STATE CHAMPIONS: Lewiston's Hoyt Hvass hammers it home to win Class 5A state title

Feb. 25—Backflips, cartwheels and emotional embraces were all standard celebrations for grapplers who claimed individual championships at the Idaho state wrestling tournament on Saturday at the ICCU Dome in Pocatello.

However, there were no theatrics from Lewiston High School senior Hoyt Hvass, who finished his prep career with a third consecutive Class 5A state title.

The 132-pounder notched a 5-1 decision over Kuna's Cole Currin, whom he beat in last year's 126 title bout.

After earning the rare distinction of being a three-time state champion, Hvass shook his opponent's hand and walked off the mat, signifying it was business as usual for the Bengals' stalwart.

"He was cool, calm and collected from warm-ups to the finish," Lewiston coach Colton Maddy said. "I was expecting some type of celebration, but he was really stoic, and after the match, I just told him to go hug his dad. He just accomplished an incredible feat, and to have his parents right there at the railing after he won was a special moment."

Hvass recorded the first takedown of the match from a fireman's carry, which has become textbook from the North Idaho College (NIC) commit.

He scored his second takedown with 33 seconds left in the second period for the final margin.

Hvass finished the final two minutes on top and used his strength and positional awareness to control the 90 seconds.

"That second takedown really iced it," Maddy said. "Currin really had to throw something out there, and Hoyt is too tough on top. It was a great match from Hoyt from bell to bell."

The three-time state champion picked up his 100th-career pin in the semifinals with a first-period fall over Nate Galloway of Rocky Mountain (Meridian, Idaho).

"He's been a hammer here," Maddy said. "He's just been a guy you can build around, and we're hoping all the best for him at NIC, and I'll have to get a shirt so I can wear it on the weekdays to support them."

Here's a breakdown of the other area champions.

Myers mines gold

Clearwater Valley senior Bass Myers (195) claimed his first individual Class 2A state title with an 8-6 win over Elijah Dilworth of Soda Springs.

"He went out there and set the tone and continued from there," Clearwater Valley coach Carlos Martinez said. "He stayed in control, and at the end, he had a big lead and didn't want to get thrown, and he played it smart and ended up getting a pin to win his first state title."

No. 1 Myers was a two-time state placer coming in and never made it out of the semifinals.

His final-four bout on Saturday was against familiar opponent Trey Gibson of St. Maries.

Gibson was not seeded, and this didn't sit right with Martinez, who is aware of how talented the Lumberjack is from his wars with Myers this season.

Martinez even called the IHSAA offices to dispute the seeding because "Gibson is one hell of a wrestler and is worthy of being in the championship match."

The pair wrestled three times before and Myers won every time. But it wasn't easy, with two matches going into overtime.

The semifinal contest was once again tightly contested, but Myers was able to pin his district rival in the waning seconds to advance to the championship bout.

"I was nervous going into it and in the middle of it," Martinez said. "But Bass stayed cool, wrestled his ass off and did what he needed to do to win."

Myers is the first Clearwater Valley wrestler to win an individual state title since Peyton Marrow (in 2019).

"You feel that sense of pride, joy and pure happiness," Martinez said. "The blood, sweat, tears, and pain pay off in the end, and it's all worth it. ... That's every kid's goal — to become a state champion — and to achieve it is a hell of a feat. It causes the emotions to boil over and it's hard to explain."

Schaff secures first state crown

Nezperce sophomore Kaden Schaff (106) dropped Colter Barzee of West Side (Dayton, Idaho) with a single-leg takedown to take a 7-2 lead with less than a minute to go in a Class 2A title bout.

Schaff attempted to score even with an insurmountable lead, and it paid off as he caught Barzee on his back with 36 seconds left in the match to claim his first career individual state title by fall.

"He wrestled very smart," Grangeville wrestling coach Callen Jackson said. "He was coming off an injury from the middle of the season, and he came in with a game plan and stuck with it."

This was Schaff's second appearance in the state finals in as many years, falling to Grace's Carter Kimball in last year's 98-pound championship match.

The sophomore had a 4-1 lead over Kimball in that contest, but he got caught in a bad spot and allowed Kimball to get a five-point combination of a reversal and a near fall to get the win.

That loss helped motivate Schaff to return to center stage and take care of business.

