11 Valley grapplers earn top seed in state wrestling tourney

WASILLA — There’s no shortage of Valley wrestlers in the ASAA state wrestling tournaments this year.

A combined 71 Valley grapplers qualified for spots in the 4A, 123A and girls tournaments, which start Friday morning at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage.

Colony, Wasilla and Palmer will boast a combined 54 wrestlers in the 4A state championships. Ten of those wrestlers have been seeded first in their respective weight class.

Colony leads Valley squads with 22 qualifiers. Defending state champions Levi Hopkins, Dawson Nash and Robert Haan are each seeded first in the tournament. Hopkins is the No. 1 seed at 138, Nash is seeded first at 182 and Haan is the top seed at 195. Caleb Hopkins, a state runner-up last season, is seeded first at 160.

Vincent Cramer (106), Rush Fannon (113) and Isaiah Christy (220) are each seeded second in their respective weight classes.

Wasilla has 20 wrestlers in the state tournament, and five earned top seeds. Two-time defending state champion Micah Mathis is seeded first at 120. Samuel Wolff, another defending state champ, is seeded No. 1 at 145. Isaiah Elvsaas (126), Dillon Simpson (132) and Andrue Shepersky also earned top seeds.

Palmer qualified a dozen wrestlers for state. Leading the group is Austin Farris, the top seed at 285. Jeff Glynn is seeded second at 160.

In the 123A class, Susitna Valley’s Marshall Pinard is seeded first at 285.

The 123A and 4A preliminaries begin Friday at 9 a.m. at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage. Girls pool play matches also start at 9 a.m.

The boys’ championship semifinals for both classes begin Friday at 5 p.m. Wrestling continues Saturday at 9 a.m. with the girls’ quarterfinals and the boys’ consolation rounds. Championship introductions are slated for Saturday at 6 p.m.

ASAA/First National Bank State Wrestling Championships

Valley qualifiers

** Region finish in parenthesis

4A

Colony (22)

98 pounds — Austin Edwards (1st), Jacob Harvey (3rd); 106 — Vincent Cramer (1st), Marcus Riedlinger (5th); 113 — Rush Fannon (1st), Hunter Sasser (3rd); 120 — Trace Severson (2nd); 126 — Kolby Torres (3rd), Gabe Whisman (4th); 132 — Daniel Colley (4th); 138 — Levi Hopkins (1st), Macaruis Floresta (6th); 145 — Eric Christy (1st); 160 — Caleb Hopkins (1st), Frank Urbano (5th); 170 — Simon Ganchenko (3rd); 182 — Dawson Nash (1st), Coa Gamble (4th); 195 — Robert Haan (1st), Chayse Eby (2nd); 220 — Isaiah Christy (1st); 285 — Klancey Doyle (3rd).

Palmer (12)

106 — Odin Andersen (3rd), Payton Portney (6th); 126 — Jayden Christianson (5th); 138 — Asa Barnes (5th); 152 — Levi Farris (3rd); 160 — Jeff Glynn (2nd), Jason Watkins (3rd); 170 — Christian Kurka (1st), Zion Rogers (2nd); 195 — Blake Tomlinson (3rd); 220 — Travis Wheeler (3rd); 285 — Austin Farris (1st)

Wasilla (20)

98 — Jack Fuller (4th), Charles Jones (5th); 106 — Alexander Logsdon (2nd), Wesley Fraker (7th); 120 — Micah Mathis (1st); 126 — Isaiah Elvsaas (1st), Isaac Rodman (2nd); 132 — Dillon Simpson (1st), Christion Alexander (2nd); 138 — Berit Sturgeon (1st); Matthew Agoney (4th); 145 — Sam Wolff (2nd), Hayden Steiner (3rd); 152 — Andrue Shepersky (1st); 160 — Cole George (5th); 182 — Hunter Hongslo (3rd); 195 — Jeffrey Palmer (4th); 220 — Chase Minnick (2nd), Maximus Stokes (5th); 285 — Ezra Lincecum (2nd).

123A

Houston (7)

120 — Jens Knutson (2nd); 132 — Damien Jessup (4th); 170 — Aaden Hendrick (4th); Robert Ritter (2nd); 195 — Shawn Graham (3rd); 220 — Malaki Barrett (2nd); 285 — Dylan Jackson (3rd)

Glacier View (1)

106 — Noah Lucia (2nd)

Redington (1)

126 — Eli Benson (4th);

Susitna Valley (4)

132 — Cooper Stec (2nd); 152 — Dalton Pinard (1st); 182 — Aiden Jolley (2nd); 285 — Marshall Pinard (1st)

Girls

Colony (1)

160 ¬— Danielle Stotler (1st);

Glacier View (1)

160 ¬— Riley Morton-Lowry (1st)

Houston (1)

98 — Doni Kroeze (1st);

Wasilla (2)

98 — Bessie Twitchell (1st); 145 — Teeana Nicholai (2nd)