29th Tri-State Invitational
Dec. 15-16, 2000

Sandpoint mauls foes

Rosholt, Hook key decisive team victory for Bulldogs at Tri-State

By MARK NELKE
Sports writer Coeur d'Alene Press

Sunday, December 17, 2000

COEUR d'ALENE -- Everyone knew Sandpoint High School had a talented wrestling team entering the season.

But the Bulldogs got even tougher this weekend, scoring a convincing team win at the 29th Tri-State Invitational on Saturday at North Idaho College's Christianson Gym.

Led by Jake Rosholt, whose victory at 189 pounds gave him a third straight Tri-State title, and Tony Hook, who repeated as champion at 145, Sandpoint racked up 230 points. Two-time defending champion Lake Stevens (Wash.) was 58 points back in second place.

The Bulldogs went 3-for-4 in the championship finals and placed eight of the 12 wrestlers they entered.

"I thought we'd be in the hunt, but I definitely didn't think we'd run away with the tournament from wire to wire," said Sandpoint coach Mike Randles, an assistant in 1996 when the Bulldogs won their only other Tri-State team title. "It's definitely a very balanced lineup. It's a balanced, solid lineup from 103 to 215."

It doesn't hurt when a Tri-State and state A-1 runner-up from last year transfers in and begins practicing the day before Tri-State.

Joe Forsman, who lost to Rosholt last year in both finals at 171 last year, transferred from Lewiston (his father lives in Sandpoint). Forsman claimed the 215 title with a 1-0 victory over Stacey Mello of McCall-Donnelly.

Rosholt, who has signed a letter of intent to wrestle at Oklahoma State, won four of his five matches by pin in a combined 5:09 to win the Lance Koep Award for the second straight year. The quick-pin award was instituted to honor Kope, a longtime NIC booster who died last year.

In the finals, the top-seeded Rosholt methodically posted a 13-3 victory over Jed Lowe of Hermiston (Ore.), who had pinned Lakeland's Casey Phelps in the quarterfinals Friday night.

"He's so strong ... I couldn't do anything with him, especially when he lays there," Rosholt said. "It just takes the whole fun out of it. I figured he'd come at me a lot more."

Oregon City (Ore.) junior Ryan Sneigrev, who beat Tommy Owen of University (Spokane Valley) 7-6 in the finals at 135, won the John Turpen Memorial Award as most outstanding wrestler.

Hook, a junior who dropped from 152 for Tri-State, needed a takedown with 18 seconds left to break a 3-3 tie and defeat Matt Cooper of Anacortes (Wash.) 5-4.

"This year, I had a lot more pressure, being the defending champion," Hook said. "I came in with the expectation to win. Last year, I had no pressure; I would have been happy with second. This year, I wouldn't have been happy with second."

Sandpoint's other finalist, Mick Coon, lost 22-9 to Hopper Pearson of Lake Stevens at 140. Coon upset No. 1 seed T.J. Merrell of Mead (Spokane) 5-3 in the semifinals.

Owen, a '99 Tri-State champ, grabbed his sweats and bolted out the front door to the gym after the loss. The Minnesota signee, a Coeur d'Alene native and son of former NIC coach John Owen, then did some sprints on a slushy road adjacent to the NIC campus.

"I got outwrestled ... I never really got my stuff going," said Owen. "I know I'm better than him. I beat him nine times out of 10. But he was better than me tonight."

Takedowns: An estimated 700 fans watched the finals. A total of 46 teams and 482 wrestlers entered. ... Lakeland's Clint Leonard (130) and Sky Pruitt (275) placed third. Phelps was fourth ... Sandpoint's other placers were Kyle Watson (third at 135), Reggie Ross (third at 160), Chris Feist (fourth at 171) and Justin Ziegler (fifth at 103). ... Other area placers were St. Maries' Charlie Skinner (third at 125) and Coeur d'Alene's Robert Wallace (fourth at 112).

Leonard, Pruitt, Watson and Feist lost in the semifinals. Watson was pinned in 3:23 by Owen, and Pruitt lost 11-9 in overtime to eventual champion Courtney Howard of East Valley (Spokane Valley). ... Moses Lake (Wash.) star Ariel Garza, the No. 1 seed at 130, injury defaulted out of the tourney in the semifinals and finished sixth. ... Richie Zuniga of Granger (Wash.), a Tri-State champ at 103 last year, lost 5-4 in the 112 finals to Mark Bradley of Oregon City. ... Russell Wynne, the first-ever entrant from Wellpinit (Wash.), blew a 7-0 lead and lost 8-7 in the 103 finals to J.R. Rebo of Libby, Mont. ... Oregon City was third with 170.5 points, Hermiston fourth with 170. Clarkston came in fifth with 108 points, and Anacortes (106) and Libby (100) also reached the century mark.

