Flathead second at Tri-State tournament

| December 21, 2008 1:00 AM

The Daily Inter Lake

COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho - Ten placers and 186 1/2 points' the Flathead Braves wrestling team proved its status among the Northwest's best with a second-place finish Saturday at the 34-team Tri-State tournament.

"This is the team we've been waiting to see. We already knew they had this potential," said Flathead coach Matt Owen.

"It's the best performance they've had up to this point of the season. We're definitely excited about it. It was a fun tournament."

Lake Stevens, last year's runner-up, is the 2008 Tri-State champion. It and Flathead were the class of the tournament. Lake Stevens scored 206 1/2 points and the Braves were just 20 points behind. Deer Park, Wash. was a distant third at 145 points. Polson scored 34 points.

But the Braves pushed Lake Stevens hard.

"We didn't put in as many finalists as they did, but we had more placers," Owen said.

Flathead trailed Lake Stevens by just six points going into the championship round. But Lake Stevens had four finalists and three of them won. Both of Flathead's finalists - Shawn Lau and Tyler Thomas - finished second.

"Neither one was happy about the result, but they both wrestled well," Owen said.

Others who placed for the Braves were Ryan Swelland, fifth at 112, Alejandro Calderon, fifth at 119, Joaquin Calderon, fifth at 125, Tanner Beaman, third at 130, Caleb Allen-Schmid, fifth at 145, Ryan Thiel, seventh at 145, Bryce Stacy, third at 152 and Connor Thomas, sixth at heavyweight.

"A couple of them were a little disappointed. They had high goals and didn't quite reach them," Owen siad.

"We still see a lot of places we can improve. But it definitely shows us we were a lot better than what we have been doing. They can see they're starting to improve. I think it's definitely a really positive tournament," he added.

The Braves are heading out Saturday to the Sierra-Nevada Classic in Reno, Nev. They will compete Dec. 29-30 against more than 90 teams.

"We were just happy with the result. It would have been nice to win it, but we did pretty well."

Tri-State Tournament

Team Totals' 1, Lake Stevens (Wash.) 206.5, 2, Flathead186.5. 3, Deer Park (Wash.) 145. 4, Moses Lake (Wash.) 139.5. 5, Tahoma (Wash.), 125. 6, Riverside (Wash.) 116. 7, University (Wash.) 110.5. 8, Lakeside (Wash.) 105. 9, East Valley (Wash.) 98. 10, Auburn (Wash.) 87. 11, Post Falls 83. 12, Mead (Wash.) 76. 13, Central Valley (Wash.) 75. 14, Republic 74. 15, Lakeland 66. 16, Coeur d'Alene 64. 17, Sentinel (Mont.) 62. 18, Ferris (Wash.) 61.5. 19, Auburn-Mountain View (Wash.) 60. 20, (tie) Moscow, Sandpoint, 45. 22, Newport (Wash.) 44. 23, Libby (Mont.) 35. 24, North Central (Wash.). 25, Polson (Mont.) 34. 26, Mt. Spokane (Wash.) 30.5. 27, Emerald Ridge (Wash.) 28. 28, Lake Washington (Wash.) 27. 29, Ocosta (Wash.) 22. 30, Tonasket (Wash.) 21. 31, Mary Walker (Wash.) 16. 32, Lake City 11. 33, Kittitas (Wash.) 8. 34, Freeman (Wash.) 1.

CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHES

103 - Garret Belgarde, Spt, p. Chad Booth, PF, 3:16. 112 - Josh Heinzer, LS, m.d. Blake Adams, DP, 16-2. 119 - Jack Stillwell, LS, d. Bryan Baumgarden, Lake, 5-0. 125 - Jacob Lauderdale, Lake, d. Shawn Lau, Flat, 4-0. 130 - Josh Lauderdale, Lake, v Steven Walkley, LS, 10-8. 135 - Scotty Bacon, Rep, d. Tyler Lamb, Tahoma, 11-4. 140 - Brandon Richardson, LL, d. J.J. Gubler, Rep, 5-3. 145 - Chris Tripplet, EV, d. Thomas Pfeiffer, ML, 9-4. 152 - George King, LS, d. Sam Villegas, ML, 6-5. 160 - Jacob Mason, U-Hi, d. Brandon Leliefeld, DP, 8-6 OT. 171 - John Merickel, Mos, d. Dustin Johnson, U-Hi, 5-4. 189 - Jake Swartz, Aub, d. Dakota Lawson, EV, 7-0. 215 - Grant Haschak, LW, d. Konner Knudston, Tahoma, 9-2. Hwt - Shawn Burton, DP, d. Tyler Thomas, Flat, 7-2.

