Top local sports stories of 2025

Selected by The Press sports staff

Ridge Lovett goes national

When things get tough, that’s when you find out how good you can be.

On March 22, with the nation watching, Nebraska’s Ridge Lovett was great.

Lovett, a fifth-year senior from Post Falls High, held off defending NCAA champion Caleb Henson of Virginia Tech 1-0 to win the 149-pound national championship at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

Henson was credited with a three-point takedown late in the second period, but it was reversed by video replay following a challenge by Nebraska coaches. Lovett scored an escape midway through the third period for the only point of the match.

Lovett became the first champion at Nebraska since 2011, when Jordan Burroughs won at 165 pounds. Nebraska’s Antrell Taylor, one of three Cornhuskers in the finals, won in the next final at 157 pounds.

Lovett won four state titles at Post Falls, finishing with a 169-0 record.

“I want to give a big thank you to my mom, dad, sister, girlfriend and club coaches — Abel De La Rosa — his sons are here; Alius, A.J., Mathias, my boy Kaz (Coleton Kazmierczak), his dad Henry for getting me to those tournaments when I was little," Lovett said. "Thanks to my high school coaches Pete Reardon, Jeremy Zender, Luke Roberts, Dave Herndon, everyone that contributed what I’ve been able to accomplish through my folkstyle career, high school, and the guys that gave up summers to train for worlds. Wrestling is an individual sport, but I had a fantastic team around me. Great family, fans and teammates. To the University of Nebraska, coach (Mark) Manning took me in. I went out to Lincoln two days after I graduated high school and he greeted me with open arms. I’m extremely grateful and blessed.” 

Post Falls High wins first state wrestling title since 2020

Coming into this past season, Post Falls had been perhaps the dominant program in Idaho high school wrestling, with five state championships since 2015.

But the last one had come in 2000, seemingly eons ago.

True, the Trojans hadn't gone away since then, finishing third at state twice and second twice. In fact, Post Falls has finished no lower than third at state since 2012.

Before leaving for state on Feb. 27, interim Post Falls wrestling coach Jeremy Zender told his team that they were capable to doing something amazing. 

When the dust settled at the ICCU Dome in Pocatello, it might have been a surprise to some, but not those in orange and black. 

Post Falls, with two individual champions and program-record 16 placers, captured its first state wrestling title since 2020, winning the 6A crown with 320.5 points. 

“We’ve got great kids that have been working hard and buying into what we’ve been selling all year,” Zender said. “They wrestled for something bigger than them all year. And good things happen when you do that.” 

Post Falls scored a state record 338.5 points in winning the 2018 title. The Trojans won three straight from 2018-20, after also going back-to-back in 2015-16.

“Bringing 20 guys, and placing 16 with a couple of guys on the verge, it was great to see,” Zender said. “I told them I thought everyone had a chance to place, and I wasn’t blowing smoke. They almost proved me right.” 

Coeur d'Alene boys win third straight state cross country title

Once the rain began at the Lewis-Clark State Country Course in Lewiston Orchards on Nov. 1, another reign continued, while another could be just getting started again.

Coeur d’Alene won its third straight state boys championship, led by four runners in the top six — junior Wyatt Carr (second), sophomore Rowan Henry (third), senior Mitchell Rietze (fifth) and sophomore Wyatt Morgenstern (sixth) — finishing with 30 team points, winning by 62 points in the 6A boys race. 

“This is why we run cross country is for days like today,” Carr said. “We wanted to bring another state championship to Coeur d’Alene. I’m so proud of everyone, from the coaching staff to the parents and families and athletes. We had people out here cheering us on. It just goes to show the great group of guys we’ve got.”

It was the fourth state championship for Coeur d'Alene's boys, who won their first in 2011.

Manzardo starts Guardians season with a bang

Kyle Manzardo made his first big league opening day special.

Manzardo, the former Lake City High and Washington State star, had a triple, a two-run home run and a two-run double, leading the Cleveland Guardians to a 7-4 win over the Kansas City Royals in 10 innings on March 27 in Kansas City, Mo.

“I did it only once in college,” Manzardo said with a grin after the game. “That’s it, and then this. That’s the only time ever. It gives me tons of confidence.”

Manzardo made his major league debut in May of 2024, played two stints with the Guardians and finished with 12 doubles, no triples and five home runs in 145 at-bats. 

