WRESTLING SEASON PREVIEW: Large turnout, girls team grows

This year, 31 boys and 11 girls have turned out to wrestle for Bonners Ferry. 

The boys team saw an increase in new wrestlers last season and struggled to fill upper weight classes, which cost the Badgers points in duals. Many wrestlers improved and were competitive throughout the season. 

The Badgers took second at districts, losing out to Timberlake 214-200. This was the Tigers’ first district title since 2020 with nine individual champions. Boys wrestling district including 3A Intermountain League teams Bonners Ferry and Timberlake, as Priest River and Kellogg moved down to 2A last season. 

District champions from Bonners Ferry included Saber Blackmore (106), Brandon Williams (113), Porter Blackmore (145), Marcus Regehr (160), and Andrew Erhardt (195). Donald “Donnie” Riess (285) had a bye.

Last season at state, then-junior Brandon Williams (113) took third, making him a two-time state placer. Overall all the Badger boys finished in 12th place with 13 wrestlers qualifying for state.

Last season, the Badger girls wrestling team was explosive, wrestling with sometimes only four girls, the team won nearly every tournament they competed in. 

Girls wrestling continues to grow in Idaho and this will be the third season that female wrestlers will have their own state tournament instead of competing in a co-ed tournament. 

In the 2021-2022 season, Bonners Ferry was named District I & II champions, blowing the competition out of the water and outscoring second place 4A Moscow by 20 points. District I & II champion Savannah Rickter (30-2)  took third in the state contest, making her the first Bonners Ferry placer in the first all-girls competition.

Last season, Badger girl wrestling took second at the Division I & II District wrestling championships by one point, with Rickter  (165, 22-2), Aubrey Wells (138, 8-10) and Neveah Therrien (107, 20-5) taking first and earning district titles. Lewiston was the champion and had the largest team with seven girls. 

In the 2022-23 season the top two wrestlers at districts advanced to state, and so Badger Lindsey Onstott advanced as well. 

Freshman Neveah Therrien (107) claimed a state title and was the first girl to take first all Idaho girls state champion for the Bonners Ferry. She came into the contest as the third seed and frequently during the season, she wrestled up a weight class. 

Rickter placed fourth, making her a two-time state placer. Rickter got a wrestler on her back and nearly pinned her, but then got pinned herself. She went on to the consolation round and in the third and fourth place match suffered a concussion.

Onstott took sixth. She fell early to a familiar opponent from Coeur d’Alene High School and battled her way back to place.

Badger girls wrestling finished fifth overall with only four girls taking part in the tournament — and missed taking home a state trophy by one point. The top four girls wrestling teams were from 5A and 4A schools.

Head coach Travis Stolley said the coaching staff is focused on making sure every wrestler is improving every day with the goal of being competitive. Coaches are looking to see where wrestlers will be the most competitive. 

Varsity and JV will be decided at a wrestle off every week, he said. 

This year an additional assistant coach has been assigned to girls wrestling, making the coaching staff a total of three paid coaches. 

Exciting things are on the horizon for girls wrestling, as they are now considered their own team and will compete in four all-girl tournaments. 

The boys will also compete in four all-boy tournaments, sometimes the same weekend as the girls. All other competitions for the season will be co-ed. 

Stolley said the 11 girls turning out for wrestling is exciting since the Badger ended last season with only four girls. 

The trick will be filling weight classes for duals, but at tournaments Bonners Ferry may have the option to have more than one wrestler per weight class. 

The girls will also have separate duals against Rogers High School in Spokane, Sandpoint and Post Falls. For the first time, the Badgers will host two all girl duals, debuting the team in front of the home crowd. 

In the past at home duals, girls have either wrestled boys, or participated in exhibition matches against other girls. Typically few girls would wrestle due to the opposing team not having many girls, or not having girls in compatible weight classes. Exhibition matches do not count as points for a dual. 

This year, a wrestling dual will take place during the Backwoods Brawl, a spirit and sporting competition against Timberlake Lake High School. The dual will not include the girl wrestling teams, since Timberlake only has one girl wrestler this year. 

Instead the girls team will compete at Othello, Wash., one of the largest girls wrestling tournaments in the Pacific Northwest. Last year, the tournament had 200 wrestlers and was larger than the All Idaho Girls State wrestling tournament. 

The girls will also compete at large all girl tournaments that feature 16-wrestler brackets. Stolley said the program has done all it can to grow the team and get the girls mat time against competition before districts. 

Right now boys wrestling is missing some light weights and graduated many many upper weights. 

Coaches are passionate at getting the teams competitive against and be well-rounded people, Stolley said, noting he is building off the mindset of football coach Danny Swift. 

“The goal is to win and be competitive, but to also teach life lessons and adversity,” Stolley said. 

He added that when he wrestled for Bonners Ferry High School he learned how to push through the pain, which came in handy when he went through basic training for the Marines. 

Stolley is excited to have state placers return. He added that since the boys are down lightweight wrestlers, and wrestling is a co-ed sport, Therrien can wrestle for the boys during duals.

“She should be able to score some need points for us,” he said. 

Stolley said parents and the wrestler are consulted and have the final decision on if they want to wrestle someone of a different sex. 

Some football players who are new to wrestling have come out. Stolley said having hard-working athletes such as senior Matt Treautlaar pushes the tempo in the gym. 

When it comes to cutting weight, Stolley said he will never tell a wrestler to do so. 

“Ultimately that is up to the kid. [Coaches] want them to be healthy and competitive,” he said. “We are fairly spread in weights, and the kids can go their own way in choosing what weight they wrestle, but we want them healthy.”

A big emphasis in practice is reminding the wrestlers to not focus on weight, as they are getting used to workouts and getting in shape. They will go up or down in weight after burning calories in practice. 

Stolley said with 11 girls coming out to wrestle he hopes in the next year or two the girls will have their own separate program. Girls wrestling will also have their own separate season in TrackWrestling, a wrestling season and statistics tracking site. 

“This is one more step in growth to make girls wrestling stand alone as a sport,” he said. 

He added that Sandpoint’s girl wrestling program is also taking off and having a nearby competitor is good for the program, since before the girls had to travel hours just for the chance to wrestle one girl. 

Badger wrestling will open the season against Timberlake at the Van Tuinstar Dual in Spirit Lake on Dec. 1. On the same day is the Blizzard JV tournament in Sandpoint. 

On Dec. 21, the girls will host their first home dual against Rogers High School at 6 p.m. 

    Badger wrestlers practice takedowns.