It's not like the Idaho state wrestling tournament, where if you can get 20 wrestlers in, you've got a good chance at a team title.

But it doesn't hurt.

Post Falls junior Seth McLeod (170 pounds) and Coeur d'Alene senior Matt James (285) are among the No. 1 seeds for the 42nd annual Tri-State Invitational, which runs today and Saturday at Christianson Gymnasium on the campus of North Idaho College.

Ten returning champions are mixed among 15 different weight divisions, including local champion Alius De La Rosa (120) of Post Falls High.

"I'm not sure if we've got any more returners than any other tournament," said tournament organizer and NIC wrestling coach Pat Whitcomb. "This is where those freshmen and sophomores look to place at. Every year, we've got defending champions that get upset - and that's Tri-State."

The 126-pound class has four returning champions.

"That's going to be an awfully tough draw," Whitcomb said. "Both (Drake) Foster (of Post Falls) and (Isaac) Aguilar (of Hermiston) are really good, and it's going to be tough in there. Each match is going to be a battle. Any of the top three (seeds) really could win it."

Whitcomb added that he's looking forward to seeing competition at 138 and 145 pounds.

"I'm thinking 145 will be another good one," Whitcomb said. "Everyone from (Drake) Randall (from Lewiston, seeded fifth at 145) can win it. It's not going to be a weak weight."

Hermiston (Ore.) won last year's team championship, and is favored to win again this year, Whitcomb said. Oregon City won the small school championship after finishing 16th. Post Falls was the top local finisher in ninth. The Trojans were third in 2011.

"Post Falls has been right in the middle of things the last two years," Whitcomb said. "If they can get things rolling and can stick some kids in the finals. It's definitely not like the Idaho state tournament where you need 20 guys to win the thing."

The tournament begins today at 10 a.m. and continues Saturday at 9 a.m. on Saturday, with championship finals at 6 p.m.

The finals will be preceded at 5:30 by the dedication of North Idaho College's wrestling room to former Cardinal wrestling coach John Owen, who led NIC to eight NJCAA titles and 17 top three national finishes in his 20-year coaching stint with the Cardinals. Owen is currently coach at Central Valley High in Spokane.

All-session passes for the tournament are $25 for adults and $15 for students and seniors.

TRI-STATE SEEDING

98 pounds - 1, T.J. Baun, fr., Colville. 2, Caleb Bagnell, jr., Frenchtown (Mont). 3, Trevor Rigney, so., Lewiston. 4, Kaleb Maciosek, fr., Coeur d'Alene. 5, Jesus Cornejo, so., Moses Lake. 6, Mickey Kelley, fr., Coeur d'Alene. 7, Austin Bair, so., North Central. 8, Jesse Woll, fr., Lakeside (Nine Mile Falls).

106 - 1, Cole Rohan, so., La Grande (defending Tri-State champion). 2, Cooper McCullough, so., Moses Lake. 3, Jake Hegel, so., Sentinel (Missoula). 4, Morgan Schultz, so., Mission. 5, Liam Tarvin, so., Hermiston. 6, Brandon Roberts, sr., Mt. Spokane. 7, Cody Warner, so., Frenchtown. 8, Clai Quintanilla, fr., North Central.

113 - 1, Jacoby Peterson, sr., Kuna (runner-up at Tri-State in 2012). 2, Logan Sundheim, so., East Valley. 3, Trent Skelton, jr., Liberty Bell. 4, Trey Long, jr., Moses Lake. 5, Ryan Starr, so., Timberlake. 6, Matt Petrini, sr., Mead. 7, Kyle Gonzales, sr., Blaine. 8, Mikey Garrison, jr., University.

120 - 1, Casey Cobb, sr., Kuna (returning Tri-State, state champion). 2, Alius De La Rosa, so., Post Falls (returning Tri-State, state champion). 3, Michael Soler, so., Lake Stevens. 4, Bryson Beard, so., Central Valley. 5, Andy Wagner, so., Hermiston. 6, Seth Lowen, jr., McCall-Donnelly. 7, Devin Poppen, sr., Oregon City. 8, Rob Pair, jr., McCall-Donnelly.

126 - 1, Isaac Aguilar, sr., Hermiston (returning Tri-State champion). 2, Fred Green, jr., Orting (returning Washington state champion). 3, Drake Foster, jr., Post Falls (returning state champion). 4, Dylan Schulte, sr., Sentinel (returning Montana state champion). 5, Cam Sorensen, so., University. 6, Cruz Velasquez, sr., Tahoma. 7, Carlos Quinones, so., Polson. 8, Hootie Judd, sr., Lakeside.

