Blaine wrestlers Caleb Johnson, Kyle Gonzales and Mike Antczak placed in 34th Annual Tri-State Wrestling Tournament Saturday, Dec. 15, in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, at North Idaho College.

Borderites coach Craig Foster said the two-day tournament is widely regarded as the toughest tournament in the Pacific Northwest. Justin Belding and Jon Stewart also competed and made it to the second day of competition but didn't medal. Johnson (220 pounds) placed third, Gonzales (106) took seventh and Antczak (285) placed eighth. Belding (145) finished with a 3-2 record, and Stewart (160) compiled a 4-2 mark.

"You have the best teams from Idaho, Oregon, Montana and Washington," Foster said in a phone interview. "You don't come here unless you're a fairly solid team."

The tournament consisted of 64 teams. Only 28 full teams were invited, and wrestlers competed in 64-person brackets.

"Caleb just lost one match along the way, and he was leading him but got caught in a move," Foster said. "Kyle stepped up huge. It was the best I have ever seen him wrestle. I have never seen him compete like he did this weekend. Mikey wrestled really hard and ran into some close matches. We got some great competition and beat a lot of state placers."

Blaine hosts Ferndale next in a dual meet at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dc. 19.