Depth charge

CHUGIAK — Nobody ever said wrestling was easy.

Clearing several tough hurdles over the weekend, the Colony Knights used superior team depth to claim the school's second consecutive ASAA/First National Bank 4A Alaska State Wrestling Tournament title Saturday at Chugiak High School.

“It was rough,” Colony head coach Fred McKinney said. “We had to overcome some adversity, to say the least.”

The Knights survived the loss of a top wrestler to illness, an unexpected first-round upset and the ejection of another wrestler from the tournament to easily outdistance second-place Lathrop. The Chugiak Mustangs were third.

Colony didn't win a single individual title, but got four wrestlers into the finals and had 13 individual place winners

Still, McKinney said he couldn't be more proud of his squad.

“Somebody came up to me and said, 'you don't have an individual champion,'” he said. “I said, 'no, I've got 83.'”

It's the first time since the 2000-01 season that the championship team won the title without an individual winner.

Colony finished with 232.5 points while Lathrop had 178.5. Chugiak was third with 175, while East Anchorage had 160. The Wasilla Warriors finished with 76 points, good enough for seventh place. The Palmer Moose were 19th.

The tournament marked the first since 1996-97 that the Warriors failed to get an individual title, and the first time since 1989-90 that a Mat-Su wrestler failed to claim a crown.

Houston finished its first class 4A tournament in 23rd with two team points. Senior Cass Melin won twice in the consolation rounds for the Hawks before falling one match shy of a state-placing match.

While the Knights didn't have an individual champion, they had four second-place and four third-place wrestlers.

“It's not just depth, but good depth,” McKinney said.

The Colony coach, sporting his traditional Scottish kilt for the finals, said this year's crown was “about twice as good” as last year's.

The championship and consolation rounds were held Saturday, with championship semifinals held Friday. Here's how it all went down:

103 pounds

Charles Coisman didn't come to state to take second place. Unfortunately, he had to settle for that after falling to East High freshman Matt Malnoske in the finals.

“I didn't wrestle my best today,” Coisman said.

Coisman was undefeated entering the finals and had beaten Malnoske twice on the season. But this time around, he had no answer for Malnoske's throwing ability, as the East wrestler twice threw Coisman for takedowns to earn a 5-1 win.

The Colony sophomore said he was “pretty bummed” after the match, but said he's planning to come back stronger than ever next year. For now though, he'll have to be content with his runner-up finish — an improvement over his fourth-place finish a year ago.

“It's going to take a lot of hard work.”

Coisman's Colony teammate, Issac Wilson, earned his first state tournament place Saturday, controlling Skyview's Bryce Wilson from the outset to claim fifth place. The Skyview wrestler never challenged Colony's Wilson, as the sophomore rolled to a big 16-4 major decision.

Wilson was a runner-up at last week's Northern Lights Conference tournament, losing to Coisman. Wilson said he had high hopes coming into the state tournament, but wasn't complaining with his finish after winning his final match of the season in dominant fashion.

“I was hoping to do better, but I'm pretty proud of my self,” he said.

Wilson beat Sitka's Cameron O'Neil and Skyview's Monica Hutchison in the consolation round before falling to Lathrop's Eric Tupper in the consolation semifinals.

112 pounds

As expected, No. 1 seed Anthony Ricketts breezed through the bracket at 112, crushing No. 3 Jeremy Simmons of Lathrop with a 20-1 technical fall win. Ricketts finished the season 43-3, with all three of his losses coming at weight classes other than 112.

119 pounds

Kyle Wilson's bid to win a second career state title ended at the hands of East sophomore Nathan Hoffer — who himself became a two-time champ with his 5-2 win over Wilson in the finals.

Like his East teammate at 103 pounds, Hoffer used two takedown throws in the match to score.

Wilson, last year's 112-pound champion, reached the finals with wins over Jacob Russell of South, Josh Hahn of Ketchikan and Wasilla's Mike Chafin.

In a rematch of the NLC final, Wilson took a second consecutive one-point win over his Valley rival when Wilson was awarded a point for an illegal hold late in the match.

The semifinal match was scoreless through the opening period, with Chafin taking a 1-0 lead with a second-period escape. Wilson was then awarded a point for an illegal hold, but after protests from the Wasilla coaching staff, the point was taken away.

Chafin intentionally let Wilson up to open the third period. After each had good takedown opportunities, Chafin was called for an illegal hold again with Wilson on the attack. This time, the point stood and Wilson escaped with a 2-1 win.

Wilson leaped to his feet following the match, a second last-second win over Chafin in less than a week. Wilson also defeated the Wasilla wrestler in the finals of the NLC tourney last Saturday at Colony.