In 2025, Manzardo played with the Guardians the entire season and appeared in 142 games, finishing with 110 hits, including 27 home runs and 70 RBIs and 47 run scored. He also had 19 doubles for Cleveland, which rallied from 15 1/2 games down and won the American League Central Division, finishing 88-74.

Former NIC men's basketball coach Hugh Watson dies

Hugh Watson was a successful basketball coach at many levels, including the eight seasons he coached the North Idaho College men’s basketball team, from 1996-2004. 

But Watson, who died Aug. 14 at age 84 following a battle with cancer that began in 2012, was remembered just as much for his people skills as he was anything on the basketball court.  

“He knew Xs and Os, he was good at that,” recalled Jared Phay, an assistant under Watson for two seasons before succeeding him as head coach in 2004. “But he had more of the personality; he really cared about the players and they’d all run through a wall for him.” 

“His zest for life was just infectious,” said Al Williams, who came to NIC as athletic director in 2003, just before Watson’s final season with the Cardinals — but he knew him for many years before then. “He always had a smile for you, he always had a happy story to tell you. He always made you feel like you made his day by calling. And so, every time you talked to him, Hugh was in good spirits.” 

In Watson’s eight seasons at NIC, the Cardinals went 148-98.  

In his first season, 1996-97, NIC won the Region 18 title at home before a raucous crowd and went on to reach the semifinals at nationals before finishing fourth at the NJCAA tournament, with a 30-6 record. It remains NIC's best finish at nationals.

McLean, who led Post Falls boys to two state basketball titles, steps down

Family, farming and coaching. 

Perhaps in that order. 

In sports circles, Post Falls High boys basketball coach Mike McLean is regarded as one of the top coaches in the area. 

But his wife, Jessica, and sons Blake, Caden and Trenton, are equally important. 

As is the McLean Cattle Company, co-owned by Mike and Jessica. 

It’s one reason the 1995 Post Falls High grad got into the teaching/coaching business in the first place. 

“I’ve always valued my own time, and teaching gives you that time,” McLean said. “I wanted to have a family, and being a teacher is great because I have the same schedule as my kids growing up. To me, spending time with my family, and sharing experiences with my kids and my wife was always more important than chasing the almighty dollar.” 

That explains his 18 seasons as head coach of the Post Falls High boys basketball team, a run with ended with the 2024-25 season. The stint produced 11 trips to state, two state championships (2010 and '15), and an 289-154 overall record for the Trojan alum.

Coeur d'Alene sophomore Ella Wilson wins second straight 6A golf title

From the summer through early October, Coeur d’Alene sophomore Ella Wilson had played RedHawk Golf Course in Nampa more than a few times between junior golf and high school golf. 

On Oct. 10, Wilson made it count once again. 

Wilson shot an even-par 71 in the second round and finished at 2-under-par 140 to win a second straight state 6A golf championship, her six-shot victory helping lead the Viking girls to a runner-up finish for the second straight year. 

“This one feels a little more real, but it’s still surreal,” Wilson said. “I definitely felt like I knew the course so that when the pressure came, I was more prepared to handle it.” 

On the par-3 sixth hole, her tee shot stopped 6 feet from the hole, and she rolled in the birdie putt.

“It was definitely a turning point,” Wilson said. “I birded both the sixth and seventh hole, and that really turned things around and I started to play with more confidence. I knew right then that I’d stick it out and battle.” 

Coeur d’Alene, seeking its first state title in girls golf, finished 19 shots back of Rocky Mountain of Meridian, which won a fifth straight state title with a 609. 

Blake Buchanan trades ACC for Big 12 and Iowa State

Blake Buchanan, who led Lake City High to its first undefeated boys basketball season, and the program's first state title in 2023, played his first two collegiate seasons at Virginia.

But with the coaching staff that recruited him to Charlottesville no longer there, Buchanan opted for a change and transferred to Iowa State of the Big 12.

Buchanan told The Press he first met Iowa State coach TJ Otzelberger a few years ago, when Buchanan was invited to a USA Basketball minicamp.

"For starters it’s the program that coach TJ has built; I know I’m going to a program that’s going to have a chance to compete for something big," Buchanan said. "The next thing was just their plan for me, they want to use me how I want to play, and their player development is at a high level. But in the end it came down to the little things that coach TJ and their staff have shown me and told me. It’s going to be a perfect fit for me and I’m excited to be a Cyclone."

