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New gym, new faces, same goals

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New gym, new faces, same goals

Last school year, it seemed like NIC’s winter sports teams had an abundance of sophomores that led their teams to great heights.

Winning was a common theme among the North Idaho College basketball teams and wrestling squad.

The men’s basketball team finished the regular season with an amazing 26-4 record. The women’s team finished the regular season with a 27-3 record before placing second in the Region 18 Tournament and advancing to nationals. Lastly, the wrestling team achieved the ultimate goal by winning their 14th national championship.

All three teams racked up a lot of wins last season and expect to do the same this season. While they hope winning is the common theme again this year, one thing the teams share, besides a new gym floor that the basketball teams can compete on and the wrestlers can lay their mats on, is youth.

On the men’s basketball side, many sophomores signed with four-year schools as well as two freshmen. Redshirt freshman point guard Chris Sarbaugh signed with the University of San Diego and freshman James Webb headed south to play with Boise State.

The Cardinals return three players to this year’s roster, including guard Jason Wheelock and forwards Nathan Rathbun and Ty Higbie. Head coach Jared Phay and his coaching staff recruited five players from Rainier Beach High School in Seattle. One of them, Wilfred Middlebrooks, is redshirting this season. But perhaps the other four can bring the team chemistry I am sure they possessed in high school to the college level.

The Lady Cardinals also have to rely on freshmen to compete in the competitive Scenic West Athletic Conference (SWAC). Point-guard Georgia Stirton, who was SWAC MVP last season, is one of the four returning players for NIC. Seven sophomores on last year’s team signed with four-year schools, so NIC will have to look to the newcomers for some offensive contributions and defensive intensity.

“They’ve (freshmen) got to transition quickly into sophomores, especially as we get into our league,” NIC head women’s basketball coach Chris Carlson said. “It’s really tough. We’ve won the league before with freshmen, but they need to progress. I hate to put a lot of pressure on them, but with that many of them (nine), we need four, five, six of them to really step up and play at a high level.”

As for wrestling, NIC lost a host of sophomore All-Americans who contributed greatly to their national championship run. Brock Banta, Michael Carreon, Jarrett Morrill, Ryan Zumwalt and Caleb Rivera all finished sixth or better at the national tournament last season to help the Cardinals claim another national championship. Jeremy Golding, who finished fifth at nationals in the 149-weight class, and V.J. Giulio, who finished third at 197, return for the Cardinals, along with other sophomores who are expected to contribute this season.

After watching the Red and Gray matches Friday night at Christianson Gymnasium, in which many freshmen were featured, I don’t think the wrestling team should worry.

One thing that should help all the Cardinal teams is a rockin’ Christianson Gym.

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