Bunty fifth at Inland Empire
—Photo by ERIC PLUMMER Tekoa Mazzare, pictured top earlier this season, pinned a Kennewick opponent before falling to tough opponents from Eisenhower and Mead at the Inland Empire tourney.
SANDPOINT — Senior Preston Bunty finished fifth, the lone Bulldog wrestler to nab a podium spot, picking up several big wins to help Sandpoint finish 14th among the 20 teams competing on Friday and Saturday at the Inland Empire Tournament at Central Valley High School.
“Preston wrestled strong this weekend,” said Bulldogs head coach Jake Stark, whose team got its first tournament action of the season. “He seemed focused and on a mission to leave his mark his senior year.”
Zack Alamillo (220) picked up four wins in another strong showing, and would have probably made the podium if not for a 4-2 (3-1) sudden victory loss against Coeur d’Alene in the second round.
Owen Stebbins just missed a podium spot after a 7-6 loss in consolation to East Valley ended a run of three straight wins at 182 pounds.
Andrew Webster (182) picked up three wins, and Cal Wilcox (195) and Parker Coon (112) each picked up a pair of wins for the Bulldogs, who saw plenty of mat action over the weekend against some salty competition.
“Overall I felt it was a tough tournament this year with a lot of good competition form the Washington schools,” claimed Stark. “Our team wrestled good and we picked up a lot of much-needed mat time. with most guys wresting four or five matches.”
The Bulldogs will send a handful of their top wrestlers to the prestigious Tri-State Tournament this weekend, which draws many of the top wrestlers from Montana, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. Action starts Friday, at 4 p.m. at North Idaho College, with many of the brackets featuring multiple state champions from around the Northwest.
SANDPOINT RESULTS:
106 — Rogers p. Casey Oleson, Spt, 5:27; Olson d. Moses Lake, 6-1; East Valley p. Oleson, 1:02.
113 — Kennewick md. Parker Coon, Spt, 10-2; Coon p. Moses Lake, 3:20; Coon p. Rogers, 1:03; Cd’A p. Coon, :49.
120 — Chiawana p. Mason Bangeman, Spt, 1:28; Bangeman d. Rogers, 5-3; East Valley d. Bangeman, 5-2.
126 — Pasco md. Micah Holub, 10-0; Holub d. University, 4-2; Cd’A p. Holub, :53.
132 — Eisenhower p. Tucker Hall, 5:46; Hall p. Kamiakin, 1:58; Ferris d. Hall, 10-5.
138 — East Valley p. August Johnson, Spt, 5:00; Pasco d. Johnson, 9-5.
152 — Preston Bunty, Spt, p. Moses Lake, 1:24; Bunty md. University, 13-1; Ferris d. Bunty, 12-6; Kennewick p. Bunty, 3:28; Bunty p. University, 1:38.
160 — Kamiakin d. Hyrum Hunsaker, Spt, 7-1; Hunsaker p. Eastmont, 1:59; Mead d. Hunsaker, 3-2.
170 — Tekoa Mazzare, Spt, p. Kennewick, 1:59; Eisenhower md. Mazzare, 9-0; Mead d. Mazzare, 7-1.
170 — Hans Liband, Spt, medical forfeit over Chiawana; Colville p. Liband, 1:02; Kamiakin d. Liband, 4-0.
182 — Pasco d. Owen Stebbins, Spt, 5-2; Stebbins d. Kamiakin, 5-1; Stebbins md. Colville, 10-1; Stebbins d. Eisenhower, 3-1; East Valley d. Stebbins 7-6.
182 — Andrew Webster p. East Valley, 1:13; Randles, Cd’A p. Webster, 2:58; Webster p. Eastmont, 1:11; Webster p. Mead, :52; Pasco p. Webster, 1:24.
195 — Eastmont p. Cal Wilcox, Spt, 2:43; Wilcox d. East Valley, 6-4; Wilcox d. Eisenhower, 6-5; University p. Wilcox, 4:21.
220 — Zack Alamillo, Spt, p. Rogers, 5:16; Cd’A, won in sudden victory, 4-2 (3-1); Alamillo p. Central Valley, 1:58; Alamillo p. Eisenhower, 1:24; Alamillo p. East Valley, :39; Chiawana d. Alamillo, 5-2.