokane), 68. 18, Republic (Wash.) 67.5. 19, Sentinel (Missoula, Mont.), 66. 20, Riverside (Chattaroy, Wash.), 64. 21, Central Valley (Spokane), 61. 22, Royal City (Wash.), 60.5. 23, Kelso (Wash.), 53.5. 24, Tahoma (Wash.), 52.5. 25, Moses Lake (Wash.), 52.5. 26, Emerald Ridge (Wash.), 51.5. 27, Lakeland, 48. 28, Gonzaga Prep (Spokane), 46. 29, La Grande (Ore.), 41.5. 30, Polson (Mont.), 37. 31, Oregon City (Ore.), 31. 32, Pendleton (Ore.), 29. 33, North Central (Spokane), 27.5. 34, Ferris (Spokane), 25. 35, Sandpoint, 22. 36, Inglemoor (Wash.), 21. 37, Tonasket (Wash.) 21. 38, Kentlake (Wash.), 19.5. 39, Kamiah, 17.5. 40, Newport (Wash.), 16. 41, Vashon Island (Wash.), 42, Mt. Spokane, 14. 43, Bonners Ferry, 14. 44, Libby (Mont.) 13.5. 45, Shadle Park (Spokane), 11. 46, Jenkins (Chewelah, Wash.), 9. 47, Mountain View, 8. 48, Mary Walker (Springdale, Wash.), 6. 49, Potlatch, 5. 50, Grangeville, 4. 51, Moscow, 2.

Championship Matches

103 - Ben Jorgensen, Hermiston, p. Casey George, Lewiston, 1:59.

112 - Zach Zweifel, Lake Stevens (Wash.), d. Shawn Lau, Flathead (Kalispell, Mont.), 5-3

119 - Kyle McCrite, Lakeland, d. Anthony Rivera, University (Spokane), 7-3.

125 - Brian Owen, University (Spokane) p. Philip Smith, Mead (Spokane), 3:27.

130 - Brian Ham, Flathead (Kalispell, Mont.), d. Shane Hunt, Sedro-Woolley (Wash.), 3-1.

135 - Kyle Johnson, Lakeside (Nine Mile Falls, Wash.) d. T.C. Decker, Flathead (Kalispell, Mont.), 10-7.

140 - Derek Garcia, Sedro-Wolley (Wash.) d. Logan Torgison, Polson (Mont.), 8-0.

145 - Michael Mangrum, Auburn-Riverside (Wash.) p. Sam Villegas, Royal City (Wash.), 1:58.

152 - Ric Jones, Auburn-Riverside (Wash.) d. Brad Sweet, Graham-Kapowsin (Wash.), 5-3.

160 - Taylor Meeks, Orting (Wash.), d. Jesse Nielsen, Coeur d'Alene, 5-3.

171 - Ryan DesRoches, Riverside (Chattaroy, Wash.), d. Jake Swartz, Auburn, 6-3.

189 - Clete Hanson, East Valley (Spokane) d. Reid Chivers, Lakeside (Wash.), 9-8.

215 - Erik Magnussen, Eastmont (Wash.) d. Dustin Baldwin, Lakeside (Nine Mile Falls, Wash.) 8-3

Hwt - Nick Gale, Eastmont (Wash.) d. Grant Turner, Coeur d'Alene, 10-3.

Third-Fourth Place Matches

103 - Josh Heinzer, Lake Stevens (Wash.) md. David Hall, Gonzaga Prep (Spokane), 12-2.

112 - Efrain Aguilar III, Graham-Kapowsin (Wash.) d. Nathan Brown, North Central (Spokane), 5-4.

119 - Jake Love, Sentinel (Missoula, Mont.) d. Josh Villani, Lake Stevens (Wash.) 5-3.

125 - Mitch Giberson, Kelso (Wash.) d. Tracey Huffman, Lewiston, 2-1.

130 - J.J. Gubler, Republic (Wash.) d. Kevin Tao, Tahoma Wash.), 4-3.

135 - Tristan Storrs, Lakeland, d. Omar Avelar, Royal City (Wash.), 5-2.

140 - Josh Eacrett, Lake Stevens (Wash.) d. Cody Lords, Kuna, 3-2.

145 - George King, Lake Stevens (Wash.) d. Bryce Stacy, Flathead (Kalispell, Mont.), 2-1.

