top of page

North Central well-stocked to defend State 3A wrestling title


An argument could be made that the North Central wrestling team wasn’t the best in the 3A classification last year. Not in terms of a top-to-bottom lineup. In the end, though, North Central’s wrestlers – all six qualifiers who placed – were standing at the top of the state heap. Everything had to go right for the Indians, and it did. Now NC wants to pull off a repeat. The Indians also have their eye on winning their first Greater Spokane League championship. But not at the risk of doing something more special – pulling off a state repeat. NC coach Luke Leifer said there’s been a noticeable carryover from the state title. “There’s been a lot of momentum,” Leifer said. “There’s a cool vibe around the school and everyone is pumped up about wrestling.” Leifer reports the best freshman turnout he’s had. Combined with five state placers back, including state champs and brothers Izaec and Clai Quintanilla, NC is poised for another banner season. Izaec recently signed with the University of Wisconsin. “This is hands down the strongest group we’ve ever had,” Leifer said. NC could have an obstacle-free road to the state title. Perennial 3A powers University, Sunnyside and Decatur have moved up to 4A. The Indians should take more than six to state. The GSL 3A teams will combine with the Greater St. Helens League and the KingCo for a state-qualifying regional tournament. “With University and Sunnyside in 4A, that opens up a lot of possible state berths,” Leifer said. “The perfect number for us to take to state would be about 10.” NC is ranked No. 1 in the preseason poll. The Quintanillas appear to be locks for state titles. Izaec will be seeking a third straight title. “They’re looking great,” Leifer said of his leaders. Senior Bryson Pierce returns after placing second last year. Also back are senior Junior Villaro, seventh last year, and sophomore Bryan Wais, fourth. “We talk a lot as a team about how no one is going to hand us a state title,” Leifer said. “We know we have a big target on our back and last year was last year. Our big push in the practice room is how we need to work even harder this year than we did last year.” Leifer plans to challenge his wrestlers with two of the toughest tournaments in the region. NC will attend Tri-State and a star-studded tournament in Utah where Izaec suffered two losses last year. “We don’t care about our individual records,” Leifer said. “We want to be challenged by the best we can face.” NC will have to knock off defending champ U-Hi to capture the league title. The Indians will also have difficult matchups with Central Valley and Mead. “It would be nice to win the league title, but everything before February is all practice,” Leifer said.


Featured Posts
Recent Posts
Archive
Search By Tags
No tags yet.
Follow Us
bottom of page