Following that match, Wilson predicted a battle against Wilson, the only wrestler to give him a loss during the regular season.

“It's going to take everything I've got,” he said.

Wilson gave that, but it still wasn't enough, as Colony had to settle for a second runner-up finish in the finals. He finished the year with a 25-2 record while Hoffer wound up perfect at 29-0.

A senior, Chafin suffered a couple tough defeats in his final two matches of the tournament to place fourth at 119.

Chafin won his first two matches Friday to reach the championship finals before dropping the tough Wilson match.

The bracket's third seed, Chafin then defeated Skyview's Michaela Hutchison in his first consolation round match Saturday before running into No. 4 Kyle Foote of Ketchikan for third place.

In that match, Foote used a tough front headlock to score two takedowns en route to a 5-2 win. Chafin finished his senior season with a 28-8 record overall, which included a second place finish at last weekend's Northern Lights Conference tournament.

125 pounds

East senior Dustin Maxwell held off a late charge from South sophomore Luke Shelley to earn a 4-3 win and his first career state title.

Colony's Zach Beauchamp, meanwhile, just wouldn't quit.

After suffering a devastating loss in the first round to unseeded Service junior Nick Cropper, Beauchamp was forced to wrestle his way through the consolation rounds. The Colony senior won his final five matches of the tournament, culminating in a 2-0 win over Dan Simmons of Lathrop to claim third place.

“I'm very happy,” Beauchamp said. “I had a lot of tough matches on the back side. Everyone I wrestled could have placed in this tournament.”

Beauchamp was penalized twice for stalling in his opening match, losing 4-2. He had to come back and win matches against Lathrop's Dominic Kelly, North Pole's Blayne Kiser and Ketchikan's Nick Martin to reach the consolation semis, a rematch with Cropper.

There, Beauchamp picked up the match's only point with a second-round escape to avenge the first round loss.

Then in the consolation finals, Beauchamp was able to use his superior riding skill to frustrate the Lathrop wrestler. Beauchamp's only points in the match came on a second-round reversal. He then rode Simmons for the duration of the period to win the match.

“Finishing on five wins is definitely a plus.”

130 pounds

Jimmy Eggemeyer finished off a dominant senior season with his second career state title by pinning West Valley's Doug Templeton in the finals. Eggemeyer lost just once this year, dropping an overtime decision to Dillingham 135-pounder Wes Richards. Eggemeyer also won last year at 125 pounds. The four-time state placer finished the year with a record of 28-1.

Colony sophomore Sam Loggins fended off a furious Steven Kichura rally in the third round of the consolation finals to claim third place.

With a 6-4 lead, Kichura was on the verge of a tying reversal, but Loggins did just enough to hold the Chugiak senior off at the end.

“It was really close,” Loggins said.

Loggins last wrestled Kichura two weeks ago, picking up an 11-1 win. This time around, Kichura proved to be a much more difficult foe.

“He was a lot tougher than the first time,” he said.

Loggins entered the tournament as the bracket's No. 3 seed, and finished in that spot. Only a sophomore, he said he's got his sights set even higher next time around.

“Next year I want to take state.”

135 pounds

Colony's Aaron Boss will have to be content with three second place finishes at state.

Boss' upset bid of No. 1 Grant Sullivan ended with a 10-3 Sullivan win in the finals at 135 pounds.

Boss, a senior, was also runner-up last year, losing to teammate Kyle Wilson at 112 pounds, and two years ago, when he lost to Skyview's Michaela Hutchison at 103.

140 pounds

In the match of the night, top seed Quincy Voris survived a furious Eric Antesberger rally to keep his perfect record intact. Voris led 4-2 in the fourth when Antesberger, a sophomore from North Pole, got a key reversal to tie the score. But Voris, a senior, managed to slip free in the final seconds to claim the title.

145 pounds

In a battle of Cinderellas, North Pole junior Levi Jutila and No. 5 John O'Hara of Chugiak brought the crowd to its feet with an exciting bout in the finals. O'Hara managed to tie the match with a late takedown, but Jutila pulled off an escape and takedown of his own to get a 9-3 win that was much closer than the score indicated.

The division featured plenty of excitement, including a big upset Friday night and the ejection of Colony's Levi Krueger for unsportsmanlike conduct.

After dropping a dramatic 11-10 decision to O'Hara in Friday's championship semifinals, Palmer junior Nick Stahler wasn't sure he had anything left to wrestle for Saturday in the consolation round.

The top seed at 145 pounds, Stahler said the loss in the semis was a tough blow to take.

“I had to go home and think for a while,” he said. “Last nigh, my frame of mind was I didn't even want third.”

