Belgarde, Fister wrestling for trophies at state today

POCATELLO — No. 1 seed Garret Belgarde pinned his first two opponents at 112 pounds, advancing to the semis and leading Sandpoint during the first day of the state wrestling tournament Friday at Holt Arena in Pocatello.

Belgarde pinned Minico’s Isaiah Alvarado in 1:36, then pinned Pocatello’s Roman Varella in 5:21, advancing him into today’s semifinals. The reigning state champion junior will face Columbia’s Kameron Reddish in the semis, and stands a solid chance of defending his title as long as he sticks to his game plan.

“As long as he attacks and uses his technique, he’s tough to hang with when he’s in control,” said head coach Mike Randles of the key to Belgarde winning today.

Leonard Fister is the other Bulldog still alive today, suffering a tough-luck loss to Blackfoot’s Chris Percy in the second round at 160 pounds. After pinning Burley’s Adrian Quiroz in the second period, Fister led Percy in the third period before getting caught in a pin at 4:15.

“It was a great match. Leonard was beating him 8-5 in the third when he got put on his back,” described Randles, who likes Fister’s chances to place today in the consolation round. “He’s wrestling well, just needs to do the same things he’s been doing for the past couple weeks. He’s a technician.”

After falling to Percy, Fister rebounded to pin Moscow’s Justin Parkins in 4:26, then scored an 8-4 decision over Bonneville’s Austin Hansen to remain alive today.

Peyton Dillon (103) lost 15-8 to No. 2 seed Juan Navarro of Blackfoot in his first round match, before rebounding to pin Wood River’s Jared Anderson in 1:22 and Preston’s Cameron Dietrich in 1:41. He then lost 11-6 to Cayd Freeman of Bonneville, ending his tournament.

Dakota Blaese (119) was pinned by Pocatello’s Eddie Millward in 1:22 in his first match, then was pinned at 3:33 by Zach Packer of Hillcrest, ending his tournament. Troy Goodman (125) was pinned by Minico’s Alberto Ramirez in 2:27 in his first match, then was knocked out of the draw with a 9-1 loss to Pocatello’s Nick Anderson. Randles said both uderclassmenwrestlers gained valuable state experience.

The Bulldogs scored 28 points and are in 14th place after the first day, with Columbia narrowly leading Blackfoot by one point with 117.

In the 5A, Coeur d’Alene scored 142 points to take a comfortable first day lead, with fellow IEL team Post Falls sitting in third place.

In the 3A ranks, Priest River was in fourth place with 62 points, and Bonners Ferry was in 10th with 53 points. American Falls held a first day lead with 76 points.