Feb. 27βThe buses are packed, brackets are printed and the hotels are booked.
More state tournaments have arrived for prep programs in Idaho and Washington, and area schools are scattering across the two states in pursuit of championships in basketball, wrestling and cheer.
Today and Saturday, Idaho area teams will compete at the state level in wrestling.
Lewiston cheerleading will compete this weekend in the 5A state tournament.
This weekend is also the opening rounds for the Washington boys and girls state basketball tournaments. The round of 12 will begin on March 4 and will continue to the finals through March 7.
For Idaho boys basketball, the official state tournament will also begin on March 4 and continue through March 7, with state play-in games happening this weekend.
Here's a look at everything coming up:
Area schools strongly represented at Idaho state wrestling
Twelve schools are sending at least one wrestler to the wrestling state tournaments today, hosted at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa.
In the 5A classification, Lewiston is sending seven boys wrestlers and three girls wrestlers.
Advertisement
Moscow, also in the 5A classification, is sending three boys and two girls.
The rest of the smaller schools will compete at the 3A level.
The girls will wrestle in their weight class, with no distinction between levels.
On the boys side, Clearwater Valley is sending five wrestlers; Grangeville is sending four; Potlatch, Lapwai and Orofino are sending two; and Kamiah, Nezperce and Kendrick are sending one.
On the girls side, Prairie, Deary and Clearwater Valley are each sending one wrestler.
Lewiston boys coach Colton Maddy discussed three of his wrestlers in the top five seeding β fifth-seeded Coen Roberts (150 pounds), second-seeded Mason Faling (157) and second-seeded Parker Bagley (285) β and said they have a good chance at making it to the finals and possibly winning the entire tournament. He also said that the wrestlers who aren't seeded always have a chance and that unseeded runs happen every year.
"This was what the whole season was for," Maddy said. "This is what every tournament we go to is leading up to now. We always say, 'Everything else the rest of the season was all practice for the state tournament.' So the guys have put in the work. Our guys go through a tough schedule to prep them with the best competition they can get, to prep for this. And their hard work's paid off."
He said that heading up to the state tournament, he told his wrestlers to relax because they've already done most of the hard work. They have wrestled in tough tournaments and have wrestled at the Ford Idaho Center already. He told the wrestlers to "go out and cut loose, enjoy it and go wrestle your hardest."
"I think the boys are ready," Maddy said. "They put in the work. They're ready to strike. We got a couple of boys looking to make state championship runs, not just podium runs, but we got a couple guys looking to win in a complete title. So we'll see if they can get the job done."
The other 5A top-five-seeded wrestler is Moscow's Marcus Swift (138).
In 3A boys wrestling, the top-five-seeded wrestlers include Kendrick's Eian Schwecke (132) in the first seed, Kaden Schaff (120) of Nezperce also in the first seed and Orofino's Hunter Gamble (138) in the second seed.
On the girls side, Ciel Sattler (155) of Deary is the second seed, Avery Schacher (170) of Prairie is in the third seed and Jesse Rice (140) of Clearwater Valley is also in the third seed.
All the wrestlers and their weight classes are listed below:
3A BOYS
Clearwater Valley β Conner Christensen (165 pounds); Jaxon Green (150); Lander Mitzkus (285); Luke Nelson (126); Peter Fabbi (132).
Grangeville β Hollis Elliot (157); Liam Koehler (113); Luke Stark (120); Orrin Farmer (175).
Kamiah β Tanner Labrum (144).
Kendrick β Eian Schwecke (132).
Lapwai β Dante Davis (215); Joshua Arthur Jr. (285).
Orofino β Hunter Gamble (138); Devon Welch (120).
Nezperce β Kaden Schaff (120); Gatlin Griffith (175).
Potlatch β Brody McGreal (126); Jacob Keck (215).
5A BOYS
Lewiston β Brody Lynch (126); Cameron Lamphere (138); Coen Roberts (150); James Sams (113); Riley Johnson (132); Mason Faling (157); Parker Bagley (285).
Moscow β Marcus Swift (138); Keith Gulbrandsen (165); Joe Markuson (175).
GIRLS
Lewiston β Kooper Bugner (120); Sammie Slyter (135); Kamryn Lockart (145).
Daily headlines, straight to your inboxRead it online first and stay up-to-date, delivered daily at 7 AM
Moscow β Paylynn Childers (105); Hayden Palmer (140).
Prairie β Avery Schacher (170).
Deary β Ciel Sattler (155).
Clearwater Valley β Jesse Rice (140).