But after returning to Chugiak for Saturday's consolation rounds, Stahler's mindset began to change after getting some advice from a former Valley wrestling star, former Wasilla state champion Alan Bartelli. Bartelli helped Stahler warm up Saturday, taking the time to give some words of encouragement to the Palmer wrestler.

“He boosted my confidence a lot,” Stahler said.

With his confidence restored, Stahler came back strong Saturday, getting an 11-5 decision over SoHi's Ryan Hanley in the consolation semis, then picking up five takedowns to easily outclass Bartlett's Danny Huls in the finals.

While disappointed not to get a shot at a state title, Stahler said this year's state experience gave him something to build on for next season.

“I'll be back.”

152 pounds

Juneau senior Steven Dyer, the second seed ended the upset bid of No. 5 Carson Roberts, picking up a 10-4 win in the finals.

Colony senior David Crozier, meanwhile, ended his career the right way.

“It's nice to go out with a win,” Crozier said following his 8-6 win over Kamden Johnson of Sitka to claim fifth place.

“It was the last match of my life, so I just wanted to win.”

Crozier's road to a state place wasn't easy. He lost in the first round to Eagle River's Trevin Stevens on Friday, then went 3-1 the rest of the way. Crozier beat Wasilla's Mack Gagnon and Lathrop's Elliot Clausen in the consolation round before hooking up with Tris Brymer of Homer. Brymer proved too much to handle, getting a 9-1 win and sending Crozier into his bout with Johnson.

“I was down after losing my first match, but I just had to keep going.”

160 pounds

Nolan McBryde lived up to his top seed with an 11-4 win over Kodiak's Marlon Branson in the finals. McBryde's win gave him a second consecutive state title at 160 pound.

Colony sophomore Kenny Boykin lost a close battle with the No. 2 seed, East senior Nic Herron-Webb, for third place.

Boykin took Herron-Webb down at the end of regulation to force overtime, where he came up just short, losing a 4-3 decision in double overtime. Herron-Webb's winning point came on an escape in the first of two 30-second periods in the second overtime.

The fifth seed entering the tournament, Boykin still managed to claim fourth place after getting wins over Sitka's Alex Schwantes in the first round and Kodiak's Gary Anthony in the second before losing to top-seeded Nolan McBryde in the championship semifinals.

Boykin then defeated Lathrop's Eddie Hoch in the consolation semifinals to get into the third place match.

171 pounds

It was back-to-back two-time champions in the finals after South senior Jessy Amos capped an undefeated senior season with a 20-8 thrashing of No. 2 seed Taylor Lewis of North Pole. Amos finished the year 34-0.

Colony senior Tyler Milner held on for a 6-5 win over Skyview's Patrick Sheridan for fifth place, while Wasilla's Casey Katchinkska had to settle for fourth after taking a 7-1 loss to No. 3 seed Zach Baldwin of Chugiak.

Milner entered the tournament as the sixth seed, while Katchinska was seeded fourth.

Katchinksa reached the championship semifinals Friday before running into undfeated Jessy Amos of South, who pinned the Wasilla wrestler in 5:03. Katchinkska bounced back for a 13-3 win over Milner in the consolation semifinals.

Milner, meanwhile, got a first-round pin over Kerby Coman of Lathrop before falling to Chugiak's Zach Baldwin Friday. He then beat Lathrop's Billy Hoffel and Service's Kevin Reilly before losing to Katchinska Saturday afternoon.

189 pounds

No. 2 seed Kent Osborn and top seed Eddie Buffington locked horns in the most physical match of the finals, with Osborn previaling, getting a late takedown to clinch what had been a very tight match to take a 10-6 decision.

In the third place match, all of Angelo Bellotte's hard work paid off.

After reaching state as a freshman, the Colony junior slipped up last season and didn't make it back.

“I didn't even do anything last year,” he said.

So Bellotte went to work this season, putting in extra time in the Colony wrestling room and with the weights.

“This year, I took it seriously.”

On Saturday, Bellotte, the No. 4 seed, defeated No. 3 seed Chaz Johnson of Chugiak to take third place as a junior.

“I'm very happy,” he said.

Against Johnson, Bellotte outmuscled and out-quicked his opponent to earn a 9-4 win.

Bellotte reached the championship semifinals Friday before falling to Eddie Buffington of Skyview, 11-5, in a repeat of the Northern Lights Conference finals. He came back with a 14-0 major decision over Palmer's Sam Heindel to get into the Johnson match.

