38th edition of Clearwater Classic wrestling hits the mats today

The 38th annual Clearwater Classic wrestling tournament to be held today and Saturday at Lewiston High School will look to maintain the event’s storied tradition while bolstering its recent positive momentum with new innovations.

This year’s Classic features additions like medals for the top five finishers in each boys bracket (as opposed to top three in the past) and the first-ever girls team trophy.

The field includes 26 schools from across Idaho, Washington and Oregon, with more than 350 boys and 75 girls set to compete.

Representing the Tribune area will be Asotin, Clarkston, Clearwater Valley (Kooskia), Colfax, Garfield-Palouse, Grangeville, Lapwai, Lewiston, Moscow, Orofino, Potlatch, Prairie and Pullman. The host Bengals led area schools in team scoring last year, taking third on the boys side and first among girls.

Crossing the classifications

“I’ve seen a lot of different iterations of it,” said Moscow coach Zac Carscallen, who wrestled in the Clearwater Classic himself in the late 2000s to early 2010s and has coached at the tournament for the last decade. “Lately, it’s kind of exploded back into a really big tournament in the region again, and that’s been awesome to see.”

Carscallen’s lineup includes a defending champion and recent Prep Athlete of the Week honoree in 175-pounder James Greene, who recorded his 100th high school career win on Wednesday. Teammates Paul Dixon (285) and Eian Schwecke (126) are also returning top-three medalists last year, and Carscallen mentions Eric Gulbrandsen and Aidan Prakash as additional Bears particularly likely to “make some waves” this weekend.

The Lewiston boys look particularly strong at 132 with entries Jase Hendren — a 2024 Clearwater Classic 113-pound runner-up and state medalist — and Cullen Roberts, who currently holds the team’s top varsity spot in the division over Hendren. The Bengals’ 175-pounder Tate Cuthbert was the only area boy to post a medal finish recently at the prestigious and highly competitive Rollie Lane Tournament in Nampa, taking eighth.

Other returning Classic medalists include the likes of Pullman’s Sam Sears, who was runner-up at 215 last year and went on to place at the Washington Class 2A state meet.

“I think it’s going to be a good tournament,” Carscallen said. “You have a lot of teams from numerous different classifications, all the way from 2A-6A, that you don’t normally get to see.”

Slyter headlines Bengal girls

Leading the way for the Bengal girls is Joely Slyter, a 2023 state champion and ’24 runner-up who took the 114 pound title at last year’s Clearwater Classic. Slyter has gone 16-1 in matches against other girls so far this season — the only loss coming in a 120-pound contest to reigning state champion Charlee Noah from Tri-Valley of Cambridge. Slyter still normally wrestles at 114, but is moving up to 120 again for the Clearwater Classic in hopes of obtaining a rematch with Noah.

“Joely is a rockstar,” Lewiston coach Colton Maddy said. “Day in, day out, (she’s a) great example in the mat room.”

The Bengals’ Kamryn Lockart is reigning champion at 132, and Joely’s sister Sammie Slyter, who wrestles at 126, was also described by Maddy as “super tough.”

Further area girls to watch include defending 145-to-152-pound champion and reigning Prep Athlete of the Week Hayley McNeal of Potlatch, fellow Logger and defending 126-pound titlist Shelby Prather, and returning 100-to-107 champion MaKenzie Weza of Clarkston.

In addition to being the first-ever Classic to award a girls team trophy, this year’s tournament will move from a round robin format to full elimination draws for the girls brackets — a development made possible by increased numbers.

How to watch

Competition starts at 1 p.m. today and 9 a.m. Saturday. In addition to attending in person, it will be possible to view the tournament live with commentary on the YouTube channel LHS Bengals.

“We expect there to be some tough matches this weekend, and that’s what we’re here to see,” Maddy said.

Wendt may be contacted at (208) 848-2268, or cwendt@lmtribune.com.