"He put in the work all year," Jackson said. "He was lifting weights, getting in shape, and working through situations. He's one of those pretty special kids who knows what needs to be done to win tournaments."

The goal now is to "keep him on top," according to Jackson, in hopes that he can become a "three-timer," by the time he calls it a career.

Just a nickel short

Lewiston junior Joely Slyter (114 girls) reached the state finals for the second straight year but fell 12-6 to sophomore Talea Nichols of Rocky Mountain.

The pair of high-level grapplers met before in the semifinals of the Rollie Lane tournament on Jan. 6, with Slyter picking up the 2-0 victory at the Ford Idaho Center.

Nichols caught Slyter in a five-point combination to end the first period to give her a 5-0 edge, and from there, Slyter had to play catch up.

"The score was a fairly wide margin, but it was closer than it indicated," Maddy said. "Hats off to the Rocky girl; she won those positions and we know she (Slyter) is going to take it as fuel and continue to get better. None of us wanted to see that. But you just tip your hat and come back stronger."

Potlatch's Hayley McNeal (152 girls) fell 10-3 to Elise Twait of Meridian.

Twait, the No. 1 seed, had control for the majority of the match.

Despite coming short of a state title, the junior still had an impressive run to her championship match and registered three straight pins to get there.

Not a bad outing

A total of nine more area wrestlers earned a spot on the podium on Saturday.

Lewiston's Jase Hendren (132, third), Gunnar Whitlock (138, sixth), Brice Cuthbert (182, fifth) and Emma Rivera (185 girls, sixth) all brought home hardware.

Keira Zimmerman (126 girls) was the lone Moscow placer, finishing fourth and Shelby Prather of Potlatch placed fifth in the same weight class.

Clearwater Valley's Porter Whipple (220) finished fourth and Peter Fabbi (98) was sixth.

Orofino's Hunter Gable finished fifth at 138 in the Class 2A

Megan Myers (138 girls), younger sister of Bass, was the first Rams girls wrestler to compete and place at State, finishing sixth.

CLASS 5A

Lewiston individuals

113 — Brody Lynch 0-2

126 — Coen Roberts 0-2

132 — Hoyt Hvass 4-0 (first); Jase Hendren 4-1 (third)

138 — Gunnar Whitlock 3-3 (sixth)

145 — Mason Faling 1-2

170 — Cole Lockart 2-2

182 — Brice Cuthbert 3-3 (fifth)

285 — King David Rhodes 0-2; James Gibbs 0-2

114 girls — Joely Slyter 3-1 (second)

138 girls — Kamryn Lockart 1-2

185 girls — Emma Rivera 3-3 (sixth)

Class 4A

Moscow individuals

132 — Jason Swam 1-2

145 — Aidan Prakash 2-2

170 — James Greene 2-2

220 — Paul Dixon 2-2

126 girls — Keira Zimmerman 3-2 (fourth)

CLASS 2A

Clearwater Valley-Kamiah individuals

98 — Peter Fabbi 2-3 (sixth)

106 — Beau Wilkins 1-2

120 — Liam Walle 1-2

132 — Tanner Labrum 1-2

138 — Conner Christensen 1-2

145 — Estuardo Puderbaugh 0-2

152 — Jacob Fabbi 1-2

195 — Bass Myers 4-0 (first)

220 — Porter Whipple 3-2 (fourth)

138 girls — Megan Myers 3-3 (sixth)

Grangeville-Nezperce individuals

106 — 1. Kaden Schaff 4-0 (first)

160 — 3. Lucas Wren 0-2

182 — 1. Parker Farmer 1-2

Kendrick individuals

113 — Eian Schwecke 2-2

Lapwai individuals

195 — Leland Whitefoot 0-2

285 — Mathias Fox 1-2

Orofino individuals

138 — Hunter Gamble 2-0 (fifth)

Potlatch individuals

132 — Magnus Bryngelson 0-2

145 — William Yearout 1-2

152 — Carson Yearout 1-2

195 — Jonah Berger 0-2

126 girls — Shelby Prather 3-2 (fifth)

152 girls — Hayley McNeal 3-1 (second)

Pixley may be contacted at (208) 848-2290, tpixley@lmtribune.com or on Twitter @TreebTalks.