Heindel, meanwhile, wasn't able to come back from the Bellotte loss, falling to Curtis Ferris of Dimond in the 5th/6th place match. Heindel had won two matches in a row before meeting Bellotte, getting victories over Colony's Paul McKeown and South's Austin Denman.

Getting a third-place finish, Bellotte said, made him realize how hard he'll have to continue working if he wants more success in the future.

“I've got to come out, work hard, and hopefully be successful like I was this year,” he said. “And maybe do a little better.”

215 pounds

Top seed Andrew Wilson completed an undefeated season by defeating crosstown rival Trevor McDonald of West 9-5 in the finals..

Earlier in the day, Eric Fan's short season ended on a positive note Saturday as the Colony sophomore picked up a third place finish.

“I think I could have done a little better, but I'm happy,” Fan said following his win over Wasilla's Beebo Russell in the consolation semifinals.

Fan missed most of the season after suffering a major knee injury as a defensive lineman for the Knights football team. After rehabbing the injury for two months, Fan returned just two weeks before the NLC tournament last week. He won there, then lost to No. 1 Andrew Wilson of East in the Championship semifinals Friday.

On Saturday, Fan defeated North Pole's Jackson Collins before beating Russell for third.

Russel reached the placing rounds by winning twice Saturday. Russell won his opening match Friday, then lost to Wilson in the second round.

He came back for wins over Paul Lorec of South, SoHi's Matt Srieiby and Chugiak's Sheldon Vogt to earn a fourth-place finish.

275 pounds

In another rematch of the NLC finals, SoHi's Les Baker was able to prevail over Colony senior Jeff Pritchett in the finals, picking up a first-round pin.

Pritchett set up the rematch with Baker by getting past Wasilla's Jed Johnson in a close semifinal match Friday night.

Pritchett jumped out to a 7-2 lead midway through the second period, but Johnson got a reversal to make it 7-4 going into the third. The Wasilla wrestler then pulled a reversal, let Pritchett up, then took him down again to tie the score at 8-8.

The match seemed headed for overtime, but Pritchett managed to wiggle away from Johnson with one second left in the match to seal the 9-8 win.

Following the emotional loss, Johnson lost one team point for the Warriors by slamming his fists to the mat in anger.

Pritchett said he knew he had to escape as the final seconds ticked off the clock.

“It was do our die,” he said. “It's my senior year so I had to leave it all out there.”

But in the finals, Pritchett just didn't have enough left in the tank to make up for a 50-pound weight differential with the SoHi big man.

Johnson, meanshile, ended Wasilla's season on a high note, getting a dramatic takedown of Dimond's Alex Lutton to claim fifth place.

“I could feel he was tiring,” Johnson said.

Trailing 2-1 in the final seconds of the third period, Johnson threw Lutton to the mat, then put the big Dimond wrestler on his back to get two back points, pulling out a 5-2 decision.

“I just pushed as hard as I could, and he fell,” the Wasilla heavyweight explained.

Johnson had to fight back from consecutive losses. He dropped his championship semifinal match against Colony's Jeff Pritchett Friday before falling to Lathrop's Peter Aumua in the consolation semis. But he didn't quit, battling to the end to take out Lutton and get a win in the final match of his junior season. With his season nearing its end, Johnson said he reached down deep inside for the needed strength to take out Lutton.

“It's my last match of the year,” he said. “I figured I better go for it.”

Contact Matt Tunseth at 352-2265 or matt.tunseth@frontiersman.com

Championship finals

103 pounds — Matt Malnoske, East, dec. Charles Coisman, Colony, 5-1

112 — Anthony Ricketts, Service, tech fall Jeremy Simmons, Lathrop, 4:19

119 — Nathan Hoffer, East, dec. Kyle Wilson, Colony, 5-2

125 — Dustin Maxwell, East, dec. Luke Shelley, South, 4-3

130 — Jimmy Eggemeyer, Kodiak, fall Doug Templeton, West Valley, 5:40

135 — Grant Sullivan, Chugiak, dec. Aaron Boss, Colony, 10-3

140 — Quincy Voris, Chugiak, dec. Eric Antesberger, North Pole

145 — Levi Jutila, North Pole, dec. John O'Hara, Chugiak, 9-3

152 — Steven Dyer, Juneau, dec. Carson Roberts, West, 10-4

160 — Nolan McBryde, Chugiak, dec. Marlon Branson, Kodiak, 11-4

171 — Jessy Amos, South, maj. Dec. Taylor Lewis, North Pole, 20-8

189 — Kent Osborn, Lathrop, dec. Eddie Buffington, Skyview, 10-6

215 — Andrew Wilson, East, dec. Trevor McDonald, West, 9-5

275 — Les Baker, Soldotna, fall Jeff Pritchett, Colony, 1:09

Placewinners

103 pounds — 1. Matt Malnoske, East, Fr.; 2. Charles Coisman, Colony, Soph.; 3. Skyler Moore, East, Soph.; 4. Eric Tupper, Lathorp, Soph.; 5. Issac Wilson, Colony, Fr.; 6. Bryce Wilson, Skyview, Soph.

