Idaho wrestling state tournament: Three teams, 23 Boise-area individuals crowned champs
Bishop Kelly’s wrestling team won a share of a state title last season. But on Saturday, that trophy belonged to the Knights alone.
Bishop Kelly edged Minico with 228.5 points to the Spartans’ 225.5, erasing a 20.5-point deficit in the championship round to rally for its second straight state championship.
The late comeback allowed Bishop Kelly to take its time with the trophy and banner Saturday, posing for photos and passing it around to each Knight before loading it up on the bus home to Boise.
Those moments stood in contrast to last year, when the statistical oddity of a tie forced Bishop Kelly to hand over the trophy to Minico and wait for a copy to arrive at its school.
Bishop Kelly senior Carlos Valdez said that moment stung. But Saturday’s championship made up for it.
“It didn’t feel the same,” Valdez said. “Now it’s everything I’ve wanted, everything I’ve been striving for since my freshman year.”
Bishop Kelly won four of its five championship matches, scoring three pins and a tech fall to rack up enough bonus points to vault past the Spartans, who went 0-4 in the finals and remained stuck at 225.5 points.
“People doubted us early,” Bishop Kelly coach Manny Ybarra said. “They said that BK is not going to be in the running at all. And we came back and proved it.”
Sophomore Holten Crane kick-started the rally with the 106-pound title, scoring a tech fall for 1.5 bonus points and his second straight state crown. Sophomore Jake Mescher (26-5, 138 pounds) and seniors Matthew Martino (10-0, 144) and Valdez (32-2, 157) then followed with pins, earning the maximum two points to fuel the Knights’ charge.
Martino’s title marked the fourth of his high school career and capped his own comeback story. The Princeton commit tore his ACL at Fargo nationals in July and underwent surgery in August.
Most would spend their senior year rehabbing and focusing on their college careers. Not Martino.
He served as an honorary coach before working his way back to the mat Feb. 5. The nationally-ranked senior even dropped a weight class to build the best possible lineup for state, entering the tournament with just four contested matches under his belt.
He didn’t show any signs of rust, rolling to four first-round pins to rack up every point possible for the Knights’ title chase. No match lasted longer than 1 minute, 39 seconds, and he capped his career with a hip-toss throw that induced a gasp from the crowd to pin Blackfoot’s Ty Adams in 53 seconds.
“Last year, tying Minico, that’s not a win. There are no ties in wrestling,” Martino said. “We had one more shot at it while I was here, so I wanted to give myself and everyone else on my team the best shot we had.
“I owed it to them, and I owed it to myself, to get it done.”
The championship made him the 42nd Idaho wrestler to become a four-time state champ, and just the second at Bishop Kelly after his older brother, Christopher Martino. The two will reunite next season at Princeton, and asked if he had any statistical edge on his brother, the younger Martino shot back a deadpan, “I’m better looking.”
But Martino’s title still left the Knights trailing by three points entering the 157-pound finals, leaving Valdez as the Knights’ last chance. The senior delivered, pinning top-seeded Ryker Vail of Bonneville (37-5) in 1:45 for his second straight state title.
Minico still had two wrestlers left, needing just one victory to take back the lead with Bishop Kelly left to watch. But Bonneville’s Madix Jones and Sandpoint’s Jorden Tyler topped their Minico opponents, sealing the Knights’ state championship.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN GIRLS WIN FIRST WRESTLING STATE TITLE
Seniors Gavin Brown and Reece Moody considered leaving the Grizzlies’ wrestling team this season.
Moody was coming off an injury and looking forward to a rugby career at Dartmouth. And Brown’s schedule remained loaded with other sports and student council.
But Rocky Mountain’s coaching staff and wrestlers implored them to stay on the mat, arguing they could chase a state title with those two heavy-hitters in the lineup. And Brown and Moody proved them right Saturday, powering the Grizzlies to their first team title — boys or girls.
Brown (37-8) won the 165-pound bracket and Moody (14-1) took second in the heavyweight division, headlining six placers who earned Rocky Mountain 106 points, 18 more than second-place Eagle.
“This group is really close, tight-knit,” Rocky Mountain coach Guy Bullock said. “They work hard for each other. They’ve got each other’s backs, and they listen. They’ve learned a lot of technique in a short period of time.”
Rocky Mountain had never finished better than sixth place at the official or unofficial girls state tournament. But after watching Lita Burgaga Cruz (2019) and Mia Furman (2021, ‘23) bring back state titles, Bullock said the program grows each year.
Brown entered as the No. 8 seed before knocking off top-seeded Brooklyn Anderson of Coeur d’Alene (27-2) in the second round for the second time this year. She then toppled Eagle’s Ella Elordi (38-6) in the finals, avenging three losses to Elordi earlier this season with district and state titles.
