The Lakeland wrestling team tied at 125.5 points with Blackfoot for third place at the 2024 4A state championship.
Lakeland High School took seventeen wrestlers to Pocatello to wrestle on Feb. 23 and 24. Five of them placed, and freshman Carson Leonard took first place in the 113 weight class.
Teagan Patrick wrestled at 114 pounds but ended up going two and out. Annika Thompson wrestled at 165 pounds and made it to the semifinals but got pinned in the second period. She kept on fighting and placed third.
“I think if I would have calmed myself down, I could have done better in my match,” Thompson said. “I am disappointed in my performance in the match I lost, but I kept on wrestling to the best of my ability.”
Caleb Adams was wrestling at 98 pounds and ended up winning his second match. He lost his third match, which took him out of the tournament.
Zach Teal made it to the quarter-finals but lost, and got put in the consolation bracket. He kept on wrestling and ended up placing fifth.
Kade Knopp wrestled at 106 pounds and won his first match by a pin in 42 seconds. He lost his second one, putting him in the consolation bracket. He won one more but lost his fourth match, taking him out of the tournament.
Carson Leonard was placed as the first seed at 113 pounds. He is the fourth freshman to win state at LHS.
“It feels good winning the state title. It also feels good having the pressure be taken off my shoulders,” Leonard said. “Even with the pressure, I knew I just had to relax and trust my ability. I definitely saw a couple of things I could improve on.”
Duke Williamson wrestled at 120 pounds. He put up a good fight but sadly went two and two and did not place. Jaron Knopp also wrestled 120 and got put to the consultation after the quarterfinals. He kept putting up a fight and placed fifth by a pin.
Griffin Tamagni entered the state at 126 pounds with a wild card as a freshman. He did two and out but still has three more years to keep improving.
Justin Baxter wrestled at 132 pounds but went two and out. Cole Cooper also wrestled 132 pounds. After his first match, he got put in consultation and ended up beating Ashlei Hawkins by a pin after losing to him multiple times this season. Cole did end up going two and two and not placing.
Kros O`Brien wrestled at 145, and Austin Howell wrestled at 152. They both ended up winning one but losing two and got out of the tournament.
Thayer Sabatke wrestled at 160 pounds but ended up going two and out.
Ernie Steel wrestled at 220 pounds and got put in the consultation bracket after his first match. He was able to win one more but lost his third one, putting him out of the tournament. Dylan Scott also wrestled 220 pounds. He won all of his matches and made it to the finals. Scott got pinned in the first period by the returning two-time state champion Garrett Vail, but he placed second.
“I feel like I did really good up until my last match and I feel like I could have wrestled harder,” Scott said. “It felt great to finally place at state. Freshman year, I did not make state, and sophomore year, I got taken out in the blood rounds. It was a hard fight, but I finally placed.”
Carter Vanak wrestled 285 pounds for his first year in high school wrestling. He made it to the quarterfinals and got put in the consolation bracket. He kept on fighting and ended up placing fourth.
The head coach, William Edublute, was hoping to bring home the third-place trophy, and the team was able to pull through and place 3rd. LHS came into state as the underdogs, and they were able to prove the Idaho team rankings wrong.
