Northwest Notes Feb. 18, 2021

State-qualifying prep wrestling tournaments begin today

COVID-19 has affected the area's state-qualifying wrestling tournaments as well.

Instead of three classifications on one day at one site, it's three on three different days, and two different sites.

The 3A District 1 tourney is today at Bonners Ferry High, starting at 4 p.m. The top three placers in each weight class qualify for state, and wild-card spots are available.

The 4A Region 1 tourney is Friday at Lakeland High, beginning at 3 p.m. Only the champion in each weight qualifies for state, though wild-card berths are available for runners-up.

The 5A Region 1 tourney is Saturday at Lakeland High, starting at 10 a.m. The top three placers advance to state, though wild-card berths are also available.

The 2A District 1-2 tournament is Saturday at St. Maries High, starting at 10 a.m. The top three placers advance to state, with wild-card spots also available.

Even the state tourneys are different this year.

Instead of all four classifications in a two- or three-day run at one site, this year the 5As and 4As will compete next Friday at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa, and the 3As and 2As will compete there next Saturday.

Big Sky announces 2021 fall football schedules

Although the 2021 COVID-caused spring season of Big Sky Conference football is right around the corner, the conference announced the fall 2021 schedule, electing to move the conference matchups scheduled for 2020 to ’21.

The conference portion of the season kicks off Oct. 2 at UC Davis. The Vandals will host Portland State Oct. 9, then make the quick trip north to Cheney to face Eastern Washington Oct. 16.

Next up for the Vandals will be three straight in the Kibbie Dome. Montana comes to town Oct. 23, followed by Northern Arizona on Oct. 30. Senior Day will take place Nov. 6 against Southern Utah.

Idaho closes the regular season with a pair on the road. First is a trip to Montana State on Nov. 13, with the Vandals closing out the Big Sky play Nov. 20 at Idaho State in the ICCU Battle of the Domes.

The Vandals kick off the spring season on Saturday, Feb. 27 against Eastern Washington at 3 p.m.

Eastern Washington will host Big Sky games against Montana (Oct. 2), Idaho (Oct. 16) and Montana State (Nov. 6). The Eagles will also host reigning two-time league champion Weber State (Oct. 23) in a league counter.

Eastern will play road contests at Southern Utah (Sept. 25), Northern Colorado (Oct. 9), UC Davis (Nov. 13) and Portland State (Nov. 20).

Manzardo picks up another 2021 Preseason All-American honor

Washington State junior first baseman Kyle Manzardo, a former Lake City High star, picked up his second preseason All-America accolade of 2021 after being named to the 2021 Preseason All-America third team by the Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Wednesday.

Manzardo was named to the Preseason All-American third team by Collegiate Baseball in December.

Manzardo, who earned All-American third-team honors from Collegiate Baseball last season, finished a shorted 2020 season with a .435 batting average with seven doubles, three home runs, 14 RBI, a .500 on-base percentage and a Pac-12 best 27 hits. The Coeur d’Alene native tied for the league lead in doubles, was second in batting average and was fourth in slugging (.694) and runs scored (21).

Shock to begin season in May

The Spokane Shock and the Indoor Football League on Wednesday announced the Spokane Shock’s new 14-game 2021 schedule.

The Indoor Football League’s Board of Directors, in an effort to provide each of its member teams the best possible opportunity for a successful 2021 season, announced that it has voted to push back the 2021 IFL Kickoff Weekend to the weekend of May 14.

“We voted to push our season back as far out as possible to give us a good chance to play in front of fans at Deaf Valley,” Shock owner Sam Adams said.

All Shock regular season home games will be aired on KSKN CW22. Dates and game times are subject to change with a national broadcast schedule.

The Shock open the season at home versus the Tampa Bay Tornadoes in a preseason contest in early May at the Spokane Arena. On May 15 the Shock kick off their regular season at home versus the Frisco Fighters.

Here's the Shock schedule:

MAY

TBD — vs. Tampa Bay Tornadoes. 15 — vs. Frisco Fighters. 22 — at Massachusetts Pirates. 29 — Bye week.

JUNE

5 — at Northern Arizona Wranglers. 12 — at Sioux Falls Storm. 19 — vs. Northern Arizona Wranglers. 26 — at Arizona Rattlers

JULY

3 — at Louisville Xtreme. 10 — vs. Sioux Falls Storm. 17 — vs. Tucson Sugar Skulls. 24 — at Duke City Gladiators. 31 — vs. Massachusetts Pirates.

AUGUST

7 — at Frisco Fighters. 13 — vs. Arizona Rattlers. 21 — vs. Louisville Xtreme

Frontier Conference approves modified football schedule

WHITEFISH, Mont. — The Frontier Conference athletic directors approved a modified five-team conference 2020-21 football schedule.

In the five-week schedule, each team will play four conference games with one open date.

The March 13, opening weekend’s schedule has College of Idaho hosting MSU-Northern and Rocky Mountain hosting Carroll College with Eastern Oregon receiving a bye.

The other conference teams opted out of a spring season.