The Lakeland Hawks had a wrestling battle with the Post Falls Trojans on Jan 29. The wrestling dual was held at Lakeland High School.
Lakeland High School has lost to the Trojans for well over a decade and came to the same defeat. The dual ended 54-15.
“They looked awesome. We fought through every match,” William Edelblute said.
Post Falls wrestling is a force to be reckoned with, they have a lot of amazing talent and are dominant on the mat against a lot of teams.
Lakeland wrestling has also been having a great season beating the number one team in their division, Minco High School. The wrestlers have also been dominating on the mat placing in big tournaments and getting ranked at the state level.
The dual starts at 98 pounds with Zach Teal getting a pin in the first period.
“I dominate him every time,” Teal said.
Caleb Adams at 106 and Kade Knopp at 113 were not going to give up during their match and only let Post Falls win by two decisions, tying up the scoreboard.
“I think in those close matches, we need to figure out how to win those tight matches in the third period,” Edelblute said.
Carson Leonard at 120, came out strong and took the offensive side early in his match, he won by a decision giving Lakeland a three point needed lead.
“I wrestled this kid previously and I wrestled better this time,” Leonard said, “I wrestled better on my feet. This time he was stalling on the bottom. I probably should have cut him and taken him down again.”
At 126, Jaron Knopp was able to put on six more points on the board with a pin, in the second period.
“I felt solid, I went in with the right mindset and came out on top,” Knopp said, “I feel like my neutral game has drastically improved, my top and bottom is as good as ever and I’m ready to keep going forward.”
Justin Baxter at 132 pounds got teched, making the dual, 15-11 Lakeland having a small lead.
Post Falls continues to close the gap with a decision at 138 pounds. Cash Lund was not giving up that match up easily and it was back and forth for the entire six minutes.
At 144 Cole Cooper was pinned, putting the Trojans in the lead.
Austin Howell and Tanner Piper had an absolute battle on the mat. Howell took an early lead getting a three point takedown, with four point nearfall, but Piper was not going to let that lead last long, Howell ended up losing by a decision.
At 157 Gage Mcwatters got pinned.
Thayer Sabatke got teched but he put up a fight but Post Falls came out hot getting a cation call in the first nine seconds.
Peyton Sardina at 175 and Wyatt Berger at 190 got pinned.
Daemon Huddleston at 215 had a tough match, Seth Martin came out ruthless getting takedown after takedown, he pinned Huddleston after getting the score to 18-6.
At 285 Ernie steals lost by a pin.
The Hawks are slowly closing the gap with the Trojans after losing the dual at River City Duals 61-15. The Hawks are also missing some crucial wrestlers due to injuries.
“I think Post Falls team is getting on the bus and they don’t want to wrestle us again for the rest of the year,” Edelblute said.
