By John Leggett

The Courier-Herald

When the Bonney Lake High wrestling squad went to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, Dec. 18 and Dec. 19 to hit the mats in the Tri-State Tournament they interacted with more than 500 grapplers from Montana, Oregon and Idaho. The Panthers had two place earners in the 14 weight divisions with 40 mat men in each bracketed weight classification.

“This is one of the toughest events in the west,” said coach Anthony Clarke, whose squad is an undefeated 3-0 in league. “You have to be an elite team to even have an invitation extended to you.

“And the competition, oh my gosh. Our sophomore 112-pounder Andrew Cunningham beat last year’s title holder and he still only finished seventh, which really does hold much more significance when you are wrestling at this level.”

Additionally, Panther heavyweight Jared Dorsey, who came into the Tri-State Tourney undefeated, suffered his first setback of the season, but managed to hold on for an eighth-place finish.

“It is good for our wrestlers to get beat somewhere along the way and to always be thrown into challenging situations,” Clarke said, “because then they can review the film and get their problems ironed out before the season-ending district, regional and state tournaments.”

The competition will stiffen when Bonney Lake’s wrestlers hit the road for the Pacific Coast Tournament in Vancouver, Wash., Friday and Saturday.

The Panthers get back into the swing of the league campaign when they host Peninsula Jan. 6 and then White River Jan. 7. Both begin at 7 p.m.