Priest River sends eight to state

BONNERS FERRY - The Priest River wrestling team came into the Class 3A district 1 wrestling tournament with 12 top-3 seeds.

The Spartans came away with eight state qualifiers, with both Bradley Bennett and Colm McLaimtaig earning first place honors.

Priest River finished fourth overall as a team with 189.5 points.

McLaimtaig, who’s a freshman, had a shorter playing field than his teammates with only four wrestlers in his bracket, but still managed to impress.

In his quarterfinals match, he made quick work of Timberlake’s Owen Zahnow, pinning him in 30 seconds.

In the championship bout, he didn’t allow Timberlake’s Paul Sundstrom to score a point, beating him 9-0.

Bennett only needed 90 seconds to take care of Eli Leyden of Bonners Ferry during the championship round at 160.

Colm’s brother, Caeden, finished third at 132, earning him a bid to state.

He defeated his teammate Aidan Troumbley by pin.

Senior Keith Poirier battled against Kellogg’s Jaeger Hall in the championship round at 126.

Hall had a 2-0 lead at the end of the first period and Poirier tied the score quickly in the second period.

The two grapplers remained close throughout, but Hall ended up escaping with a narrow 8-6 victory.

Priest RIver had another 126-pounder make it to the podium. Collin Magers.

Magers lost to Hall in the first round of the tournament by pin, which must’ve lit a fire underneath him. He pinned his way to a third place finish.

Hayden Sorbel finished second at 113, losing to Kellogg’s Wyatt Hei by pin in the championship round.

Mytas McLain, who won the Weiser tournament on Feb. 5, finished second after getting pinned with 10 seconds left in the second period.

To finish off the night, Caleb Grow finished second after getting pinned by Bonner Ferry’s Donald Reiss 30 seconds into the third round.

Next up for Priest River is the state tournament at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa on Saturday Feb. 27.

Team results - 1. Kellogg 241, 2. Bonners Ferry 220, 3. Timberlake 202,4. Priest River 189.5

Priest River individual results - 106 - Colm McLaimtaig 3-0. 113 - Hayden Sorbel 1-1. Braydon Lamanna 0-2. 120 -Garrett Reynolds 0-2. 126 - Keith Poirier 2-1. Collin Magers 2-1. 132 - Aidan Troumbley 1-2. Caeden McLaimtaig 2-1. 145 - Dillon Haylor 1-2. Charles Bennett 2-2. 152 - Austin Reeves 1-2. 160 - Dalton Brown 1-2. Bradley Bennett 3-0. 170 - Hunter Rose 0-2. 182 - Landon Reynolds 1-2. Gunnar Eversole 0-2. 195 - Matyus McLain 2-1. 220 - Gabriel Grow 0-2. 285 - Caleb Grow 1-1.