The challenge wasn’t so much the Sidney Invitational in Montana.

Nor will it come during a holiday trip to The Clash tournament in Rochester, Minn., in a few weeks.

Maybe not so much at the annual River City Duals.

The challenge, or so it seems, is getting through uncharted waters on the wrestling mat for Post Falls High.

SO FAR, the Trojans have passed the first test, winning the duals tournament in Sidney followed by the bracketed tourney the following day.

On Friday, Post Falls built a 24-point lead after the first day of the Tri-State Invitational.

Regardless of how things finish later today, the fun is just beginning for the Trojans.

Post Falls will travel to Rochester, Minn., on Dec. 29-30 for The Clash, which features top programs from around the nation.

“Not that it’s a springboard for the rest of the season, but it’s more of a measuring stick,” Post Falls coach Pete Reardon said. “It’s a good indication of where you’re at as a team, and it certainly could be a springboard into the next tournament.”

Post Falls will return from its holiday break, then travel to Nampa for the Rollie Lane Invitational at the Ford Idaho Center on Jan. 5-6.

“You can definitely get on a roll and get things going because of some success at these tournaments,” Reardon said. “But it’s more of a measuring stick, and that’s how we talk to the kids about it. It’s a way to see where we are.”

POST FALLS won’t wrestle at home until Jan. 11, when the Trojans host Rocky Mountain of Meridian in a prelude to the 21st annual River City Duals, scheduled for Jan. 12-13 at The Arena in Post Falls.

No matter where they’re at, Reardon said the approach won’t change.

“All we ask is that everyone gives 100 percent, and we treat all of our competitions the same way,” Reardon said. “We tell everyone to go out and give it all they’ve got and we’ll see where we’re at after that. Even if you fall short, you can get a fair assessment of where you’re at and here’s where our deficiencies are and where we need to improve on. If we do happen to win it, then you can roll into the next one, but I think it’s the perception of how you handle the outcome.”

The Trojans conclude the season with duals against at Lake City (Jan. 31), at Lewiston (Feb. 1), vs. Lakeland (Feb. 7) and at Coeur d’Alene on Feb. 8.

“It’s a new challenge with the way our scheduling broke down this year, and with adding the tournament in Rochester,” said Reardon, in his ninth season as Post Falls coach. “Our biggest competition isn’t until we come back from Rollie Lane. We’ll have a little bit of a break in there, and have a full week of practice when we get back (from holiday break). We’ll be training still, but with a little bit of balance and they’ve got evenings off. It’s going to be interesting to see how we handle the grind of Tri-State, Rochester, Rollie and then our tournament. We’ll see how we handle and react to it.”

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at (208) 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at jelliott@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter @JECdAPress.