Pinnin’ in Pocatello

Four Lakeland Wrestlers Place at State

Ezra Benson, Sports Writer

The Lakeland Hawks wrestling team competed in the 2022 Idaho HS State Championships, which took place from Feb. 25-26 at Holt Arena in Pocatello.

Nine wrestlers qualified to represent Lakeland for the state tournament: Devon Suko, Annika Thompson, Lucas Williams, Payden Wysong, Reilly Saxe, Matt Williams, Devon Howell, Preston Jeffs, and Kros O’Brien.

Out of the nine qualifiers, four placed in the tournament: Lucas Williams placed 5th for the 138 weight class, Devon Suko placed 5th for 170, Preston Jeffs placed 6th for 285, and Annika Thompson placed 6th for girls 160.

The team placed 12th in ranking and totaled 51 points. 

Lucas Williams pinned his opponent Xzavier Martinez 1 minute 9 seconds into bout 171. “I’m very happy with my performance, it took a lot of hard work and I ended up taking fifth,” Williams said.

Annika Thompson placed 6th for the girls 160 class, “I feel I should have placed higher, however, I am proud of myself for making it as far as I did.” Thompson said.