152 - Tyler Wells, Flathead (Kalispell, Mont.) d. Cody Miller, Deer Park (Wash.) 11-8.

160 - West McAdam, Lakeside (Wash.) p. David Lau, Flathead (Kalispell, Mont.), 1:06.

171 - Randy Larson, Hermiston (Ore.), md. Luke Fischer, Flathead (Mont.), 12-1.

189 - Garrett Rutledge, Auburn (Wash.) md. Ethan Grable, Deer Park, 10-2.

215 - Jacob Neumann, Central Valley (Spokane), p. Brock Saxen, Auburn (Wash.), :38.

Hwt. - Tyler Thomas, Flathead (Kalispell, Mont.) d. Zach Teuber, Lake Stevens (Wash.), 7-5.

Fifth-Sixth Place Matches

103 - Drew Acorn, Deer Park (Wash.), d Andrew Palmer, Coeur d'Alene, 6-4.

112 - Dylan McCallum, La Grande (Ore.), d. Brandon Bradley, Pendleton (Ore.), 3-2.

119 - Jacob Lauderdale, Lakeside (Nine Mile Falls, Wash.), p. Kelly Maughan, Auburn (Wash.), 1:44.

125 - Scotty Bacon, Republic (Wash.), p. Nick Teenison, Emerald Ridge (Wash.), 3:56

130 - Alex Pelligrini, Lake Stevens (Wash.), d. Brandon Adolf, Hermiston (Ore.), 5-1, OT.

135 - Brandon Delao, Kuna, d. Kevin Healy, Gonzaga Prep (Spokane), 9-7.

140 - Jeff Fetter, Orting (Wash.), d. Daniel Hamilton, Sentinel (Missoula, Mont.), 4-0.

145 - Brandon Leliefeld, Deer Park (Wash.), d. John Thompson, Orting (Wash.), 4-0.

152 - Mark Hobson, Lewiston d. Josh Renfro, Central Valley (Spokane), 4-2.

160 - John Tuck, LaGrande (Ore.) md. Ryan Jorgensen, Deer Park (Wash.), 12-4.

171 - Dakota Lawson, East Valley (Spokane), d. Cody Pohren, Sedro-Woolley (Wash.), 9-3.

189 - Jordan Krich, Inglemoor (Wash.) d. Erik Halsey, Emerald City (Wash.), 7-4.

215 - Spencer Miles, Lewiston, d. T.J. Kiernan, Kuna, 4-1.

Hwt. - Josh Brazil, Tonasket (Was.) won by injury default over Jared Carr, Oregon City (Ore.).

Seventh-Eighth Place Matches

103 - Riley Miller, Kelso (Wash.) d. Tyler Clark, University (Spokane), 8-6.

112 - Ryan Norstadt, Lakeside (Nine Mile Falls, Wash.) d. Ryan Goranson, Tahoma (Wash.), 8-2.

119 - Jaquin Calderon, Flathead (Kalispell, Mont.) d, Garrett Mann, Orting (Wash.), 6-0.

125 - Tyler Lamb, Tahoma (Wash.) d. Sean Anderson, Lake Stevens (Wash.), 1-0

130 - Tre Jarboe, Kuna, d. Josh Rettinghouse, Ferris (Spokane), 4-0.

135 - Anthony Hughes, Kelso (Wash.), d. Jake Rodriguez, East Valley (Spokane), 4-2.

140 - Ryan Zumwalt, University (Spokane), d. Dayne Swisher, Bonners Ferry, 3-2

145 - Jordan Chote, Central Valley (Spokane) won by injury default over Chris Tripplett, Gonzaga Prep (Spokane).

152 - Jordan Hancock, Republic (Wash.), d. Seth Wright, Libby (Mont.), 9-0.

160 - Nick Bayer, Tahoma (Wash.) d. Dan Jordan, University (Spokane), 6-0

171 - Tyler Story, Graham-Kapowsin (Wash.), p. Landis Wills, Republic (Wash.), 3:14

189 - Hunter Orgill, Riverside (Wash.) d. Zach Folden, Graham-Kapowsin (Wash.), 8-7.

215 - Jordan Berezay, East Valley (Spokane) md. John Lampert, Gonzaga (Spokane), 11-2.

Hwt. - Bradedan Binkwiewcz, Emerald Ridge (Wash.) p. Tad Harman, Moses Lake (Wash.), 1:03.