132 - 1, Michael Cook, sr., Kuna (returning Tri-State, state champion). 2, Blake Beard, jr., Central Valley (returning Washington state champion). 3, Tyler Wicken, sr., Kelso. 4, Noah Cuzzetto, jr., Lake Stevens. 5, Blake Ivie, jr., Kellogg (returning state champion). 6, Josh Crager, sr., Cascade. 7, Steven Zettel, jr., Post Falls. 8, Tyler Workman, jr., Kelso.

138 - 1, Bryce Parson, jr., Lewiston (defending Tri-State, state champion). 2, Wyatt Schribner, sr., Hermiston. 3, Kurtis Loftis, sr., Kuna. 4, Matt Iwicki, jr., Eastside Catholic (returning Washington state champion). 5, Rainier Montes, sr., McCall-Donnelly. 6, Corde Ferreira, jr., Graham-Kapowsin. 7, A.J. Garcia, sr., Hermiston. 8, T.J. Wolf, so., Post Falls.

145 - 1, Colton Orrino, so., Central Valley (returning Washington state champion). 2, Tye Lommasson, sr., Camas. 3, Ian Cox, jr., Colville. 4, Trey Meyer, so., East Valley. 5, Drake Randalll, jr., Lewiston. 6, Michael Moniz, sr., Orting. 7, Cody Lemons, sr., Frenchtown. 8, Christian Nibarger, sr., Mt. Spokane.

152 - 1, Joe Grable, sr., Deer Park (defending Tri-State, Washington state champion). 2, Ryan Klemp, jr., Lewiston (returning state champion). 3, Nathan Vulliet, sr., Edmonds-Woodway. 4, Tyler Jaramillo, sr., Kuna. 5, Sam Bruce, sr., Moscow. 6, Tyler Bardertscher, jr., Timberlake. 7, Rico Ybarra, so., Orting. 8, Cody Kiourkas, sr., North Central.

160 - 1, Izaec Quintanilla, jr., North Central (defending Tri-State, Washington state champion). 2, Levi Perry, so., Kuna (returning state champion). 3, Rowdy Paul, jr., Potlatch. 4, Hunter Lord, sr., Lynnwood. 5, Matt Miller, sr., Deer Park. 6, Isaac Walters, jr., St. Maries. 7, Mason McDaniel, so., Juanita. 8, Jared Waler, fr., Lewiston.

170 - 1, Seth McLeod, jr., Post Falls (returning state champion). 2, Jacen Petersen, sr., Mission (returning Montana state champion). 3, Austin Stannard, sr., University. 4, Tanner Fischer, sr., Oregon City. 5, Bryson Pierce, jr., North Central. 6, Antonio Melendez, sr., Quincy. 7, Kaleb O'Conner, sr., Moscow. 8, Caleb Woodworth, sr., La Grande.

182 - 1, Ryan Christensen, sr., Woodinville (defending Tri-State, Washington state champion). 2, Jordan Nolan, sr., Kuna. 3, Kyle Brown, sr., Potlatch. 4, Shane Armstrong, sr., Vashon Island. 6, Killian Estes, jr., Lakeland. 7, Joey Reintjes, sr., Moscow. 8, Karson Walker, sr., Lewiston.

195 - 1, Samuel Colbray, so., Hermiston (defending Tri-State, Oregon state champion). 2, Preston Morris, sr., Vashon Island. 3, Ciaran Ball, sr., Meadowdale. 4, Phoenix Duncan, sr., Coeur d'Alene. 5, Ryan Failor, jr., Post Falls. 6, Reece Baldwin, jr., Lewiston. 7, Sam Lindsey, jr., Auburn. 8, Jordan Lacelle, sr., Moses Lake.

220 - 1, Jaydn Wilson, sr., Sentinel. 2, Tom Harvey, sr., Mt. Spokane. 3, Cody Vigoren, jr., Lake Stevens. 4, Mason Ju, sr., Mead. 5, Manual Vasquez, sr., Lynnwood. 6, Colin Hammoic, jr., Sentinel. 7, Hunter Mullins, so., Orting. 8, Dakota Groves, sr., Coeur d'Alene.

285 - 1, Matt James, sr., Coeur d'Alene. 2, Armando Garcia, sr., Hermiston. 3, J.C. English, sr., Kuna. 4, Tate Orndorff, jr., University. 5, Mikey Antczak, sr., Blaine. 6, Justin Farnsworth, jr., Post Falls. 7, Jayden Vassell, sr., Moscow. 8, Joe Coller, jr., Vashon Island.