Looking to defend its crown from last season, the defending NLC and Alaska Class 4A state champion Knights racked up a nearly-insurmountable lead during the tournament’s first day, putting nearly 200 points between themselves and second-place Kodiak.
“If we keep wrestling like we can, we’re going to come away with a win,” Colony 189-pounder Angelo Bellotte said following Saturday night’s semifinal round.
 Robert DeBerry/Frontiersman '€” Colony's Levi Krueger struggles to get away from Wasilla's Jake Marshall at a dual match earlier this season. On Friday, Krueger was one of 13 Colony wrestlers to reach today's Northern Lights Conference championship finals at Colony High. |
Any wrestler making the semifinals Friday was guaranteed at least a sixth-place finish and a berth in next week’s state tournament. Following the first day, the Knights had already grabbed 18 state berths.
The big matches Friday were the semis, where the four best athletes in each class squared off to see who’d get to wrestle in today’s finals.
Today’s action begins at 10 a.m. with consolation round matches. Championship finals are scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
Friday’s highlights:
103
Colony sophomore Charles Coisman and freshman Isaac Wilson took command of the lightest division and will face each other in an all-Knight final. Wilson’s route to the title bout came by consecutive major decisions, while top-seeded Coisman was a Kodiak killer. Coisman followed up a first-round pin of the Bears’ Michelle Canette with a tough 8-6 decision over Canette’s teammate Dylan Anthony to reach the finals for the second year in a row. Coisman dropped a 3-0 decision to teammate Chase Montgomery last season.
112
Palmer’s L.J. Lepanen punched his ticket to the finals with a thrilling overtime win, taking down Colony’s Matt Vukich with six seconds left in sudden-death overtime. Lepanen reached the semifinals with a quick pin of Homer’s Brittany Wyatt. His opponent tonight will be top-seeded Chole Ivanoff of Kodiak, who was nearly upset in the first round by Wasilla’s Brooke Nelson before beating teammate David Casonguoy and Kenai’s Quintun Pribbenow to reach the finals.
119
In one of the premier matches of the evening, Wasilla senior Mike Chafin came out on top of a sudden-death scramble with Skyview’s Michaela Hutchison to win a 3-1 overtime decision.
The match was tied 1-1 after regulation, with both wrestlers unable to secure a single take down despite aggressive attacks from both sides. Chafin’s decisive points came when he used his quickness to counter a solid Hutchison attack, abruptly turning a near-defeat into a trip to the finals.
“She just basically got me down and then I just sat out real quick, caught her head and just kind of spun around her,” Chafin explained.
Chafin will have his hands full again in tonight’s final against Colony junior Kyle Wilson, the state’s top-ranked 119-pounder in Class 4A according to wrestling Web site AKmat.org. Wilson was last year’s NLC and Alaska state champion at 112 pounds, while Chafin – ranked No. 5 in the state – placed second at state at 125 as a junior. Wilson breezed his way to the finals Friday, getting lopsided technical falls over SoHi’s Wes Koch and Kenai’s Chris Osbekoff.
125
Colony senior Zach Beauchamp breezed into the finals, pinning Palmer’s Joe Romero in 1:32 before shutting out Wasilla’s Josh Brown 10-0 in the semis.
Today’s final won’t be as easy, as he’ll square off against Homer’s Ben Daigle who – like Beauchamp – was a runner-up at last year’s NLC tourney and is ranked among the top five 4A wrestlers at 125 pounds this season.
“It should be a really tough match,” Beauchamp said.
Daigle will also be looking for a bit of revenge, having lost a 1-0 bout to Beauchamp earlier this season at the Nikiski Duals. The Mariners junior reached the finals with a first-round pin of Palmer’s Jared Kemp and a 10-5 decision over Kodiak’s Nick Van Metre.
130
No surprises here, as the state’s No. 1 and No. 2 wrestlers will meet today to find out who’s the best in the NLC.
Top seed Jimmy Eggemeyer of Kodiak kept his undefeated record intact with a win by forfeit over Soldotna’s Keither Porter and a 15-0 technical fall over Skyview’s Alex Janorschke, while Colony sophomore Sam Loggins pinned Palmer’s Bucky Tacke in 55 seconds before barely holding off Wasilla’s Chriss Gross in an exhausting match that left both wrestlers near the brink of collapse as the final whistle sounded.