Iowa State finished 25-10 this past season, and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

The 6-foot-11, 227-pound Buchanan started 22 of 32 games this past season for the Cavaliers of the Atlantic Coast Conference, who finished 15-17 after a second-round loss in the ACC tournament.   

In Ames, Buchanan has started all 12 games for the Cyclones (12-0), who are ranked third in The Associated Press Top 25 poll. On Dec. 6, Iowa State won by 23 points at then-No. 1 Purdue. Buchanan is averaging 9.4 points and 6.3 rebounds in 25 minutes per game.

Coeur d'Alene High grad Monson, who led Vandals to only NCAA tournament Sweet 16 appearance, dies

Don Monson took the Idaho Vandal men's basketball team and Vandal fans on quite the ride in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Monson, the Coeur d’Alene High grad who coached the Idaho Vandals to their only NCAA tournament Sweet 16 appearance in 1982, died on Oct. 1. 

He was 92. 

His son, Dan, the Eastern Washington University men’s basketball coach, announced his passing on social media. 

“Last night, holding Mom’s hand, Dad passed away peacefully after 92 years of serving the Lord.” his son Dan, the Eastern Washington University men’s basketball coach, posted on social media. “I’ve lost a great father, my idol, role model, mentor, and, as he would say, Partner.” 

Monson guided the Vandals to the NCAA tourney in 1981. 

The next season, Idaho started 16-0 and reached as high as No. 6 in The Associated Press poll. The Vandals finished the regular season 26-2, and after a first-round bye, took down Lute Olson’s Iowa squad in the second round of the NCAA tournament in a 69-67 thriller at Pullman. Idaho lost to Oregon State in the Sweet 16. 

As a sophomore, Monson played on a Coeur d’Alene High boys basketball team coached by Elmer Jordan that won a state title in 1949, defeating Burley in the title game in Pocatello.

Monson was named the Kodak Division I National Coach of the Year in the 1981-82 season. Monson was inducted into the North Idaho Athletic Hall of Fame in 1989, and the Idaho Athletics Hall of Fame in 2007. 

    Photo by JOLEN HOLLINGSWORTH Post Falls celebrates after winning the state 6A wrestling championships Saturday at the ICCU Dome in Pocatello.
  

    JASON ELLIOTT/Press The Coeur d'Alene High boys cross country team won a third straight team title on Saturday at the Lewis-Clark State Cross Country Course in Lewiston Orchards. In the front row from left are assistant coach Tarragh Carr, Blaise Howard, Wyatt Morgenstern, Rowan Henry and assistant coach Allison Howard. In the back are assistant coach Nolan Lien, Andrew Grady, Mitchell Rietze, Wyatt Carr, Gabe Heule and head coach Emry Carr.
  

    PHIL LONG/Associated Press Jose Ramirez of the Cleveland Guardians congratulates Kyle Manzardo after his two-run home run off Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Tanner Gordon during the third inning of Tuesday’s game in Cleveland. Manzardo, the former Lake City High and Washingon State star, also hit a solo shot in the sixth inning, his second career two homer game, driving in three runs for the Guardians in a 10-4 win over Colorado. Manzardo is batting .235 (70 for 298) with 18 home runs and 46 RBIs in 91 games.
  

    MATT HELM/Press file Hugh Watson coaches his North Idaho College men's basketball team at practice in 1997, prior to playing in the NJCAA tournament.
  

    Courtesy photo Coeur d'Alene High sophomore Ella Wilson won her second straight state 6A title, shooting a 2-under-par 140 at RedHawk Golf Course in Nampa.
  

    CHARLIE NEIBERGALL/Associated Press Iowa State forward Blake Buchanan (23), the former Lake City High star, dunks the ball over Eastern Illinois forward Kooper Jacobi (40) and guard Andre Washington (4) during the first half of a Dec. 14 game in Ames, Iowa.
  

    IDAHO ATHLETICS Don Monson coached the University of Idaho men's basketball team for five seasons (1978-83).
  

    MARK NELKE/Press Post Falls High assistant boys basketball coach Brian Carlson, seated at left, has been on Mike McLean's staff for each of his 18 seasons as head coach at Post Falls.