The Lakeland Hawks wrestling took home another district title on Feb 21.
They were 101.5 points ahead of the other team. The closest team was Sandpoint with 282 points, Lewiston with 271 and Moscow with 125. The top two places go to state and there is a chance of a wildcard at every weight. The wildcard is record, ranking and head to head based.
The Hawks had some battles out on the mat.
Bryan Patrick won districts, with him being the only person in the 98 pound bracket.
At 106, the running state champion of 98 pounds in 2025 Zach Teal came and claimed another district title. Cruz Knopp the JV 106 got third losing to Tyler Wood by a four point near fall. All three boys are ranked in the state. Knopp came back and got third and was given a chance at state with a wildcard.
At 113 Colby Adams a freshman claims a district title. Joziah Koonce came in second for the Hawks at 113 and will also be heading down south.
“I feel pretty good. I feel like I have a good bracket placement,” Adams said. “You can be more of an underdog as a freshman because no one knows you really.”
At 120, the returning two time state champ Carson Leonard claimed his third district title and will be heading to state looking for his third state title.
Caleb Adams came in right behind him getting second at 120.
At 132 Kade Knopp claimed his district title.
Cole Cooper, a senior at Lakeland, dropped to 144 after the 5A duals he claimed his district title, he is ranked number 1 in the state.
John Neff, a freshman at Lakeland, came in with a pin in the semi-finals after being down on points going into the third period. He got second place and will be heading to state.
Kalab Hammer had a battle in his finals match against Mason Faling from Lewiston at 157. Going into the third period the match was 4-2 Hammer was able to get a takedown putting the match at 4-5. They went out of bounds and the match was paused. They made it back to the middle and Hammer had to ride out Faling for 22 seconds.
Faling was ultimately able to get a reversal and won the match 6-5.
The emotions were high in the crowd, with the match being a major upset.
At 175 Gage Mcwatters claimed a district title.
“It makes me more confident winning districts, than just getting a wild card,” Mcwatters said. “I am hoping to be a finalist at state.”
At 190 Peyton Sardinha came in second forfeiting his finals match.
At 215 Emmit Rivadeneira, a freshman, met Jackson Holman, a senior from Sandpoint in the finals. These two have seen each other three times this season. Holman won at Battle for the Paddle with a tech, Rivandeneira won a 5A duals with a pin, and at North Idaho Rumble Holman won 4-1. Holam won at districts within a battle. The match ended 7-4.
The Hawks are going into districts with multiple ranked wrestlers, the team is ranked second but they are shooting for a state championship title and this truly is the year to do it.
“It feels like the perfect recipe to win a team title,” Leonard said. “We have a bunch of fresh new wrestlers, a lot of guys pulled it together compared to the years prior.”
