As close to a walkoff on wrestling mat

You know you’ve been at something special when your ears are ringing moments after a conclusion of a sporting event.

Sure, a buzzer beater in basketball can get a little intense.

The closing moments of Thursday’s wrestling dual between Lake City and host Post Falls was probably as close as you can get to matching that.

FOR THOSE that might have missed out, Lake City scored a 42-39 decision with win in the final match of the night at 132 pounds.

That decision, a 5-4 win by Lake City’s Noah Janzen over Post Falls wrestler Avery McSpadden, could have really gone either way.

Credit to the crowd, you couldn’t hear yourself think in that final six minutes.

“You absolutely want this kind of environment for a match,” Lake City coach Corey Owen said. “It builds energy in the kids for sure. They (Post Falls) fed off it for a while, and our team fed off it for a while. Honestly, we put on a show tonight — both teams — and it was just really fun to be a part of.”

Post Falls has won four of the last five state 5A championships.

“I was in their wrestling room tonight, and they’ve brought home a trophy from state every year since 2012,” Owen said after the match. “It’s been a tough team to beat in those years obviously.”

Owen, in his 12th season as Lake City coach, also praised his coaching staff for the program’s first win over the Trojans since Jan. 9, 2001.

“I have a large group of paid and volunteer assistant coaches and they deserve a lot of credit for tonight,” Owen said.

Post Falls was seventh in 2011, the last time the Trojans finished out of the top three at state.

The Trojans have won five straight regional titles.

POST FALLS finished fifth in the Sidney Invitational last weekend in Montana after winning the duals tournament and bracketed tournament in 2018.

“Our team is full of kids that are willing to fight,” Post Falls coach Pete Reardon said. “They’re a little green, and we’ve got some work to do. I think after the Sidney tournament, we learned that if you want to do anything, you’ve got to earn it. Just because you wear the right singlet, or wrestle on a team that has won a few state titles, doesn’t mean that others are going to roll over for you. You’ve got to go out and get it on your own.”

Things don’t get any easier next week as the 49th Tri-State Invitational is held at North Idaho College on Friday and Saturday.

Thursday’s dual was just a step in a process for the schools as they both have road duals with Coeur d’Alene High. Lake City visits Coeur d’Alene on Jan. 29 and Post Falls visits on Feb. 13. All the Vikings did last year at state was finish runner-up at state, with most of the same kids back this year.

Those dual matches could deliver the same amount of excitement for fans as well.

“There’s two ways that it could go from here,” Reardon said. “You can suck your thumb, or decide to get motivated. The end of the (wrestling) year is a couple of months away, so now we’ve really got something in front of us to motivate us.”

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 [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JECdAPress.