Ready, Set, Wrestle!

With the end of the fall sports season, it is time for wrestling and winter sports to begin. 

The Lakeland Hawks wrestling team will be led by former Hawk and Utah Valley University wrestler William Edelblute. 

Edelblute was a four-time state qualifier and a four-time state placer. Out of the four years that Edelblute placed, two of the times, he brought home a State Championship. 

The Hawks will have their first practice on Nov. 14 in the LHS mat room at 2:35.

“I think that this season will be good. It will have its ups and downs, but overall, I think that it will be good to have a change in coaches,” said senior Bradley Grubham

Last season, the Hawks sent nine wrestlers to the state championship tournament. These wrestlers were Devon Suko(170lbs), Reilly Saxe (126lbs), Matt Williams (113lbs), Annika Thompson (160lbs), Robert Wysong (145lbs), Kros O’Brien (126lbs), Preston Jeffs (285lbs), Lucas Williams (138lbs), and Devon Howell (220lbs).

Although the Hawks had a good number of wrestlers advance to the state tournament, they will be looking to come back from their loss last season to league rivals Sandpoint Bulldogs. 

In their 2021-22 rebuild season, it was the first time since 2007 that the Lakeland wrestling team fell to Sandpoint. The Hawks lost against the Bulldogs in the dual at Battle for the Paddle by six points. They also lost by a large margin of points at the 4A District Wrestling Tournament. 

This year, the Hawks currently have six seniors who plan on participating. Preston Jeffs, Devon Howell, Owen Rose, Bradley Grubham, John Meredith, and Matt Williams are all returning seniors who are looking to finish off their high school careers with a bang. 

Grubham also talked about being nervous as he heads into his senior year season, but he is excited to see how this season turns out. 

“It’s my last chance to do anything big in the sport. I’ve spent three years on the junior varsity team, so this is my last chance to make varsity and my last chance to make it to state for a second sport this year. There’s a lot of pressure on the senior class to lead the team, so that makes it kind of scary,” Grubham added. 

The Hawks varsity team will compete at the Inland Empire Classic tournament on Dec. 9th at Central Valley High School in Spokane, WA.