The win gave Loggins his first NLC title appearance and a chance to knock off one of Alaska’s most dominant wrestlers in Eggemeyer, a senior who won conference and state titles at 125 pounds last season and has placed no lower than fourth at state in each of his first three years of high school competition.
135
Soldotna senior Wes Mills, who reached the 130-pound finals at last year’s NLC tournament as a member of the Palmer Moose, will face Colony senior Aaron Boss in the finals at 135 this season.
Boss’ path to the finals was paved when Kodiak’s Tom Appelhanz withdrew before the semifinals with an arm injury, handing Boss a default win. Mills took a tougher route to the finals, getting a 12-6 win over Colony’s Jacob Pfeiffer and an 8-4 decision over Kodiak’s Noah Fields.
140
Top seed Josh West used back-to-back pins over David Rounsville of Kodiak and Ryan Knutson of Colony to reach the NLC finals for the second year in a row. West, a junior, was runner-up to eventual state champion Alan Bartelli of Wasilla at 119 pounds last season.
West’s opponent in today’s final match, Homer’s Robby Brymer, was third at 125. Brymer reached this year’s final with a pin of Wasilla’s Jake Wieliczkiewicz and 7-2 decision over Skyview’s Jared Thomas.
145
Palmer’s Nick Stahler barely had enough gas to cross the finish line against Soldotna’s Steven Burlison in Friday’s semifinals. Stahler was in control of the match throughout, but tired near the end before holding on for an 11-7 win.
“I just wasn’t on my game today,” Stahler said.
The junior blamed his morning diet for the near-collapse, saying his omlette breakfast never quite settled.
“Those kinds of things just sit in your stomach,” he said.
Stahler said he’s planning on a diet of bagels and fruit – with plenty of water mixed in – in advance of tonight’s finals, and wants to avoid anything heavy whatsoever.
“No offense to the people running the concession stands, but they’re not thinking about the wrestlers,” he said.
Hot dogs and chili might be great for fans, but not for an athlete trying to maintain a precise weight while also keeping energy levels at a maximum.
“You just have to make sure you put the right things in your body,” he said. “You might not think it makes a big difference, but if you’re eating just sandwiches and a doughnut here or there, you’re going to feel it – every last bit of it.”
Stahler – who is ranked second at 140 pounds but is wrestling in the post season at 145 – will need all the energy he can get against Colony senior Levi Krueger, who is currently the state’s No. 1 at 145 pounds. Krueger went 3-0 Friday, getting wins over Soldotna’s Ryan Hanley, Wasilla’s Cole Brenham and Kenai’s Cody Booth.
152
Colony’s David Crozier and Homer’s Tris Brymer cut wide swaths through the field at 152, each winning three lopsided decisions on the road to the finals.
Crozier got first-round pins over Kenai’s Jamie Seidl and Skyview’s Jordan Ingles before thumping teammate Mike Trask 13-1 in the semis. Brymer was even more dominant, with all three of his bouts ending before full time.
160
Kodiak teammates Marlon Branson and Gary Anthony double-teamed Colony’s Chris Olivera and Kenny Boykin, winning simultaneous semifinal matches to set up an island affair at 160.
Wrestling side-by-side, both Branson and Anthony won by identical margins as well, with Branson taking out Olivera 7-0 and Anthony getting the better of Boykin, 10-3.
The match sets up a showdown of conference champions from a year ago. Branson won the title at 145 pounds last season, while Anthony will be looking to defend his 160-pound crown.
171
Wasilla junior Casey Katchinska handled Skyview’s Patrick Sheridan, muscling his way to a pin with 21 seconds remaining in the match to set an all-Valley final against Colony’s Tyler Milner.
Milner, a senior, upset top seed Jimmy Caswell of Kodiak in the semifinals, pinning the Kodiak senior at the end of the second round. Milner reached the semis with a pin of Palmer’s Ransome Kelley, while Katchinska easily got past Colony’s Ronnie Barlow with a 16-0 technical fall.
189
Top seed Eddie Buffington of Skyview stormed into the finals with pins over Wasilla’s Matt Kinley and Sam Heindel, while Colony’s Angelo Bellotte pulled out a dramatic overtime win in the semifinals over Wasilla’s Chris Crane.