112 — 1. Anthony Ricketts, Service, Sr.; 2. Jeremy Simmons, Lathrop; 3. Michael Abt, Sitka, Sr.; 4. Nick Wharton, Chugiak, Jr; 5. Nick Aadland, South, Jr.; 6. Steven Temple, Lathrop, Fr.

119 — 1. Nahan Hoffer, East, Soph.; 2. Kyle Wilson, Colony, Jr.; 3. Kyle Foote, Kethcikan, Sr.; 4. Mike Chafin, Wasilla, Sr.; 5. Michaela Hutchison, Skyview, Sr.; 6. Joe Hughes, Lathrop, Soph.

125 — 1. Dustin Maxwell, East, Sr.; 2. Luke Shelley, South, Soph.; 3. Zach Beauchamp, Colony, Sr.; 4. Dan Simmons, Lathorp, Sr.; 5. Ben Daigle, Homer, Jr.; 6. Nick Cropper, Service, Jr.

130 — 1. Jimmy Eggemeyer, Kodiak, Sr.; 2. Doug Templeton, West Valley, Jr.; 3. Sam Loggins, Colony, Soph.; 4. Stephen Kichura, Chugiak, Sr.; 5. Alex Janorschke, Skyview, Sr.; 6. Chris Allen, Lathrop, Sr.

135 — 1. Grant Sullivan, Chugiak, Soph.; 2. Aaron Boss, Colony, Sr.; 3. Wes Mills, SoHi, Sr.; 4. Lipho Thirakul, East, Sr.; 5. Josh Schmidt, Service, Sr.; 6. Tom Appelhanz, Homer, Sr.

140 — 1. Qunicy Voris, Chugiak, Sr.; 2. Eric Antesberger, North Pole, Soph.; 3. Pierce Stowman, West Valley, Sr.; 4. Zach Eastlick, Dimond, Jr.; 5. Jonathan Pressler, West, Soph.; 6. Justin Schmidt, Service, Sr.

145 — 1. Levi Jutila, North Pole, Jr.; 2. John O'Hara, Chugiak, Sr.; 3. Nick Stahler, Palmer, Jr.; 4. Danny Huls, Bartlett, Sr.; 5. Ryan Hanley, Soldotna, Jr.; 6. Levi Krueger, Colony, Sr.

152 — 1. Steven Dyer, Juneau, Sr.; 2. Carson Roberts, West, Sr.; 3. Tris Brymer, Homer, Sr.; 4. Trenton Lemons, Lathrop, Soph.; 5. David Crozier, Colony, Sr.; 6. Kamden Johnson, Sitka, Sr.

160 — 1. Nolan McBryde, Chugiak, Jr.; 2. Marlon Branson, Kodiak, Sr.; 3. Nic Herron-Webb, East, Sr.; 4. Kenny Boykin, Colony, Soph.; 5. Adam Godfrey, Chugiak, Sr; 6. Eddie Hoch, Lathrop, Sr.

171 — 1. Jessy Amos, South, Sr.; 2. Taylor Lewis, North Pole, Jr.; 3. Zach Baldwin, Chugiak, Soph.; 4. Casey Katchinska, Wasilla, Jr; 5. Tyler Milner, Colony, Sr.; 6. Patrick Sheridan, Skyview, Sr.

189 — 1. Kent Osborn, Lathrop, Sr.; 2. Eddie Bufington, Skyview, Sr.; 3. Angelo Bellotte, Colony, Jr.; 4. Chaz Johnson, Chugiak, Sr.; 5. Curtis Ferris, Dimond, Jr.; 6. Sam Heindel, Palmer, Jr.

215 — 1. Andrew Wilson, East, Sr.; 2. Trevor McDonald, West, Jr.; 3. Eric Fan, Colony, Soph.; 4. Beebo Russell, Wasilla, Sr.; 5. Jackson Collins, North Pole, Jr.; 6. Sheldon Vogt, Chugiak, Sr.

275 — 1. Les Baker, Soldotna, Sr.; 2. Jeff Pritchett, Colony, Sr.; 3. Nathan Strieby, Soldotna, Soph.; 4. Peter Aumua, Lathrop, Sr.; 5. Jed Johnson, Wasilla, Jr.; 6. Alex Lutton, Dimond, Jr.