Between dropping a weight and dealing with a shoulder injury, Oklahoma State wrestler Clayton Foster didn't have the easiest year.

"I had to work out a lot more. It was a lot tougher for me," Foster said of his change from 197 pounds to 184 in a phone interview this week.

But even with those challenges, it turned into a pretty successful junior season for the Kamiah High grad when it was all over. He made his mark on the national scene by claiming an individual Big 12 championship, and then finished sixth in the country at 184 pounds in the national tournament.

"I actually wrestled better this year. I won some big matches - won Big 12. That was probably the biggest match that I won, and I got sixth at nationals," he said. "I hadn't placed at nationals my first two years. So that was pretty good for me."

It's now been three years since Foster was one of the most highly sought-after athletes to emerge from the area - leaving behind a string of three straight 2A state titles to end his storied prep career, along with his other national accomplishments.

His true freshman year at OSU saw him go 22-11, but 0-11 against ranked opponents. And the culture in Stillwater was certainly different from the Idaho high school scene.

"Oh, it's way more intense. I had to work out like three times a day this year. So, in high school I only worked out like once a day," he said.

"We have a lot more practices. The coaches are more intense. Everything is more of a grind, I guess. It's a longer season, too. So it's definitely more of a grind."

Foster's results have steadily improved since that freshman season.

In 2008-09 Foster went 29-7 as a 197-pounder (6-6 against ranked opponents) and won two matches at the NCAA Championships. This season was a bit different thanks to the decision to move down to 184 pounds, and Foster missed about four weeks in the winter after hurting his shoulder (finishing with a 22-6 record).

But the layoff didn't seem to affect him too much at the end of the season.

Oklahoma State used three individual champions to win the Big 12 title on March 6, which included Foster's championship at 184 pounds.

Matched up with eventual NCAA champion Max Askren of Missouri, Foster scored an escape and two big takedowns in the crucial third period to knock off Askren 10-6 for the first time in five career attempts.

"I was expecting it. It was something I'd been building towards for a while," Foster said. "I just didn't have, like every other time I wrestled (him) I didn't have the attitude to wrestle that opponent like I did the last time we wrestled."

Foster entered the NCAA Championships as the No. 5 seed in his weight class, but bowed out in the quarterfinals before finishing sixth and earning All-America status for the first time in his career.

The Kamiah alum will be back home a bit more this summer since he isn't wrestling freestyle, and he'll have another weight change to look forward to next year as he moves back up to 197 pounds to accommodate a talented incoming freshman at 184.

"I could get bigger than the freshman," he said.

That change will entail plenty of weight lifting and "a lot of protein shakes."

And there should be plenty of motivation for his final season after the sixth-place finish at the national tournament. Because while placing was certainly impressive, he was looking for more.

"I was pretty disappointed after nationals, even though I did place," Foster said.

"There's a little bit of achievement there, but I didn't look at it that way because I wanted to win it really bad. ... It's the national tournament, anything can happen. So I guess I didn't really realize that till after this year."

Here are updates on some other area products who were playing collegiately this winter.

l Former Moscow High golfer Chris Williams is averaging 71.89 strokes per round so far during his freshman season at the University of Washington. He just fired a season-best 7-under 64 last week in the ASU Thunderbird Invitational, helping UW erase a 16-stroke deficit in the final round and win the event. Williams tied for first in the tournament individually and lost in a playoff.

l Former Lewiston High and University of Idaho golf standout Travis Brown is having success as the men's coach at Chico State (Calif.). Brown's group is ranked No. 1 in the Division II West regional rankings, and No. 3 overall in the Golf World/NIKE Division II coaches' poll.

l Former Pullman High player Ali Farokhmanesh started all 35 games as a senior for Northern Iowa's basketball team and grabbed national headlines with two clutch shots in the NCAA Tournament to lead his team to a spot in the Sweet 16. That run included an upset of No. 1 overall seed Kansas. Farokhmanesh, who played at Pullman through his sophomore season while his parents (Cindy Fredrick and Mashallah Farokhmanesh) coached WSU's volleyball program, averaged 9.7 points a game for the season.

l Colfax high graduate Jordan Harizan started 28 games and averaged 6.3 points a game as a sophomore for Seattle Pacific, which went 27-4 and made it to the Elite Eight of the Division II Tournament - finishing seventh nationally in the final USA Today/ESPN poll.

l Timena Shebala (Kooskia), Kiki Edwards-Teasley (Lewiston), Chantel Divilbiss (Moscow) and Sadie Lazzarini (Colfax) helped lead North Idaho College to a 28-8 record and a berth in the National Junior College Athletic Association national basketball tournament. Shebala played in nine games before the national tournament, while Edwards-Teasley averaged 8.1 points a game. Lazzarini averaged 3.8 points per game.

l Troy graduate Aaron Smith averaged 1.3 points a game in limited minutes as a senior at Stephen F. Austin. The Lumberjacks were denied an NCAA tournament berth when they lost to Sam Houston State in the final game of the Southland Conference Tournament.

l Clarkston's Misty Atkinson played in four games as a sophomore at Montana, averaging one point and one rebound in those appearances.

l Shane Miller of Moscow played in 20 games and put up 6.7 points a contest as a sophomore at Central Washington.

l Whitworth senior Bo Gregg (Lewiston) played 28.4 minutes a game and put up an average of 11.5 points for a Pirate team that finished 26-3 and made it to the Division III sectional semifinals.

l Lewiston High grad Jordan Gregg led Eastern Oregon with 15.1 points a game and helped the Mountaineers to a 23-9 record as a senior. He was named a second-team NAIA All-American. Another Lewiston product, Jared Heitzman, redshirted during his first year at EOU.

l Troy grad Jason Smith put up a team-leading 19.1 points a game as a freshman at Walla Walla Community College. He was named a first-team All-Star in the Eastern Region of the NWAACC.

l Lapwai grad Drew Church averaged 12.6 points a game as a sophomore at Columbia Basin Junior College.

l Walla Walla CC sophomore D.J. Wright (Orofino) put up 7.2 points and 5.4 rebounds a game this past season.

l Clarkston graduate Don Perconti put up 4.5 points and 2.4 rebounds a game for Whatcom Community College.

l Natalie Hansen (Deary) averaged 5.4 points and 3.9 rebounds as a sophomore for Blue Mountain Community College.

l Stevie Isaac (Grangeville HS) put up 5.9 points and 5.1 rebounds as a 6-foot-3 sophomore forward for Centralia College.

l Walla Walla CC sophomore forward Jaimie Berghammer (Clarkston) averaged 3.2 points and 3.6 rebounds this past year as the Warriors took the NWAACC Championship and finished with a 28-1 record.

l Megan Teade (Colfax) played in all 27 games as a sophomore forward at St. Martin's (Lacey, Wash.) and averaged 4.1 points a game.

l Pullman grad Alyssa Garro played in all 32 games and started 18 as a junior guard at Eastern Oregon. She averaged 5.3 points per game.

l Campbell wrestling coach Billy Greene (Lewiston High grad) led his Camels (from Buies Creek, N.C.) to a fourth-place finish out of five teams at the NCAA East Regional Championships. One of his wrestlers, junior Parker Burns, advanced to the national wrestling championships at 197 pounds.

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Away at School is published periodically throughout the school year. To include collegiate athletes who graduated from high school in north central Idaho/southeastern Washington, submit names to the Tribune at (208) 848-2268, by email at sports@lmtribune.com or fax at (208) 746-1185.