THIRD-FOURTH PLACES

103 - Jarod Maynes, CV, d. Ryan Rodorigo, LS, 4-2. 112 - Nathan Brown, NC d. James Ost, PF, 10-8. 119 - David Peralez, ML p. Brenton Beard, River, 2:19. 125 - Kyle McCrite, LL, d. Braden Mowry, Cd'A, 6-5. 130 - Tanner Beaman, Flat, d. Nicco Moreno, ML, 13-9. 135 - Daniel Swain, New, p. Tyler King, Aub, 4:50. 140 - Jordan Rogers, Mead, d. Justin Mikkola, Sent., 3-1. 145 - Jacob Anderson, Lakeside, d. Chase Flores, River, 8-0. 152 - Bryce Stacy, Flat, d. Cody Miller, DP, 6-0. 160 - Brock Picard, Pol, d. Nic Price, EV, 10-9 OT. 171 - Nick Bayer, Tahoma, d. Dylan Rutledgte, Aub, 5-3. 189 - Ian Bauman, Fer, d. Mitch Steed, Emer, 6-4. 215 - Jacob Trotter, Mead, p. Justin Graham, Lib, 3:54.

Hwt - Kyle Strode, Oro, p. Zach Teuber, LS, 2:14.

FIFTH-SIXTH PLACES

103 - Andrew Palmer, Cd'A, d. Brandon Matlock, U-High, 5-1. 112 - Ryan Swelland, Flat, d., Mike Baumgardner, Lakeside, 6-1. 119 - Alejandro Caldron, Flat, d. Justin Reyes, New, 11-3. 125 - Joaquin Caldron, Flat d. Tyler Booth, PF, 7-3. 130 - T.J. Peretti, Aub, d. Justin Hodge, River, 9-2. 135 - Brandon Riehl, Fer, d. Tyler Vela, ML, injury default. 140 - Eric Frisbey, Mos, p. Ty Fouty, Pol, :53. 145 - Caleb Allen-Schmid, Flat, d. Ben Snow, Mead, 19-13. 152 - Ryan Zumwalt, U-Hi, md., Graham Davis, Aub, 15-5. 160 - Jake Welch, LS, d. Kevin Cruz, Tonasket, 5-0. 171 - Nick DesRoches, River, p. Blake LeHuguet, LS, 3:49. 189 - Jace Prideaux, Sent., d. Teddy Fernau, Mt. Spo, 8-5. 215 - Cole Amende, PF, d. Spencer Fackrell, ML, 9-2. Hwt - Colby Davis, CV, d. Connor Thomas, Flat, 4-1.

Seventh-Eighth places

103 - Kyle Siegwarth, Cd'A, d. Nick Sweeney, EV, 7-4. 112 - Braden Davis, CV, p. Brandon Byers, U-H, 4:00. 119 - Joe Hilpert, DP, d. Cliff Evans, Sent, 4-0. 125 - Sean Anderson, LS, d., Drew Cacey, Aub, 6-5. 130 - Sam Howard, Cd'A, d. Danielle O'Shaughnessy, Kitt, 5-4. 135 - Tristan Storrs, LL, d. Nathan McLeod, PF, injury default. 140 - Billy Rhoads, DP, d. J.R. Rea, Tahoma, 10-8. 145 - Ryan Thiel, Flat, d. Tyler Simmet, CV, 5-1. 152 - John Buban, Tahoma, d., Zach Wilkes, Mt. Spo., 6-4. 160 - Jacob DesRoches, River, p., Andrew Grillo, Tona, 2:00. 171 - Andre Rivera, Fer, d. Cody Stratton, CV, 3-1. 189 - Hunter Orgill, River, p. Brian Chamberlin, ML, 1:00. 215 - Jake Laden, U-Hi, d. Kristian Agemotu, Auburn, 1-0. Hwt - Ben Fuson, Lake, p. Derrick Eager, Tahoma, 1:30.