After falling behind 4-2 late in the third period, Crane escaped and took Bellotte down with a textbook single leg with just 35 seconds to go. But Bellotte was able to escape after a restart, tying the match and sending it into sudden-death.
Crane was the more aggressive wrestler in the overtime, with Bellotte cautioned once for stalling. But the tactic worked to Bellotte’s advantage when he sprawled and spun behind Crane for the winning score.
Still trying to catch his breath more than 10 minutes after the match, Bellotte said he felt fortunate to escape with the win against Crane, who entered the weekend as the No. 3 wrestler at 189 pounds in Class 4A.
“We were both pretty tired,” Bellotte said. “He’s always been a hard worker. I was expecting a fight from the start of the match, and it ended up being a battle.”
Bellotte said he can’t be as passive against Buffington, the bracket’s top seed and Alaska’s second-ranked 189-pounder.
“The whole match, all six minutes, I have to go hard,” he said. “I can’t hesitate against a guy like Eddie.”
215
Colony’s Eric Fan and Soldotna’s Matt Strieby were the class of 215, pinning their way to the finals in dominant fashion.
Fan is ranked fourth in the state by AKmat.org, while Strieby is ranked second and is the defending NLC champ at 215.
Fan pinned Skyview’s Nick Van Bruggen in just six seconds, then took care of Kodiak’s Michael Odell in 1:17. Strieby, meanwhile, needed a total of four minutes, 15 seconds to pin three opponents to reach the finals. Strieby got past Palmer’s David Zoerb in 2:48, Palmer’s Jared Benton in 33 seconds and Wasilla’s Beebo Russell in just under a minute’s worth of work.
285
Colony’s Jeff Pritchett and Soldonta’s Les Baker also swept into the finals with pins, though the heavyweights each did it more often – and quicker – than their counterparts at 215.
Pritchett got first-round pins of Palmer’s Daniel Hagan, Skyview’s Wayne Epperson and Kenai’s Halyn Lipps, while Baker got through Palmer’s William Peters, Colony’s Dylan Buck and SoHi’s Nathan Strieby in no more than 1:04 each.
2007-08 Northern Lights Conference Championships
Colony High School
Day 1 results
Team Scores – 1. Colony, 381; 2. Kodiak, 183.5; 3. Wasilla, 164; 4. Soldotna, 138; 5. Skyview, 133; 6. Palmer, 108.5; 7. Homer, 100.5; 8. Kenai, 69.
State qualifiers:
103 – Charles Coisman, Col; Isaac Wilson, Col; Dylan Anthony, Kod; Bryce Wilson, Sky
112 – Chloe Ivanoff, Kod; L.J. Lepanen, Pal; Quintun Pribbenow, Ken; Matt Vukich, Col
119 – Kyle Wilson, Col; Mike Chafin, Was; Chris Osbekoff, Ken; Michaela Hutchison, Sky
125 – Zach Beauchamp, Col; Ben Daigle, Hom; Josh Brown, Was; Nick Van Metre, Kod
130 – Jimmy Eggemeyer, Kod; Sam Loggins, Col; Alex Janorschke, Sky; Chris Gross, Was
135 – Wes Mills, Sol; Aaron Boss, Col; Noah Fields, Kod; Tom Appelhanz, Hom
140 – Josh West, Col; Robby Brymer, Hom; Ryan Knutson, Col; Jared Thomas, Sky
145 – Nick Stahler, Pal; Levi Krueger, Col; Steven Burlison, Sol; Cody Booth, Ken
152 – Tris Brymer, Hom; David Crozier, Col; Eric Weinfurter, Hom; Mike Trask, Col
160 – Marlon Branson, Kod; Gary Anthony, Kod; Chris Olivera, Col; Kenny Boykin, Col
171 – Tyler Milner, Col; Casey Katchinska, Was; Jimmy Caswell, Kod; Patrick Sheridan, Sky
189 – Eddie Buffington, Sky; Angelo Bellotte, Col; Sam Heindel, Pal; Chris Crane, Was
215 – Eric Fan, Col; Matthew Strieby, Sol; Michael Odell, Kod; Beebo Russell, Was
285 – Jeff Pritchett, Col; Les Baker, Sol; Halyn Lipps, Ken; Nathan Strieby, Sol
Comments
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