20 Bengal athletes prepare for next chapter

As another high school athletic calendar comes to a close, so does the sporting career for many athletes around the country.

Only 7% of high school athletes go on to play at the next level, according to scholarshipstats.com — and 20 Lewiston High School seniors added to that statistic as they were recognized during the Bengals’ signing day on Wednesday at the school’s gymnasium.

Lewiston’s score of college commits represented a who’s who of Bengals athletes over the past four years, including Katy Wessels.

Wessels was a basketball and volleyball standout during her tenure at LHS but chose the latter to further her academic and athletic careers.

Wessels announced her commitment to the University of Washington in November. Keeping her eye on the prize, she decided to forgo her senior basketball season in order to focus on travel volleyball — a decision that, she said, paid off.

“I was able to just put all my focus on volleyball,” Wessels said. “So I was able to prepare and get ready for when I get there.”

Zoie Kessinger filled in for Wessels on the basketball court, finishing the year as the Bengals’ leading scorer. Like Wessels, Kessinger will further her athletic career by playing a different sport, committing to Idaho State’s track and field team.

Kessinger won the discus event at the Idaho Class 5A state track and field meet Friday with a toss of 136 feet.

Her track teammate, Luke Mastroberardino, will be competing in the college ranks next year at Lewis-Clark State College.

Mastroberardino had aspirations of being a college swimmer after finishing second in both the 50 free (25.36 seconds) and 100 butterfly (1:00.39) during the Idaho Class 5A state swim meet. But as his times in the 300- and 110-meter hurdles got better, he realized that track might be his choice. He finished the year by placing eighth at State in the 300 hurdles with a time of 41.57.

“I was just getting rapidly better,” Mastroberardino said. “Coach (Stuffle) told me that he saw a lot of potential in me, and I started to see it as well.”

Although Mastroberardino won’t be a college swimmer, the Bengals will have two aquanauts in the college ranks. Ellie Hoover will compete at George Fox University in Newberg, Ore., and Grace Qualman will be a Vandal.

The Lewiston football team is sending six players to the next level, the most from any sport.

All of them played a big part in the Bengals’ success last year. Lewiston reached the playoffs for the second year in a row and was the highest-scoring offense in the 5A classification, averaging 41.3 points per outing.

“I’m excited for them to have this opportunity,” Lewiston football coach Matt Pancheri said. “We’re going to miss the graduating seniors this year. We’ve got a lot of work to do to fill some big shoes.”

All six commits will take comfort in knowing they’ll have a former teammate accompanying them on their new journey as there are three pairs heading to the same destinations.

Highlighting the group are Idaho commits James White and Brayden Rice.

White had 389 all-purpose yards last season and tallied seven scores. The future Vandal tight end also had double-digit sacks on defense.

Rice was electric in the return game, finishing the year with two return touchdowns. He wasn’t too shabby as a receiver either, finishing second in receiving yards with 345.

“I really hope they go up there and grind it out,” Pancheri said. “One of the things about playing Division I ball is that you have to work your way into that system. They’ll find that out once they get there and I’m really excited to see how that pans out.”

The next Lewiston pair is defensive back Briggs Duman and offensive lineman Logan Snarr, who will be playing for Montana Western.

Duman was a defensive standout for the Bengals, notching four interceptions, which were tied for a team-high.

Snarr, a two-star recruit, was a key piece to Lewiston’s offensive line that kept junior quarterback Drew Hottinger upright.

The final duo is College of Idaho commits Jared Jelinek and Colby Weeks.

Jelinek was a two-way player for the Bengals as a defensive back and receiver. What Jelinek lacked in size, standing at 5-foot-7, he made up for in explosiveness. He was responsible for 390 all-purpose yards and three scores.

Weeks, who played opposite Duman as a defensive back, tallied 48 tackles and had four interceptions.

The next most popular sport for Lewiston’s seniors was cheerleading.

The Bengals will be sending Raeley Beeler, Elyse Monson and Hali Vanhorn to the next level.

All three cheerleaders will remain in the state, with Vanhorn going 32 miles up the road to cheer for the Vandals.

Monson and Beeler are both heading down south, as Beeler will attend Boise State and Monson will reside in Pocatello, where she’ll be on Idaho State’s sidelines.

Lewiston basketball saw two commits, one from each team.

Austin Lawrence will make the move to Sherman, Texas, where he’ll attend Austin College, and Savannah Burke will play for Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham, Ore.

Golfer Carson King (College of Idaho), pitcher Loryn Barney (University of St. Thomas, Minn.), grappler Cassidy Rehder (Grays Harbor College, Aberdeen, Wash.) and infielder Elliott Taylor (Columbia Basin, Pasco, Wash.) were the lone representatives for their sport.

Paulucci primed for Pacific

Clarkston High School basketball player Dominic Paulucci also signed his letter of intent to play at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Ore., on Wednesday.

“It just all feels surreal,” Paulucci said. “I always wanted to play at the next level but it’s always uncertain. Now that I know I am, I’m so excited.”

Clarkston basketball coach Justin Jones put together a highlight tape for Paulucci to post on social media to try and attract college coaches. The first team to reach out was Pacific. After visiting the campus and getting to know the coaching staff, they offered him a roster spot.

“It was just such a beautiful campus,” Paulucci said. “They take a lot of sports and activities, one in every three students is an athlete so that’s awesome.”

The shooting guard contributed most of his points coming off the Bantams’ bench last season with one of his best outings coming during Clarkston’s 70-33 win over Rogers on Jan. 13 where he tallied 10 points.

Pixley may be contacted at (208) 848-2290, tpixley@lmtribune.com or on Twitter @TreebTalks.

Bengal signees

Brayden Rice, University of Idaho football

Grace Qualman, University of Idaho swim

Hali Vanhorn, University of Idaho cheerleading

James White, University of Idaho football

Katy Wessels, University of Washington volleyball

Ellie Hoover, George Fox University swim

Raeley Beeler, Boise State cheerleading

Luke Mastroberardino, Lewis-Clark State track

Briggs Duman, Montana Western football

Logan Snarr, Montana Western football

Savanah Burke, Mt. Hood CC basketball

Elliott Taylor, Columbia Basin College baseball

Cassidy Rehder, Grays Harbor College, wrestling

Loryn Barney, University of St. Thomas softball

Zoie Kessinger, Idaho State track and field

Elyse Monson, Idaho State cheerleading

Austin Lawrence, Austin College basketball

Jared Jelinek, College of Idaho football

Carson King, College of Idaho golf

Colby Weeks, College of Idaho football