Sweet 6 in the finals

Feb. 25—There were 12 athletes at the start Friday's championship semifinal round at the Idaho state wrestling tournaments at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa.

By the end, half of those earned a spot in the today's finals at the same site. The title-round matches begin at approximately 1 p.m. Pacific.

Lewiston will be represented by sophomore Joely Slyter in the girls 100-pound weight class and junior Hoyt Hvass at boys 126. Moscow's Sklya Zimmerman punched her ticket at girls 120. Potlatch's Eli Prather (160 boys) and Nezperce's Kaden Schaff (98 boys) advanced, as did Orofino's Sean Larsen (195 boys).

In the title round, Slyter will face Caldwell's Nia Avelino (40-6), Hvass takes on Kuna's Cole Currin (42-10), Zimmerman goes against American Falls' Courtney Hunt (41-4), Schaff will tangle with Grace's Carter Kimball (33-5), Prather battles with West Side's Colten Gundersen (46-4) and Larsen will match wits with West Jefferson's Jason Buxton (42-4).

The Bengal boys finished the day 12th overall in the Class 5A team race with 49 points, and the girls are in 14th with 31.

Here's what we learned:

The losses are bitter

The six who are competing for a state title have a lot to celebrate. But those who are competing for a lower spot on the podium might feel left out.

For example, Highland's Kadence Beck was pinned by Buhl's Taylor Hood in the second period of their girls 114-pound semifinal. Beck had a 2-0 advantage to start the second period and elected to start in the neutral position.

Beck wasted little time taking a shot, but Hood wisely sagged her hips and got around Beck to tie it at 2.

While on top, Hood was digging for Beck's arm in hopes of an armbar. The two scooted to the edge of the mat before Hood finally locked it in. Beck was teetering on the edge of the circle as Hood was collecting a three-point near fall. Beck tried to get herself out of bounds, but couldn't and Hood notched the pinfall in 2:41.

One of the worst beats came in Clearwater Valley senior Bass Myers' semifinal at 182 against Challis' Aedan Baker.

Neither competitor gave an inch in the first period, with plenty of blood stoppage time. It was so much so that the officials awarded Baker a point.

Myers was undaunted and was able to register a stand-up to tie it at 1 before the end of the period.

Neither wrestler scored in the second, but Baker registered a standup midway through the third to take a 2-1 lead. Just 20 seconds later, Myers got hit with a second stalling call to give Baker a two-point advantage. That was too much for the Ram wrestler to come back from as he fell 5-1.

All eyes turned to Lewiston's Robert Storm and Mountain View's Shilo Jones at 285, the final match of the session.

Storm got the first takedown, putting himself up 2-0 with 1:15 to go in the first. However, he scored just one more point the rest of the way as Jones took control and won 8-3.

"The score broke out about the same, but I thought this one was much more competitive," Lewiston coach Colton Maddy said, comparing this match to the one Storm lost to Jones 7-2 at River City Duals on Jan. 18. "He was defending a lot of shots at the end, but Shilo just managed to find a way to win."

Outstanding wrestlers

Prather has been dealing with a knee injury for the better part of the season. That hasn't stopped him from looking like a hammer in this tournament.

On his way to the final four, he registered a second-period pin and a major decision. He saved his best so far in this tournament against Rire's Carter Huntsman, whom he teched 23-7 with one second left in regulation in the semifinal round.

Prather took a 4-0 lead 45 seconds in after a double leg takedown that was accompanied by a two-point near fall. Huntsman took advantage of Prather's positioning to get a stand-up. He followed that with a quick takedown to put him within 4-3 to end the period.

Prather then kicked it into another gear. He notched a stand-up and takedown in quick succession to go up 7-3. After the takedown, Prather took Huntsman to his back for a three-point near fall. He got another one before the end of the period to take a commanding 13-3 advantage.

"That's just how he wrestles," Potlatch coach Bryan Bryngelson said. "I'm not sure what I'll get when he steps on the mat. He just managed to stay in position and he wasn't looking at the scoreboard. He just continued to put himself in scoring situations. He didn't go out there and try to tech him, he just kept wrestling."

Hvass came in as the guy to beat in his class, and so far he's delivered.

Hvass finished his third consecutive pinfall win in this tourney as he dominated Meridian's Matthew Papa in the semifinal round.

He got a takedown during the first 40 seconds and had control the rest of the way. A win against Currin will make Hvass a two-time state champion.

Just close the deal

Zimmerman has been a pioneer for girls wrestling and hasn't suffered a loss against females her whole high school career.

She upped her undefeated streak to 57 after pinning Grace's Piper Anderson in the second period.

"This is a business trip for her," Moscow coach Zac Carscallen said. "She went out and did exactly what we expected from her."

Beating Hunt will give Zimmerman her second state title.

"It should be a fun match," Carscallen said. "They've wrestled before, but we have all the confidence in the world in Skyla."

The pair wrestled in the 120-pound final at the North Idaho Rumble on Jan. 28, with Zimmerman earning the fall in 5:30.

"(Hunt is) a really good wrestler," Carscallen said. "She pulled off a pretty big upset in her semifinal match, so it should be pretty fun for both of them."

CLASS 5A

Lewiston results

120 — Jack Brinkley 0-2.

126 — Hoyt Hvass 3-0.

132 — Jase Hendren 0-2.

152 — Gunnar Whitlock 0-2.

160 — Cole Lockart 2-2.

170 — Asa McClure 1-2.

182 — Brenden Thill 0-2.

220 — Benicio Avila 0-2.

285 — Robert Storm 2-0.

100 girls — Joely Slyter 3-0.

114 girls — Kadynce Scott 0-2.

138 girls — Kamryn Lockart 0-2.

165 girls — Cassidy Rehder 2-2.

235 girls — Lyrica Peterson-Wagenbord 0-2.

CLASS 4A

Moscow results

113 — Alex Palmer 0-2.

126 — Jason Swam 1-2.

132 — Sam Young 1-2.

145 — Cameron Vogl 0-2.

152 — Diego Deaton 2-1; James Greene 3-1.

160 — Erik Gulbrandsen 1-2.

120 girls — Skyla Zimmerman 3-0.

CLASS 2A

Clearwater Valley results

132 — Keegan Robeson 3-1.

138 — Keyan Boller 3-1.

145 — Anthony Fabbi 3-1.

152 — Jake Fabbi 2-2; Estuardo Puderbaugh 2-2.

170 — Anthony Carter 1-2.

182 — Bass Myers 2-1.

195 — Axl Fairbank 1-2.

285 — Isaac Goodwin 2-2.

Grangeville results

106 — Becket Bowen 2-2.

145 — Terry Eich 1-2.

170 — Parker Farmer 0-2.

182 — Michael Bowen 1-2.

Highland results

160 — TJ Fetters 1-2.

114 girls — Kadence Beck 2-1.

Kamiah results

120 — Tanner Labrum 0-2.

220 — Porter Whipple 2-1.

Lapwai result

195 — Leland Whitefoot 0-2.

Nezperce result

98 — Kaden Schaff 3-0.

Orofino results

120 — Hunter Gamble 1-2.

195 — Sean Larsen 3-0.

Potlatch results

145 — William Yearout 0-2.

152 — Avery Palmer 3-1.

160 — Eli Prather 3-0

170 — Logan Poesy 0-2.

120 girls — Shelby Prather 2-2.

145 girls — Hayley McNeal 2-1.

Pixley may be contacted at (208) 848-2290, tpixley@lmtribune.com or on Twitter @TreebTalks.