NAMPA — “It sucked.”

But after staying on top of the state 5A wrestling rankings for the past two years, getting knocked off will do that to you.

Even if it’s slipping back just one — one — place.

Post Falls, aiming for its third straight team title, came up short to Columbia High of Nampa 276.5-218 in the title race on Saturday at the Ford Idaho Center.

“I think it’s a real testament to our program,” Post Falls coach Pete Reardon said. “All of us are disappointed that we didn’t get first. We’re still very proud of our kids, love our kids and have a lot of respect for the hard work they put into this. We’ll get back at it next year.”

Sophomore Ridge Lovett capped an unbeaten season with a 15-1 win over Derek Ramos of Hillcrest in the 113-pound final. Lovett beat Ramos by pin in the 98 pound final in 2016.

“He was just dominant all weekend,” Reardon said of Lovett. “He’s just a dominant force out there and he’s on another level. He just went out and took care of business.”

Lovett finished the season 34-0, but was quick to turn the focus to his team following the tournament.

“It’s a little bittersweet,” Lovett said. “We wrestled solid and things didn’t go our way as a team. We didn’t get the team title like we wanted. It’s nice to have an individual title, but I’d rather have the team title.”

Matt McLeod, who won at 120 in last year’s state tournament, added a second straight title, this time at 126.

“He’s just very clutch at the right time of year,” Reardon said of McLeod. “He started the year losing his first three matches, but none of them were slouches by any means. He took some lumps along the way. He didn’t win at every tournament, but just continues to get better at the end of the year and was solid.”

“It sucked,” McLeod said of finishing second. “Congrats to Columbia. They just outperformed us. We’ll be ready to take the title back next year.”

Braxton Mason (fifth at 98 pounds), Brelane Huber (sixth at 98), Jordan Grimm (third at 113), A.J. De La Rosa (second at 120), Mathias De La Rosa (third at 132), Tyler Morris (sixth at 145), Micah McLeod (fourth at 160) and Brad Noesen (third at 220) round out the placers for Post Falls.

“It’s an honor to have so much success and be able to compete at this level,” Reardon said. “Each year, people outside of the program think once you get here, you can put it on cruise control. I was just as nervous this year as last year. Every year, it’s a grind and challenge to see just how good we can be. It’s an honor to be part of a program that can do that year in and year out.”

When the season started, Coeur d’Alene High coach Jeff Moffat knew that good things were possible if his team kept its eyes on the end of the road.

Behind champions Casey Randles (182) and Alex Marshall (220), the Vikings finished third, the team’s highest finish since winning the second of back-to-back titles in 2011.

“It was just an outstanding job by these kids,” Moffat said. “I couldn’t be any more pleased with them. It’s probably the most improved team I’ve coached in my 17 years. We grew miles from the start of the season. We just kept training with an eye on the end of the season, and it became a reality. Credit to them for sticking to the plan and sticking with the coaches and their teammates.”

Randles won two titles at the 4A level at Sandpoint before transferring to Coeur d’Alene in the fall.

“It really just felt like any other match,” said Randles, who pinned Hayes Neukom of Meridian in the title match. “I went out and competed with one gear, like I always do and worked hard.”

After the match, Randles hugged his father, Coeur d’Alene principal Mike — who coached him at Sandpoint — after his final high school match before continuing his career at Wyoming next year.

“It was a little bittersweet,” Casey Randles said. “It was the last time he’ll ever coach me, but it’s pretty exciting. As a kid growing up, you want to win two or three. It’s an awesome feeling, especially hugging my dad. It’s great that he and these coaches here helped me accomplish that.”

Marshall finished fifth at 220 last year.

“Both of us knew it was going to be a tough match,” Marshall said. “When I looked over at him, he was just as nervous as I was, so I knew I was going to have to go on the attack to beat him.”

“He just didn’t make any mistakes,” said Moffat of Marshall. “He wrestled aggressive and didn’t give the guy an inch. It was probably his best match of the tournament. He wrestled really smart and didn’t make any body position mistakes.”

Hunter Schueller (third at 106 pounds), Dom Jessos (second at 98), Isaiah Skinner (third at 170) and Mitchell Moffat (fifth at 132) also placed for Coeur d’Alene.

“Credit to those guys for wrestling hard to finish in those spots,” Moffat said. “They just kept winning matches and got the job done. They just kept an eye on the prize at the end and that’s all anyone really cares about.”

After advancing to the semifinals at 195 pounds, Lake City senior Rusty Dan just felt — since it was his final weekend of high school wrestling — just go out and have a little fun on the final day.

He did just that, pinning Carson Hopp of Eagle in 1:07 to win the state title at 195 pounds.

“I’ve just been building to this and put it all together today,” Dan said. “When I woke up this morning, I got to thinking, why not just go out and have fun and enjoy it since I’m here one last time.”

Lake City coach Corey Owen said that Dan seemed nervous during Friday’s opening round.

“Yesterday (Friday), he seemed pretty tense and wrestled tight,” Owen said. “On Saturday, he just seemed really relaxed knowing that he was a state placer.”

Dan beat Skylar Hughes of Columbia by a 13-4 major decision in the semis.

“It was just nice to see it pay off for him,” Owen said of Dan, who joins Orin Luther-Lund (2002) as the only individual state champions from Lake City.

“I started wrestling in sixth grade and won three matches in middle school,” Dan said. “To finish high school with a state title, it still hasn’t set in.”

Griffin Schoch finished third at 160 for Lake City.

“Griffin lost a tough match in the semis,” Owen said. “But to come back with two pins and a technical fall, he was pretty dominant to finish third.”