TRI-STATE INVITATIONAL: Post Falls has four in semifinals ... Defending champ Orting in front after first day; Trojans in tie for fourth

COEUR d'ALENE — Defending champion Orting (Wash.) leads with 180 points after the first day of the 54th annual Tri-State Invitational at North Idaho College on Friday. 

Tahoma of Maple Valley, Wash., is in second place with 155 points.

Tristan Mendenhall (106 pounds), Damion Hamilton (165), Colton Austin (157) and Xander Scholes (285) advanced to the semifinals for Post Falls, which is tied for fourth with Gonzaga Prep of Spokane with 149 points. Austin, a senior, has already advanced to the finals after the match to determine his opponent ended with both wrestlers being disqualified from the tournament.

“Everyone wrestled really well,” Post Falls coach Jeremy Zender said. “Colton just kept battling all day and wrestled some tough kids. Damion and Tristan fought hard and Xander wrestled really well. It’s a tough tournament, but our kids battled.”

Lakeland’s Zach Teal (106), who won at 98 pounds, advanced to the semifinals, as did Carson Leonard (120) for the Hawks, who are tied for 17th with Cheney. 

Coeur d’Alene’s Brock Armstrong, last year’s 165-pound champion, advanced at 190, along with Justus Peregrina (120) for the Vikings, who are ninth with 94.5 points. 

St. Maries senior Aiden Yearout, who has signed with North Idaho College, advanced to the semifinals at 165. Lumberjack Zach David advanced to the semis at 150. 

Lake City’s Tucker Bridwell (165) and Solomon Crowley (132) are in the consolation bracket for the Timberwolves, needing a win to move into the placing round today. 

"This tournament is so dang tough," Lake City coach Corey Owen said. "Neither of those guys were intimidated and showed up and wrestled hard. Solomon had a really good second-round match against Brandon Felix of Post Falls and got a good win. Tucker had to win three in a row in the last part of the tournament, maybe twice in 20 minutes, but both guys wrestled well."

The tournament resumes today at 9 a.m., with championship semifinals at 10:15 a.m. 

Championship finals are scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.

TEAM SCORES — 1, Orting 180. 2, Tahoma 155. 3, Mead 159.5. 4 (tie), Gonzaga Prep, Post Falls 149. 6, Meridian 135.5. 7, Flathead (Kalispell, Mont.) 124. 8, Chiawana (Pasco, Wash.) 103.5. 9, Coeur d'Alene 94.5. 10, Belgrade 93.5. 11, Hermiston 89.5. 12, University 88.5. 13, Moses Lake 85.5. 14, Kamiakin 85. 15, Sunnyside 84.5. 16, Toppenish 80.5. 17 (tie), Cheney, Lakeland 79.5. 19, Lake Stevens 78.5. 20 (tie), Camas, La Grande 76. 22, Kellogg 61.5. 23, Othello 58. 24, Sandpoint 50.5. 25, Lake City 49. 26, Ridgeline 48. 27, Lewiston 46.5. 28, Castle Rock 46. 29, St. Maries 45. 30, Mt. Spokane 43.5. 31, West Valley (Spokane) 43.5. 32, Timberlake 42. 33, Glacier Peak 41.5. 34, Rocky Mountain 41. 35, Tonasket 36.5. 36, Davenport 30. 37, Kalama 29. 38, Central Valley 26.5. 39, Cashmere 26. 40, Kelso 24. 41, Bend 21. 42 (tie), Lakeside (Wash.), Riverside 20. 44, Medical Lake 19. 45, Omak 18.5. 46, Bonners Ferry 18. 47 (tie), Hanford, Seton Catholic 17. 49, Moscow 16.5. 50, Battle Ground 16. 51, Almira Coulee Hartline 14. 52 (tie), Colville, Priest River 11. 54, Selkirk 10. 55, East Valley (Spokane) 8.

SEMIFINAL MATCHES 

98 — Declan Rickel, Orting vs. Lucas Larson, Central Valley; Miro Parr-Coffin, Gonzaga Prep vs. Logan Wray, Tahoma. 

106 — Zach Teal, Lakeland vs. Colton Storey, Kellogg; Tristan Mendenhall, Post Falls vs. Karver Peasley, Gonzaga Prep. 

113 — Nery Rivas, Orting vs. Cole Jensen, Rocky Mountain; Colton Roberts, University vs. Wyatt Carey, Timberlake. 

120 — Arcadius Cruz, Orting vs. James Oliver, Medical Lake; Carson Leonard, Lakeland vs. Justus Peregrina, Coeur d’Alene. 

126 — Trevor Anderson, Orting vs. Cody Westlake, Belgrade; Czar Quintanilla, University vs. Crew Lambro, Tahoma. 

132 — Owen Marshall, Tahoma vs. Austin Schield, Gonzaga Prep; Eian Schwecke, Moscow vs. Billy Weisgerber, Mead. 

138 — Dominic Thomas, Orting vs. Blake Nevils, Meridian; Eben Nau, Tahoma vs. Brycen Dawley, Tahoma. 

144 — Alex Othon, Tahoma vs. Keldy Granados, Kamiakin; Jordan Schield, Gonzaga Prep vs. Anthony Sifuentes, Toppenish. 

150 — Israel Acosta, Gonzaga Prep vs. Connor Crum, Seton Catholic; Zach David, St. Maries vs. Laithan Lawson, Orting. 

157 — Logan Shaver, Meridian vs. Isac Deonigi, Tahoma; Colton Austin, Post Falls advances to finals due to forfeit. 

165 — Michael Fritz, Orting vs. Jance Novak, Cashmere; Aiden Yearout, St. Maries vs. Damion Hamilton, Post Falls. 

175 — Duane Leslie, Mead vs. Chub Plank, Tonasket; Simon Jarrell, Camas vs. Tayten Cissne, Chiawana. 

190 — Brock Armstrong, Coeur d’Alene vs. Ethan Harvey, Mead; Brock Gustaveson, Gonzaga Prep vs. Kannon Freschette, Camas. 

215 — Eli Anderson, Moses Lake vs. Jackson Holman, Sandpoint; Noah Butler, Almira-Coulee/Hartline vs. Logan Ullah, Mead. 

285 — Brooks Knight, Kamiakin vs. Xander Scholes, Post Falls; Brendan Hughes, Mt. Spokane vs. Taylor Dodd, Bonners Ferry.

    JASON ELLIOTT/Press Post Falls wrestler Sawyer Sage is taken down by Brycen Dawley of Tahoma during their quarterfinal match at 138 pounds at the Tri-State Invitational at North Idaho College on Friday.