And then there were nine.

Four district titles, five at-large bids and plenty of practices and matches later, Sandpoint’s nine-man roster is set for this weekend’s Idaho State Tournament, held in Pocatello.

For the most part, the Bulldogs cruised to district titles. Senior Casey Olesen and sophomore Tag Benefield pinned their opponents in under two minutes during their 120-lb. and 195-lb. championship matches, respectively. While the 2019 Idaho State Tournament will be the first for Benefield, this year marks Olesen’s fourth-straight appearance on the state’s biggest stage.

Not all wrestlers were as lucky as them. The specter of new wrestling qualification standards loomed over the 4A district tournament. Thanks to a pair of Boise-area 5A schools moving to 4A, bids for 4A District 1 schools were at a premium.

Under last season’s state qualification rules, the top three finishers would have had guaranteed state berths, effectively making the championship round a foregone conclusion of sorts.

But this time, only the champions of each division were guaranteed state berths, while the rest of the wrestlers would have to wait a day before at-large bids were finalized. Less than 12 hours after medals draped Bulldog wrestlers’ necks, head coach Jake Stark had to hop on a flight to Boise in order for a fight of his own: earning auto-bids for Sandpoint wrestlers.

“It puts a lot of pressure on the guys to make it that far,” Sandpoint head coach Jake Stark said of the new state qualification rules. “But we’ve wrestled most of these guys before, so we know what to expect.”

Sandpoint felt the brunt of the new rules the most during the 138-lb. championship match, which pitted senior Mason Bangeman and junior Malachi Fleck against each other.

“We prepared our guys the best we could, and walked into it with a good attitude.” Stark said.

Thankfully for the Bulldogs, their bodies of work paid off: Bangeman would win the district title over Fleck, but Fleck’s record was good enough to earn him an at-large bid. Fellow Bulldogs Tanner Dickson (113), Blake Sherrill (132), Parker Coon (145) and Brady Nelson (145) earned auto-bids as well.

Yet Jordan Birkhimer’s 98-lb. championship win, which was one of the last 4A district matches of the night, was the most electrifying for Sandpoint’s bench and coaching staff. Faced against a familiar, top-seeded rival in Lakeland freshman Payden Wysong, Birkhimer decided to flip the season’s script when it mattered most.

“He’s beaten be all year and we’ve wrestled against each other in middle school too” Birkhimer said. “So I thought it was time to return the favor.”

Despite going down early in the close match, Birkhimer stuck it out and nailed a reversal and eventual pin midway through the third round.

“I feel like he underestimated me,” Birkhimer said. “He got upset during the match and I took advantage of that.”

The Idaho State Tournament will be from Feb. 22-23 at Holt Arena in Pocatello.

4A Idaho State Wrestling Tournament

FIRST ROUND MATCHES

98 — Birkhimer vs. Shoemaker (Jerome)

113 — Dickson vs. Rivera (Kuna)

120 — Olesen vs. Freeman (Caldwell)

132 — Sherrill vs. Roggio (Kuna)

138 — Bangeman vs. Kallmeyer (Kuma)

138 — Fleck vs. Rios (Columbia)

145 — Coon vs. Banks (Bonneville)

145 — Nelson vs. Blevins (Nampa)

195 —Benefield vs. Ramirez (Minico)