Local wrestlers gold rush the Clearwater Classic tournament

The Lewiston boys and girls wrestling teams each earned a spot on the podium at their home tournament, the Clearwater Classic, on Saturday at Lewiston High School.

The Bengal girls won the tourney with 109 team points, and junior Joely Slyter was labeled as one of the “outstanding wrestlers” for the weekend.

The Lewiston boys finished third overall with 149 team points behind Kellogg (177.5) and 5A Inland Empire League rival Coeur d’Alene (214).

“We got a lot of matches done,” Lewiston wrestling coach Colton Maddy said. “And some of those finals matches were absolute bangers, and that’s what we’re here for — some good, tough wrestling. It makes everyone better, and I think we accomplished that this weekend.”

Slyter finished the weekend 9-0 in the 114-pound weight class, picking up four wins by fall, four by technical fall and one by forfeit.

In her tech fall victories, she outscored her opponents 67-5.

Here are some of the highlights from Saturday’s championship bouts:

The pride of Kooskia

Clearwater Valley of Kooskia’s Porter Whipple (220 pounds) and Bass Myers (195) both reached the top of the podium on Saturday.

Myers was selected as the “outstanding wrestler” for the boys and pinned all of his opponents in under a minute en route to a championship match against Trey Gibson of St. Maries.

Gibson recorded the first takedown 20 seconds into the first period, nearly dropping Myers on his neck.

The official blew his whistle to signify a potentially dangerous move, and Myers showed no signs of injury, instead rushing back to the center of the mat.

It was an exceptional display of toughness from Myers.

While trailing 2-1 in the second period, Myers notched a double-leg takedown and was able to turn Gibson to his back with a vicious half-nelson.

Whipple, like Myers, began his gold-medal match against Pullman’s Samuel Sears in a deficit.

Sears dominated the match’s first two minutes, taking an 8-0 advantage into the second period.

The junior continued his string of dominance 30 seconds into the second and locked Whipple into a far-side cradle to go ahead 11-0.

Whipple escaped the pinning combination and took advantage of poor positioning from Sears to record a reversal. Sears didn’t go away so easily, however, standing up with ease to cushion his lead back to 12-2. But with mere seconds left in the second, Whipple got a single-leg takedown and caught Sears on his back. The period came to a close with Whipple trailing 12-7.

Whipple had more gas in the tank and used a chin whip to pin Sears.

“We know Porter and Bass have outstanding conditioning,” Clearwater Valley wrestling coach Carlos Martinez said. “If we can drag it out into the third period, we still have a chance.”

Whipple and Myers drill with each other every day at practice and have a goal of becoming state champions this year.

“They go 100% every second of every practice,” Martinez said. “They lose probably, on average, five pounds per practice. They’re the sweatiest guys in the room, they’re the hardest-working guys in the room and they go hard. It’s like a live match for an hour and a half watching those two in the room. We have to clear out more space for them than anybody else because they work so hard, and we’re afraid they’ll land on somebody else. They made a pact at the end of last year to come back this season determined to win, and they haven’t strayed from that. They work extremely hard every day.”

A valley showdown

The 132 championship bout was a rematch from last year between Lewiston’s Hoyt Hvass and Clarkston’s Dawson Bailey.

Hvass once again edged out Bailey, this time by a 12-3 decision, a step up from last year’s 58-second finish.

Bailey started as the aggressor, taking a 2-0 advantage within seconds. But Hvass’ uncanny strength at 132 came into play as he recorded a reversal to tie the match at two apiece. And to start the second, Hvass notched a standup to take his first lead of the match (4-2), and from there, he never trailed.

“It’s always a fun match when those two wrestle,” Maddy said. “It’s just a matter of who can impose whose style on who. Dawson getting the first points kind of surprised me a little bit. Historically speaking, the winner usually comes out and scores first, so that was cool for him to see. But Hoyt quickly got composed, didn’t get fazed by it, and got his points back. He’s a monster on top. The longer you wrestle with him, the harder he is to wrestle.”

As expected for the Acosta brothers

Israel and Ivan Acosta of Pullman both earned gold at 145 and 152, respectively.

Ivan notched a 19-3 tech fall victory over Enterprise’s Tegan Evans. The match was never in doubt.

Israel recorded back-to-back tech falls to earn his spot in the championship match against Jaeger Hall of Kellogg.

Israel pinned the Wildcat in a leg cradle in less than a minute to claim first-place honors.

Greene caps off an impressive tourney

James Greene of Moscow had an impressive run to his 170 crown.

Greene pinned Lewiston’s Cole Lockart in 1:14 via armbar in the championship bout, which capped off a four-match run where he won each contest by pinfall.

“He’s looked phenomenal,” Moscow wrestling coach Zac Carscallen said. “He’s had a stellar season so far.”

Area girls shined

The area occupied the top spot on the podium in nearly every girls’ weight class.

Lewiston teammates Kamryn Lockart and Taylor Musser finished first and second, respectively, at 132.

The pair wrestled on Saturday, and Lockart got the better of Musser, pinning her with 10 seconds left in the second period.

