Colony senior pins future

PALMER — For nearly two seasons, Eric Fan has dominated the 215-pound weight class in Alaska.

The Colony senior has not lost a match since his sophomore season, and in the next three weeks, Fan will be working toward his third straight Northern Lights Conference championship and second consecutive state title.

“Nobody can hang with him,” Colony head coach Dave Booth said after Colony defeated rival Wasilla in a dual meet last week.

Fan has steadily been the top-ranked wrestler in the state at 215 for the last two seasons. But next year, Fan will have the chance to pit his talents against grapplers on the next level.

Fan has signed a National Letter of Intent to wrestle for Grand Canyon University, a Division II program in Phoenix, Ariz.

“They’re expected to be a powerhouse and he wants to be part of a winning program,” Booth said. “He’s going to do well. He’s a great athlete, really strong. I’m sure he’ll go right down there and get great coaching and great competition, and just improve.”

Fan will also join former Colony standout Kyle Wilson at Grand Canyon, a school that competes in the Pacific West Conference.

Wilson, a 4A state champion at 125 pounds for Colony this season, is a freshman at Grand Canyon and the Lopes’ starter at 141 pounds.

Fan said he received a great deal of interest from the program and the coaches made a good scholarship offer. Having a former high school teammate on the Grand Canyon roster is also a draw, Fan said.

“I thought it would be pretty good having Kyle down there,” Fan said. “We’re going to room together and the program should be pretty good.”

Fan said he will wrestle in the 197-pound weight class at the college level, and expects to be able to compete for a spot immediately.

“Eric is one of the best upperweights in the USA,” Grand Canyon head coach R.C. LaHaye said in a press release issued by the school. “He will add much-needed depth to our 197-pound weight class. We believe he can be an  instant contender at this level.”

Even though he has spent the last three seasons at 215, Fan said there’s no problem dropping to 197.

“I’ve been weighing around 205, so it’s not too far of a cut,” Fan said.

There a currently two wrestlers at 197 on the Grand Canyon roster, a freshman and a sophomore.

Fan has not lost a match in Alaska since he was pinned by eventual state champion Andrew Wilson in the 2007 state semifinals. Following that loss as a sophomore, Fan rebounded to earn consecutive wins to claim third place in the 2007 state championships.

Last year, Fan capped an undefeated junior season with a 6-5 win over West Anchorage’s Trevor McDonald in the 2008 state championships.

This season, Fan is still undefeated and only two of his matches have gone a full three periods. He scored a 19-10 major decision over Dillingham’s Quinton Backford during the Peninsula Duals at Nikiski High School early in the year. On Saturday, Fan scored a posted a technical fall over Dimond’s Leo Parsley in the semifinals of the Glenn Vandergaw Classic at Dimond High School.

Fan has pinned his opponent in every other match.

The Colony senior has also had success against competition outside of the state. In April, Fan finished second in the 215-pound class of the Western Junior Regionals freestyle wrestling tournament in Last Vegas, Nev. He was also seventh at 215 in the Reno Tournament of Champions last December.

Fan was also a standout on the Colony football squad. He earned second-team All-Northern Lights Conference honors at tight end and was an honorable mention All-NLC at linebacker as a senior. Fan said he considered the potential of trying to play college football, but a future in wrestling has always been his priority.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.