PUYALLUP — Following the postponement of another match Thursday — which makes two including North Kitsap’s scheduled season-opening tournament also cancelled on account of weather — and the cancellation of yet another practice Friday — counting five since the season began Nov. 13 — the Vikings traveled to Puyallup Saturday to blow off some steam.

On unpracticed legs, North began the day a little flat, coach Jon Cooke said, but by the end of the eight-team tournament, a handful of NK’s individual leaders had propelled the team to a fourth-place finish — the best of Cooke’s four-year tenure.

Enumclaw finished first with 228 points, followed by Rogers with 216, Curtis with 137.5 and North Kitsap with 125.5.

“The thing I like about this tourney is it’s kind of an eye-opener, kick-in-the-rear-end,” Cooke said, noting the solid competition of the meet at Rogers High School.

In fact, North’s 189-pounder Eric Hedin was one of the wrestlers at the tourney who opened eyes. The senior carried a 5-0 record with five pins into the tournament and left the mat with three more wins, one more pin and a first-place finish.

“My toughest was the second match,” Hedin said of his semifinal bout with Mitch Solomonson of Bethel. “He was probably the best kid I wrestled. I was out of shape, got tired in the third round, and I let him come back from a pretty big lead.”

But Hedin gutted it out and finished with a 14-13 advantage to move onto the finals where he beat David Gay of Mountain View, 7-6, to take the title.

North’s 152-pound senior Nick Miller — making his first appearance of the season — also labored through his first two matches and made it to the final round where he took second. NK 125-pounder Matt Cordell also secured a second-place finish, while 215-pounder Jim Smith — a senior wrestling in the high school ranks for the first time — stepped up to take third place after losing to the eventual champion Jeff O’Conner of Curtis.

“He’s just one heck of an athlete. Strong as an ox, and he’s got good natural balance,” Cooke said of Smith.

“We’re still coming together, but its going to be awesome season no doubt,” Hedin said. “We can do really good things this year as long as we stick together and work hard.”

The Vikings are envisioning a standout season as they bolster a roster already stacked with potential. Their excitement, however, has been rolled up in the corner like an unused mat, waiting to unravel once the season reaches consistency.

“We have a lot of excited kids, and hopefully we’re going to fill a few more of our spots,” Cooke said. “There’s a long ways ahead but we do have the potential. Basically it just getting them some solid mat time where we are not out of school for this or that.”

The Vikings have a full agenda slated for the school’s winter break as they will practice basically everyday — other than weekends and Christmas, Hedin said.

Tuesday, North traveled to Bellarmine for its final meet of 2006. Results from the tri-team dual between North, Stadium and Mount Tahoma were unavailable at press time.

“Now we’ve got these vacation practices where we can kind of set back and practice for the sake of practice,” Cooke said.

North’s individual results

from Rogers, Dec. 16

112 — Will Castle, fifth; 135 — Johnny Helsing, fourth; 140 — Jeff Jones, fifth; 145 — Matt Cordell, second; 152 — Nick Miller, second; 160 — Alan Weber, fifth; 171 — Anthony Lindfors, sixth; 189 — Eric Hedin, first; 215 — James Smith, third; 285 — Bill Plowman, fifth.