“We were a little bit flummoxed by the eight seed,” Bullock said. “... So we just kind of rolled with the punches and tried to win each one match at a time.”
MERIDIAN TAKES SECOND IN 6A
The Warriors’ four-year run atop Idaho’s largest classification came to an end Saturday.
Post Falls dethroned Meridian 310-282.5 as 16 of its 20 state qualifiers placed, including two individual champions.
Post Falls senior Seth Martin (53-0) led the way with the 190-pound title, and sophomore Matthew Hamilton (42-10) added a championship at 113.
The Warriors entered the tournament with an all-class-leading 28 state qualifiers, but only 14 earned a spot on the podium and two took home individual titles.
Meridian freshman Blake Nevils (47-3) headlined the Warriors’ two state champs, scoring a 15-0 tech fall in 56 seconds to cap an undefeated season vs. Idaho competition (37-0). And Meridian junior Logan Shaver (41-4) rolled through the 6A 157-pound bracket, scoring a 12-4 major decision over Madison’s Braxton Hanna in the finals after taking second last year.
Madison (163.5) and Nampa (133) finished a distant third and fourth, more than 100 points behind.
FRUITLAND REPEATS IN 4A
The Grizzlies didn’t challenge their scoring record from a year ago. But Fruitland still steamrolled to their second straight team trophy, racking up 294.5 points to finish 65.5 points ahead of American Falls.
Senior Kaden MacKenzie (47-1) topped a group of two state champs and 14 placers with his third straight individual title. The two-time Rollie Lane champ surrendered only one point all weekend, racking up two pins and tech fall before an 8-0 victory over Buhl’s Fabi Pierce (50-8) in the 157-pound finals.
Fruitland junior Marcus Aleman (41-4) also brought home the 120-pound crown, pinning three of the four opponents he faced, including a first-round pin of Sugar-Salem’s Max Banta (51-10) in the championship round.
MORE BOISE-AREA STATE CHAMPS
Twenty-three Treasure Valley wrestlers brought home state championships:
Rocky Mountain sophomore Cole Jensen (31-12) rallied from a 6-1 deficit in the third period to pull out a 7-6 upset victory over Meridian’s Bodee Williams in the 6A 98-pound championship.
Caldwell senior Draven Johns (60-2) held on for his first state championship, holding off a last-second reversal from Mountain View sophomore Ian Avalos (40-12) for a 4-3 win and the 6A 132 crown.
Nampa junior Ryan Hirchert (42-3) made it 3-for-3 at the state tournament, capturing his third straight title with a 4-1 decision over Madison’s Brand’n Edstrom.
Nampa junior Vincent Contreras (20-1) broke through for his first state title after finishing second each of the past two years in the 6A 120 bracket. Contreras took two-time state champ Jeremiah Gonzalez of Meridian (40-6) to overtime, then scored an escape and takedown for a 5-1 decision.
Eagle senior Antonio Genovesi (44-5) entered as the No. 3 seed but left with a gold medal in the 6A 175 division after a 6-1 decision over Lake City’s Nathan Booth.
Middleton senior Jabyn Kemble (20-3) squeaked out an escape in double overtime for the 5A 126 championship to upset Preston’s Peyton Keller (47-3).
Middleton senior Ryan Lewis (47-2) rolled through the 5A 175-pound division, racking up three pins and a tech fall for his first state title.
Homedale freshman Jakobe Valle (44-1) continued his breakout season, rolling to the 4A 98-pound title with two pins and a 7-0 decision over Snake River’s Gus Packer in the finals.
Weiser senior Luke Sarich (36-2) capped his high school career with his first state championship, scoring a third-period takedown for a 3-1 decision over Teton’s Kace Fullmer.
Weiser senior Kash Cobb (49-4) racked up four straight pins for the 4A 175 crown to lead the Wolverines to a fourth-place team trophy.
Tri-Valley junior Eli Noah (46-5) eked out the 3A 175 title with a 1-0 decision over Firth’s Beau Ringel. Noah scored the match’s only points with an escape early in the second round.
New Plymouth senior Gabriel Cox (57-5) pinned all four opponents he faced, including three in the first round, for the 3A 190 title, his second straight. The Western Colorado Commit pinned 44 of the 62 opponents he faced this season.
Kuna sophomore Taylor Drake (40-5) dominated the girls 107-pound final, racking up a 16-2 lead before a second-round pin for her first state title.
Middleton senior Kylie Fowler (36-6) entered the girls 138 tournament 0-2 against Kuna’s top-seeded Zoe Fries. But she avenged those losses by upsetting the previously undefeated Fries (41-1) with a 14-6 major decision.
Meridian senior Elise Twait (45-0) capped an undefeated season with her third straight title, pinning her way to the girls 152 final before recording a 17-1 tech fall.
This story was originally published March 1, 2025 at 10:20 PM.
