SPOKANE VALLEY — Sandpoint wrestling continued its packed schedule to begin the season Tuesday night as they traveled to East Valley High School to take part in a pair of duals.

The Bulldogs hit the road a bit shorthanded with several wrestlers being sidelined due to the flu and other unforeseen issues. This meant the team Sandpoint sent to East Valley was half varsity, half JV.

“The flu bug has kind of hit us but we’re just trying to deal with it and get over it as best we can,” head coach Jake Stark said.

Sandpoint took on the host, East Valley, first and emerged victorious squeaking out a 42-37 win over the Knights.

The Bulldogs claimed seven of the matches, winning three by forfeit and the rest by pin.

Freshmen Jacob Albany and Christian Troumbley-Karkoski and seniors Isaiah Caralis and Jake Suhr were the four Bulldogs that won via pin.

At 106 pounds, Albany took down his opponent 1:45 into the match to get the dual started on a high note for the Bulldogs.

Albany was coming off a second place finish at the George Wild Tournament on Saturday.

“[Albany]’s kind of been on fire,” Stark said. “He’s one of the new kids at one of those lighter weights and he’s real strong, he’s a quick learner. I’m proud to see him have some success early in the season like this.”

Caralis was also able to find a way to pin his opponent at 160 pounds with only 46 seconds left in the match.

“[Caralis] was down almost the whole match and came back the third round and really turned it on,” Stark said. “It kind of kick-started our team.”

In the second dual of the night with Cheney (Wash.), the Bulldogs fell short 57-23.

Only four Sandpoint wrestlers were able to claim a victory in their bouts and two came courtesy of forfeits.

The two Bulldogs that earned wins by pin were sophomore Jordan Birkhimer at 120 and senior Jake Suhr at 220, who went undefeated Tuesday night.

Only one of the 14 matches in the dual with Cheney came down to a decision and in that bout junior Tanner Dickson fell 5-2 to Cheney’s William Seeberger at 113 pounds.

Given the circumstances, Stark was encouraged by the fight he saw from his team against some tough competition.

“All in all we wrestled really well,” he said. “Our upperclassmen stepped it up.”

The Bulldogs will travel to Pasco, WA tonight to hopefully compete in five duals Friday before taking part in the Best of the West Tournament on Saturday.

Results

Sandpoint 42. East Valley 37.

106: Albany d. Zaleski, Fall 1:45

113: Wallace accepted forfeit

120: Norris accepted forfeit

126: Martin d. Eldridge, MD 10-2

132: Weidmer accepted forfeit

138: Swanson accepted forfeit

145: Sundheim d. Hinds, Fall 1:53

152: Kessinger d. Nelson, Dec. 5-2

160: Caralis d. Bedow, Fall 5:14

170: Troumbley-Karkoski d. Bergman, Fall 4:59

182: Ary accepted forfeit

195: Belgarde accepted forfeit

220: Suhr d. Perez, Fall 1:06

285: Vargas d. Twineham, Fall 0:23

Sandpoint 23. Cheney 57.

106: Albany accepted forfeit

113: Seeberger d. Dickson, Dec. 5-2

120: Birkhimer d. Schwendiman, Fall 3:59

126: Ruby d. Eldridge, Fall 2:29

132: Winner d. Wilson, Fall 1:54

138: Despino d. Marker, Fall 0:38

145: Straley d. Hinds, Fall 1:14

152: Simon d. Nelson, Fall 3:19

160: Showalter d. Caralis, Fall 3:32

170: Seubert d. Troumbley-Karkoski, Fall 0:29

182: Aguilera accepted forfeit

195: Belgarde accepted forfeit

220: Suhr d. Inman, Fall 3:38

285: Allen d. Twineham, Fall 1:05