Emma Rivera also earned gold (185-235) for the Bengals.

Clarkston’s MaKenzie Weza picked up a gold medal at 100-107, going 6-1 through seven matches.

The Bantam recorded four first-period pins en route to her first-place finish.

Potlatch had two girls reach the top of the podium: Hayley McNeal (145-152) and Shelby Prather (126).

McNeal went undefeated through five matches and had four first-period pins, and Prather finished 5-0 and won all her matches by fall.

BOYS

Team scores — 1. Coeur d’Alene 214; 2. Kellogg 177.5; 3. Leiwston 149; 4. St. Maries 143.5; 5. Pullman 140; 6. Moscow 130; 7. Clearwater Valley 127; 8. Cheney 119.5; 9. New Pymouth 119; 10. Tri-Valley 116; 11. Clarkston 110.5; 12. Post Falls 97; 13. Davenport 43; 14. Enterprise 38; 15. Asotin 29; 16. Grangeville 25; 17. Colfax 20; 18. Lapwai 13; 19. Orofino 11; 20. Garfield-Palouse 0.

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

98 — 1. Rocco White, Coeur d’Alene; 2. Johnny Stovern, Kellogg; 3. Peter Fabbi, Clearwater Valley.

106 — 1. Colton Storey, Kellogg; 2. Justus Peregrina, Coeur d’Alene; 3. Aiden Figueroa, Kellogg.

113 — 1. Kelby Harvey, St. Maries; 2. Eian Schwecke, Moscow; 3. Carter Newby, Coeur d’Alene.

120 — 1. Ricky Haralson, Kellogg; 2. Will Rossi, Coeur d’Alene; 3. Aiden Carr, Cheney.

126 — 1. Kolter Wood, Kellogg; 2. Gabe Weza, Clarkston; 3. Jeremiah Perry, New Plymouth.

132 — 1. Hoyt Hvass, Lewiston; 2. Dawson Bailey, Clarkston; 3. Jordan Schield, Coeur d’Alene

138 — 1. Jace Waggoner, Tri-Valley; 2. Logan Bradley, Coeur d’Alene; 3. Zach David, St. Maries.

145 — 1. Israel Acosta, Pullman; 2. Jaeger Hall, Kellogg; 3. Colton Tucker, Coeur d’Alene.

152 — 1. Ivan Acosta, Pullman; 2. Tegan Evans, Enterprise; 3. Kyle Miller, Post Falls

160 — 1. Russel Noah, Tri-Valley; 2. Aydin Peltier, Pullman; 3. Aiden Yearout, St. Maries.

170 — 1. James Greene, Moscow; 2. Cole Lockart, Lewiston; 3. Gage Warren, Tri-Valley

182 — 1. Gabriel Cox, New Plymouth; 2. Brock Gustaveson, Davenport; 3. Trenton Moore, Cheney.

195 — 1. Bass Myers, Clearwater Valley; 2. Trey Gibson, St. Maries; 3. Gauge Seubert, Cheney

220 — 1. Porter Whipple, Clearwater Valley; 2. Samuel Sears, Pullman; 3. Paul Dixon, Moscow.

285 — 1. Nathan Willoughby, New Plymouth; 2. King David Rhodes, Lewiston; 3. Chazz Gray, Clarkston.

GIRLS

Team scores — 1. Lewiston 109; 2. Cheney 104; T3. New Plymouth 82; T3. New Plymouth 82; T3. Tri-Valley 82; 5. Potlatch 79; 6. Clarkston 67; 7. Kellogg 42; 8. Coeur d’Alene 36; T9. Clearwater Valley 28; T9. Davenport 28; 11. Colfax 25; 12. Lapwai 10; 13. St Maries 0.

100-107 — 1. MaKenzie Weza, Clarkston; 2. Gizzell Ramos, Cheney; 3. Jennifer Tian, Cheney.

114 — 1. Joely Slyter, Lewiston; 2. Adrian Hartzell, New Pymouth; 3. Audry Winkles, Tri-Valley.

120 — 1. Maliyah Garcia, New Plymouth; 2. Dusty Longtin, Tri-Valley; 3. Addison Lathrop, Cheney.

126 — 1. Shelby Prather, Potlatch; 2. Jalisca Homgren, Cheney; 3. Sammie Slyter, Lewiston.

132 — 1. Kamryn Lockart, Lewiston; 2. Taylor Musser, Lewiston; 3. Madison Gerlock, Tri-Valley.

138 — 1. Cara Brown, Coeur d’Alene; 2. Paige McGee, Cheney; 3. Bria Miller, Lewiston.

145-152 — 1. Hayley McNeal, Potlatch; 2. Brooklyn Anderson, Coeur d’Alene; 3. Izzy Davis, Kellogg.

185-235 — 1. Emma Rivera, Lewiston; 2. Tierney Prather, Potlatch; 3. Lyrica Peterson-Wagenborg, Lewiston.

Pixley may be contacted at tpixley@lmtribune.com, (208) 848-2268 or on Twitter @TreebTalks.