TEAM SCORES -- 1, Sandpoint 230. 2, Lake Stevens (Wash.) 172. 3, Oregon City (Ore.) 170.5. 4, Hermiston (Ore.) 170. 5, Clarkston 108. 6, Anacortes (Wash.) 106. 7, Libby (Mont.) 100. 8 (tie), University (Spokane) 96, Tonasket (Wash.) 96. 10, Weiser 94, 11, Moses Lake 93.5. 12, Pendleton (Ore.) 91. 13, Mount Baker (Deming, Wash.) 85. 14, East Valley (Spokane) 82. 15, Lakeland 75. 16, Central Valley (Veradale, Wash.) 64.5. 17, Mead 62.5. 18 (tie), Chewelah (Wash.) 62, Polson (Mont.) 62, 20, Lakeside (Nine Mile Falls, Wash.) 60.5. 21, Central Kitsap (Silverdale, Wash.) 59. 22, La Grande (Ore.) 56.5. 23, Gonzaga Prep (Spokane) 55. 24, North Central (Spokane) 51. 25, Sedro-Woolley (Wash.) 48. 26, Lewiston 46. 27 (tie), Granger (Wash.) 45, Kelso (Wash.) 45. 30. Inglemoor (Bothell, Wash.) 35.5, 31, Coeur d'Alene 31. 32, Ferris (Spokane) 30. 33, McCall-Donnelly 26. 34, Wellpinit (Wash.) 25.5. 35, Meridian 25. 36, Capital (Boise). 37, Mt. Spokane (Spokane) 19. 38, Lake City 18. 39, Walla Walla (Wash.) 15.5. 40, Priest River 13, 41, Rosalia (Wash.) 12. 42 (tie), Moscow 0, Bonners Ferry 0, Almira-Coulee-Hartline (Wash.) 0, Sentinel (Missoula, Mont.) 0, Kamiah 0.

CHAMPIONSHIPS

103
1st -- J.R. Rebo, Lib, d. Russell Wynne, Wel, 8-7.
3rd -- Lawrence Ng, CK, d. Tom Tran, Univ 10-5.
5th -- Justin Ziegler, Spt, p. Kelly Austreng, Kelso, 4:26.

112
1st -- Mark Bradley, OC, d. Richie Zuniga, Gra, 5-4.
3rd -- Jake Leino, Pen, d. Robert Wallace, Cd'A 6-2.
5th -- Ty Human, Lake Stevens, d. Jon Bake, Lew 1-0.

119
1st -- Justin Pearch, OC, d. Kris Matthews, Lake, 10-5.
3rd -- Todd Slatter, Univ, d. Chris Fiscus, Lib, 7-4.
5th -- Dallin Hendrickson, Herm, d. Knight, LS 5-0.

125
1st -- Burke Barnes, LS, d. Kyle Larson, Herm, 10-5.
3rd -- Charlie Skinner, SM, d. Todd Kligel, Pen, 14-3.
5th -- Seth Weatherman, Chew, d. Paul Sewell, Ing, 7-2

130
1st -- Martin Mitchell, Ton, d. Bryan Medelez, Herm, 6-0.
3rd -- Clint Leonard, LL, d. Anthony Johnson, Clk, 8-3.
5th -- Shan Slover, LaG, inj. def. Ariel Garza, ML

135
1st -- Ryan Sneigrev, OC, d. Tommy Owen, Univ, 7-6.
3rd -- Kyle Watson, Spt, d. Colin Thorne, Ana, 4-0.
5th -- Aaron Rozeboom, MB, inj. def. Brandon Cox, Mer.

140
1st -- Hopper Pearson, LS, md. Mick Coon, Spt, 22-9.
3rd -- Orlando Perez, Herm, d. Bryce Lemons, Kel, 12-1.
5th -- Bryan Seibel, ML, inj. def. T.J. Merrill, Mead.

145
1st -- Tony Hook, Spt, d. Matt Cooper, Ana, 5-4.
3rd -- Ryan Dreyer, SW, d. Adam Kleck, LaG, 3-2.
5th -- Patrick Mitchell, Ton, forfeit over Eric Garcia, ML.

152
1st -- Drew Dickerson, Wei, d. Jeremy Larson, Herm, 7-6.
3rd -- Phil Eggleston, Chew, d. Ryan Bishop, CV 5-4.
5th -- Rueben Dreyer, SW, d. Austin Laughery, Lake, 3-1, OT.

160
1st -- Tony Call, Ton, d. Christian Anderson, LC, 7-4.
3rd -- Reggie Ross, Spt, p. Josh Edson, SW, 4:23.
5th -- Andy Brownson, CV, inj. def. Andy Andrews, SW.

171
1st -- Brian Hocum, Clk, d. Josh Decker, Ana, 13-10.
3rd -- Chris Wentworth, ML, p. Chris Feist, Spt, 1:31.
5th -- Mark Current, Wei, d. Pat Bradley, GP, 4-3.

189
1st -- Jake Rosholt, Spt, md. Jed Lowe, Herm, 13-3.
3rd -- Justin Compton, MB, p. Casey Phelps, LL, 1:52.
5th -- J.D. Lambert, Pen, d. Ezra Bocook, NC, 8-5.

215
1st -- Joe Forsman, Spt, d. Stacey Mello, McD, 1-0.
3rd -- Justin Moody, EV, d. Chad Plaistid, OC, 5-3, OT.
5th -- Dan Duff, Herm, d. Jordy Kennedy, Ing, 11-2.

275
1st -- Courtney Howard, EV, d. Thomas Bates, OC, 5-3.
3rd -- Sky Pruitt, LL, p. Jeremy Spence, Wei, 3:30.
5th -- Jim Rains, Ana, d. Derrick Warren, Cap, 3-1.