For the week of February 26 - March 4, 2003

Wrestlers send
eight to state

Good district meet for Wolverines

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Eight Wood River High School wrestlers are headed to the State 3A wrestling tournament in Pocatello.

Senior Casey Markwell (21-18) at 189 pounds is the only returning state tournament wrestler for coach Danny Turner’s Wolverines.

Others punching their state tickets are juniors Robert Wiesen (31-15) at 145, Russell Adams (15-16) at 140, Duane Miller (29-11) at 135 and Brandon Silvia (24-16) at 152; sophomore Greg Lyons (25-15) at 160; freshmen Sid Watson (21-15) at 103 and Dustin Selner (16-10) at 215.

Russell Adams, taking down Gooding’s Don Frederickson Feb. 14 in Hailey, is on his way to the state tournament. Express photo by David N. Seelig

They qualified during last Wednesday’s Sawtooth Central Idaho Conference meet in Buhl. Wood River entered 14 wrestlers, compiled a 19-24 match record and qualified eight of the 14 for the state meet.

"I’m extremely proud of the kids. The momentum we had from our final home meet against Gooding carried us through district," Turner said.

This year, the top four wrestlers in each of 14 weight classes earned berths in the 46th annual State 3A tourney Feb. 27-March 1 in Pocatello.

SCIC team champion Kimberly led the way with 15 state wrestlers. Second-place Buhl had 13, third-place Declo 10, Wood River eight, fifth-place Gooding five and sixth-place Filer secured three berths.

Final team standings: 1—Kimberly 213.5 points with six district champs. 2—Buhl 189.5 with four champs. 3—Declo 120.5 with two champs. 4—WR 112.5. 5—Gooding 98 with two champs. 6—Filer 56.5.

"I thought we might take third and get nine state berths," said Turner. "We didn’t wrestle badly. Declo just wrestled better and took third place."

 

Results by class

Although the Wolverines didn’t capture an individual district title, Wiesen and Selner each made it to the championship final and took second place. In third place were Duane Miller, Greg Lyons and Sid Watson.

Here’s a rundown of the Wood River results by class:

145 pounds:
#2-seeded Wiesen (2-1 district) started out with two pins then lost a very close 7-5 decision to 145-pound champ Curtis Giles of Kimberly (15-10). Wiesen fell behind 7-0 in the first but battled back.

Wiesen opens at state against Teton junior Willard Jackson (11-5). With a victory, Wiesen would likely wrestle top-seeded Clint Leonard of Lakeland (29-0), last year’s 140-pound state champion in 3A.

215 pounds:
#3-seeded Selner (1-1 district) pinned Matt Busby of Buhl then lost by pin to champion Trinady Osterhout (23-7) of Declo. Selner tried to throw Osterhout and just slipped and was pinned, Turner said.

At state Thursday, Selner wrestles Weiser junior Tyler Nelson (11-8).

135 pounds:
Miller (3-1 district) won twice at Buhl then dropped a 5-4 decision to eventual champion J.D. Gould of Buhl (26-7). "Gould got ahead and just stalled out the match," Turner said. Miller then pinned Trevor Hollibaugh of Kimberly.

Miller wrestles Weiser senior Nick Martell (15-17) at state. If Miller wins, he would likely wrestle #2-seeded Cody Plant of Snake River (30-4), fifth-place at 135 in 2002.

160 pounds:
Although he was fighting bronchitis, Lyons (2-2 district) picked up a couple of district wins and lost a tough 2-1 decision to second-place Alex Serrano of Buhl.

Lyons yielded a penalty point and an escape to Serrano and actually thought he was ahead in the match toward the end. "He just couldn’t get that takedown," said Turner.

In the third-place match Lyons pinned Jeremy Carter of Filer. At state Lyons opens against Lakeland junior Sean McCrite (21-11).

103 pounds:
Watson (3-1 district) won three matches including a 7-2 decision over Declo freshman Jacob Kuwana for third. At state Watson takes on Lakeland freshman Brandon Palaniuk (22-4) in the first round.

189 pounds:
Markwell (2-2 district) earned wins over Filer and Gooding matmen. He also lost by pin to second-place Brad Butler of Kimberly and third-place Justin Walker of Filer. Markwell wrestles Shayne Hill of St. Maries (15-4) at state.

140 pounds:
Wrestling well in the later stages of the season, Adams (2-2 district) had perhaps the "match of the tournament" for the Wolverines. Turner said, "Although he was 0-3 against Nate Ott of Filer during the season, Russell won when it counted, by an 8-6 score in the first round."

Adams was pinned by eventual champion R.C. Sisson of Buhl (33-5) in the semi-final, then won 10-1 over Don Frederickson of Gooding and lost 6-4 to Chad Watts of Kimberly.

At state Adams goes against Marsh Valley senior Blaine Casperson (19-9) in the opening round.

152 pounds:
Silvia (2-2 district) won by 2-1 decision and by pin, and also lost by pin to eventual champ Will Baggs of Buhl. In the third-place match, Silvia fell 5-2 to #2-seeded Blake Higley of Kimberly (15-4).

Silvia tackles Priest River senior Shawn Scribner (24-8) at state.

Repeating as district champions were Gooding senior and last year’s state 125-pound champion Travis Stone (31-2) at 135; Buhl junior Will Baggs (27-3) at 152; and Buhl senior Russell Wiersma (31-1) at 275. It was Wiersma’s third straight district title.

Other Wood River wrestlers completing their seasons at Buhl were Brad Dussell (1-2) at 215; T.J. Squires (0-2) at 171 pounds; Tim Vert (1-2) at 135; Josh Orchard (0-2) at 119; Genii Vert (0-2) at 112; and Jessica Kessler (0-2) at 103 pounds.

 

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