NAMPA — The four Priest River wrestlers that took the mat at the Ford Idaho Center on Saturday for the 3A state championships were unable to place, but gained valuable experience that will help them for years to come.

Sophomore Hayden Sorbel, the district champion at 106 pounds, went 1-2 at state, junior Brad Bennett (160) went 0-2, and junior Keith Poirier (120) and sophomore Aidan Troumbley (126) fell one victory short of earning a chance to place in their weight classes.

"All four of them had a really good shot at placing," head coach Quinton Holbrook said. "They were all close, but that's life. You learn more from the losses sometimes than you do the wins."

Holbrook said it seemed like his wrestlers got "in their heads a little bit," but now they know what it takes to compete for state medals.

"They learned," he said. "They saw some kids they haven't seen before and now they realize that those records don't mean nothing because some of the teams down there get twice as many matches as we do, so sometimes their records look a little intimidating."

Poirier, the district champion at 120, opened the tournament with a pin before falling to Teton's Colton Egbert 7-5 in the quarterfinals. With the loss, Poirier moved to the consolation bracket and kept his medal hopes alive with a 5-0 victory over Corbridge Bastian from Marsh Valley.

Unfortunately, Poirier was pinned in 1:42 in his next bout and saw his state run come to an end.

Troumbley, who won the district title at 126, kicked off the championships with a 33 second pin of Braxton Brown from Buhl. He was pinned in the quarterfinals and then kept his state journey alive with a 1:28 pin. But, Troumbley suffered the same fate as Poirier in his fourth match of the tourney.

Troumbley finishes the season with an impressive 31-5 record.

Sorbel lost his first match by pin, stayed alive with a 6-3 win in a consolation bout and fell to Fruitland's Max Wescott 7-4. Bennett suffered a defeat by pin in the first round and lost 10-3 in his second bout.

The wrestlers fell short of placing, but Holbrook expects all four to come back even stronger next season.

"Next year they should be fired up pretty good and be able to lead the team," he said, "and we'll come back with some medals."

The Spartans only had one senior this year and everyone else will be back next year. The team got stronger as the season went on and with a strong freshman class coming in, Holbrook said he is optimistic the team will be able to fill an entire varsity lineup next winter.

"I look forward to it," he said about the future. "I think we're going to be a team that's starting to compete again ... The program is starting to look up."

This was Holbrook's second season at the helm. He said he's grateful the team got a chance to compete when so many high school wrestlers around the country were unable to.

"It was a battle this year a little bit, but it was a fun year," he said. "I just appreciate that the kids had their season."

Priest River results

3A state tournament

106 — Champ. Round 1: Grayson Williams, American Falls, p. Hayden Sorbel, 2:46, Cons. Round 1: Hayden Sorbel, Priest River, d. Aiden Meikle, 6-3, Cons. Round 2: Max Wescott, Fruitland, d. Hayden Sorbel, 7-4. 120 — Champ. Round 1: Keith Poirier, Priest River, p. Kolby Rau, 1:32, Quarterfinal: Colton Egbert, Teton, d. Keith Poirier, 7-5, Cons. Round 2: Keith Poirier, Priest River, d. Corbridge Bastian, 5-0. Cons. Round 3: Rocky Morris, Marsh Valley, p. Keith Poirier, 1:42. 126 — Champ. Round 1: Aidan Troumbley, Priest River, p. Braxton Brown, 0:33, Quarterfinal: Tristen Brown, Sugar-Salem, p. Aidan Troumbley, 1:03, Cons. Round 2: Aidan Troumbley, Priest River, p. Jace Buescher, 1:28, Cons. Round 3: Max Atchley, Teton, p. Aidan Troumbley, 2:20. 160 — Champ. Round 1: Davis Rudkin, Parma, p. Brad Bennett, 3:21, Cons. Round 1: Maximus Kingsbury, Weiser, d. Brad Bennett, 10-3.