Area hoops teams at State
As the Idaho girls basketball state tournaments took place last week, all that remains for Idaho teams is the boys state tournaments.
Lewiston will represent the area in the Idaho Class 5A state tournament and is awaiting seeding.
The Bengals defeated the Sandpoint Bulldogs 72-54 in their district championship to clinch their spot in the state tournament.
Lewiston has the help of the scoring machine that is Royce Fisher who is coming off of two career-high performances of 33 and 35 points at Districts.
The Bengals also have difference makers in Jordan Walker, Blaze Hepburn and Mason Way.
Lewiston coach Brooks Malm said that the Bengals are proud to represent the city of Lewiston.
"It means a lot to everyone involved in our program to be able to represent the Lewiston community," Malm said. "This is a blue-collar town where people show up to work every day and we try to embody that with how we play. To receive the recognition and support the way we have from the community is really humbling."
Malm said that this team is ready to make the run to win it all.
"I think what this team has going for it are all the guys who have played before them," Malm said. "Whether it is the '09 (state champion) team that we honored last year, or the guys from last year's team who wish they could suit up for this year's tournament, our current team takes a lot of pride in playing for Lewiston. Having the experience from playing in the tournament last year has made us a better team throughout the year, and we look forward to the opportunity in front of us, whoever it may be."
In the Idaho Class 2A state tournament, the Kendrick Tigers have their spot locked in and are awaiting seeding. Prairie won the second-place game in the 2A Whitepine League district tournament and will compete in a state play-in game against Compass Charter at 2 p.m. Pacific on Saturday at McCall-Donnelly High School.
In the Idaho Class 1A state tournament, Timberline of Weippe will represent the 1A Whitepine League. St. John Bosco of Cottonwood took second place in the 1A Whitepine League district tournament and will face Greenleaf Friends at noon Pacific on Saturday at McCall-Donnelly in a state play-in game.
In the Idaho 3A, Orofino will play against Kellogg at 6 p.m. today at Orofino High School in a second-place game to determine a spot at State.
On the Washington side, there are three boys area teams at state tournaments. They will first play in the opening round to decide seeding of their respective tournament.
That includes undefeated Colfax as the No. 1 seed in the 2B classification. The Bulldogs will play Liberty Bell of Winthrop today at 8 p.m. at West Valley High School in Spokane.
2A-GSL-champion Pullman is the No. 4 seed in the 2A classification. The Greyhounds will face Tumwater at 4 p.m. on Saturday at West Valley.
Garfield-Palouse is the No. 14 seed in the 1B classification. The Vikings will play Muckleshoot Tribal today at 6 p.m. at Auburn High School.
There are four girls area teams at the state tournaments. They will also play in the opening round first to decide the seeding of their respective tournament.
Clarkston β the 2A-GSL-regular-season champ β is the No. 4 seed in the 2A classification. The Bantams will play Archbishop Murphy of Everett at 2 p.m. Saturday at Cheney High School.
Garfield-Palouse is the No. 2 seed and Pomeroy is the No. 13 seed in the 1B classification. The Vikings will play Pateros at 6 p.m. on Saturday at West Valley.
Pomeroy will face Naselle in a loser-out contest at noon on Saturday at Kelso High School.
Colfax is the No. 10 seed in the 2B classification. The Bulldogs will face Okanogan in a loser-out contest at 6 p.m. today at West Valley.
Lewiston cheerleading ready to make some noise
The Bengals cheer team won their district championship, beating Moscow, Lakeland and Sandpoint to send themselves to the 5A state tournament.
The state event is taking place on Saturday starting at 2:30 p.m. Pacific at Mountain America Center in Idaho Falls.
In the past two years, Lewiston has finished third at State and are trying to break out of the habit.
The cheerleading squad will do three routines and get scored on each one, which is how they would win it all, although they could also take first in the separate routines.
There is the show routine, the sideline routine and the pom routine, said Lewiston coach Heidi Hagen.
Points are awarded for the top-three placers in each routine.
"We had to drive a long way to get here but we're all we're excited," Hagen said. "We're happy to represent Lewiston, and we worked really hard this year, and we're ready to go do it."
Hagen said her expectation is to at least place in the top three again and to shoot for first.
"Lewiston has been placed at State the last two years, in 2024 and 2025, so we're hoping to do the same again and get a higher placing," Hagen said. "We're hoping to get like second place overall would be great as title would be great, but either way, we're gonna give it a go."
Junt can be reached at 208-848-2258, tjunt@lmtribune.com or on X @TrevorJunt.
Login
