PRIEST RIVER — Just four weeks ago, the first ever All-Region girls middle school wrestling tournament was held Wednesday, Dec. 6, at Priest River Lamanna High. The tournament, named in honor of Priest River native Jerry Lamb, had two Lady Spartans who won their weight classes. One of those athletes … Jerry Lamb’s granddaughter, Naia Lamb.

Naia, at 110 pounds, went 3-0 at the district tournament, pinning all of her opponents. She  pinned Cloie Cruse of Sandpoint in the quarterfinal (1:01), Quinn Smith of Priest River (0:28) in the semifinal, and Zoey Hollenbeck of Lakes (1:20) en route to a gold medal. She finished the middle school season with an impressive 11-2 record. On Sunday, Dec. 17, Lamb also won the 115-pound weight class after winning two matches at the Battle for the North at Lakeland.

Eila Smith was the other Spartan who won her respective weight class at the district championship. At 151 pounds, Smith pinned Maddie Hatfield of Sandpoint Middle School (2:18) and Kat Argabrite of Sandpoint (2:54). Those wins helped her to a 7-5 season record.

Priest River finished fourth out of 13 teams with 63 points. Kierra Blaine and Quinn Smith also scored points for the Spartans. Blaine notched a win over Mya Siegal of River City via pin (0:48). Quinn Smith recorded two wins by pin against Sandpoint’s Liv Alt (2:01) and River City’s Gwen Younger (2:34).

Local, regional, and national sports trends indicate that girls wrestling is growing at an unprecedented rate, especially here in Idaho, and Lamb and Smith are two of the many wrestlers here in Bonner County who are leading the charge.