Bulldogs send seven wrestlers to Tri-State

COEUR d’ALENE — A lot has changed in the first 44 years of the Tri-State Invitational wrestling tournament, which gets underway this morning at Christianson Gymnasium on the campus of North Idaho College.

And as technology has grown with the event, long gone are the days of relying on kids to run bout sheets to the scorers table.

As the addition of TrackWrestling.com, which allows for live scoring on all six mats today has grown, so has the event according to NIC wrestling coach and tournament director Pat Whitcomb.

“Now that it’s being ran through TrackWrestling, we’re getting some interest from around the United States,” Whitcomb said. “People are able to subscribe and watch every match live. All they’ve got to do is get on there and watch matches as they happen.”

And if you’re unable to make it, the website could be the next best thing to being there. Due to slick roads and the cancellation of school on Thursday, Kuna and La Grande (Ore.) had to back out of the tournament as school district policy would not allow them to travel to Coeur d’Alene after school was canceled on Thursday, when the teams were to travel to Coeur d’Alene.

“Obviously, it’s a big loss not to have them, but Kuna has been really solid in the past,” Whitcomb said.

Among the favorites in the team standings will be Tahoma, Post Falls, Mead, Moses Lake and Capital of Boise. Post Falls has won the last two Tri-State titles.

“Tahoma has been looking really good, and Post Falls has some good kids back from last year,” Whitcomb said. “For our program, we’re trying to get recruiting here and hold the best tournament possible, and we’re also really happy to have it here this time of the year. It’s nice to have 500 potential students getting a chance to look at the campus.”

Top-seeded locals for the tournament in their respective weight classes include: Lakeland’s Sam Edelblute (98 pounds) and Jared Walker (195), Post Falls’ Ridge Lovett (106) and Coeur d’Alene’s Casey Randles (182).

Lovett won a Tri-State title at 98 last year, and Randles won at 182 last year while at Sandpoint.

Sandpoint will send seven wrestlers to Tri-State: Tucker Hall (132), Scout Nash (138), Malachi Mazzare (145), Preston Bunty (152), Tekoa Mazzare (160), Andrew Webster (170) and Owen Stebbins (182). Stebbins is seeded No. 4 in the 182 pound bracket, the lone Bulldog to earn a top seed, and could meet former Teammate Randles if the draw permits.

All-tournament passes are available for $25 for adults and $15 for students and senior citizens.