8 Valley wrestlers advance to state finals

CHUGIAK — Eight Valley wrestlers will compete for an individual state title.

Three Colony Knights, a trio of Wasilla Warriors and a pair of Palmer Moose grapplers won matches during the semifinal round of the ASAA/First National Bank 4A State Wrestling Championships at Chugiak High School Friday evening.

Chace Booth captured a thrilling 12-9 victory over South Anchorage’s Greg Shack, a defending state champion, in the semifinals at 126 pounds. Booth will face Kodiak’s Jay-Ar Small in the 126-pound final. Small beat Colony’s Caleb Hopkins 6-2 in the semis.

Booth, a sophomore who placed third at state last season, was one of two Knights to knock off a No. 1 seed in the semifinals. Colony freshman Sam Sisco upset top-seeded William Todd of East Anchorage 8-1 at 106 pounds in the semifinals. Sisco, the bracket’s No. 5 seed, also scored a 6-4 sudden victory over fourth-seeded Jacob Spencer of Lathrop in the quarterfinals.

Sisco will face West Anchorage’s Jaidyn Bianchi in the 106-pound final.

Colony senior Kamber Lucas, who missed a portion of the season due to injury, advanced to the state finals for the first time in his career with a 5-3 win over Soldotna’s Bailey Blumentritt at 160 pounds. Lucas, now 19-0, will meet West Anchorage’s Chardo Elliott in the finals. Elliott edged Colony’s Robert Haan 7-5 in the semis.

Defending state champion Wasilla also placed three in the finals.

Wasilla freshman Micah Mathis, the top seed at 98 pounds, pinned Colony’s Gabe Whisman in the semifinals. Mathis will meet Lathrop’s Micah Ee, the bracket’s No. 2 seed in the finals.

The Warriors also have a pair of seniors competing for their first individual state title. D.J. Morrow, the top seed at 170, advanced by pinning Chugiak’s Colt Jury in the semifinals. Senior Zech Rockstad, the No. 3 seed, beat second-seeded Keanu King of East Anchorage 7-4 in the heavyweight class.

Palmer senior Ben Button, the Valley’s lone individual defending state champion in the meet, will wrestle for his second consecutive title at 220 pounds. Button won by technical fall, beating North Pole’s Dillon Walker 22-6 in the semifinals. Button will face Kodiak’s Nolan Wandersee in the finals. It’s the second time in a week the pair will wrestle. Last Saturday, Button beat Wandersee in the Northern Lights Conference finals.

Palmer sophomore Austin Farris advanced to the finals for the first time in his career by pinning East Anchorage’s Andrew Gold, the second seed at 195 pounds. The third-seeded Farris will face top-seeded Jesse Nelson of Chugiak in the finals.

Valley teams combined to place 18 wrestlers in the semifinals. Colony led the group with eight semifinalists, followed by Wasilla with seven and Palmer with three.

South Anchorage had nine in the semifinals, with seven moving forward into the final round. The Wolverines used their big semifinal round to turn a slight lead in the team standings into a big advantage. Heading into the semis, South Anchorage (112.5 total points) led Colony (110) by only 2.5 points. Wasilla was third with 94. After the semifinal round, South’s total had ballooned to 189.5 points. Colony stood in second with 143, and Wasilla third with 131. Palmer was in seventh with 69 points.

Wrestling continues Saturday at 9 a.m. at Chugiak High. The championship finals are scheduled for 5:15 p.m.

ASAA/First National Bank 4A State Wrestling Championships

Friday, Chugiak High

Team scores (through Day 1):

1. South 189.5; 2. Colony 143; 3. Wasilla 131; 4. Lathrop 88.5; 5. Kodiak 82; 6. Soldotna 73; 7. Palmer 69; 8. Kenai 62; 9. East 60; 10. North Pole 59; 11. Service 58; 11. (tie) West 58; 13. Chugiak 55; 14. West Valley 36; 15. Bartlett 20; 16. Eagle River 19; 17. Dimond 6.5.

Championship semifinals:

98 pounds — M. Mathis, Was p. G. Whisman, Col 2:53; M. Ee, Lat m.d. K. Blackwell, Ser 15-3.

106 — S. Sisco, Col d. W. Todd, East 10-1; J. Bianchi, West d. D. Simpson, Was 9-6.

113 — A. Craig, Sol d. J. Opp, WV 3-0; T. Jones, Lat d. S. Harris, Sou 5-3.

120 — S. Hutchison, Sol p. W. Bockert, Lat 2:15; M. Glover, Sou d. B. Sturgeon, Was 7-4.

126 — C. Booth, Col d. G. Shack, Sou 12-9; J. Small, Kod d. C. Hopkins, Col 6-2.

132 — L. Fried, Kod p. R. Winter, Sol 1:39; G. Alvardo, Sou m.d. H. Steiner, Was 15-1.

138 — D. Rogers, NP d. S. Wolff, Was 5-2; N. Ottum, Sou d. W. McGann, Pal 8-1.

145 — R. Pellumbi, Sou m.d. A. Kennedy, East 26-8; P. Steffensen, Ken d. M. Amico, ER 3-0.

152 — E. Steffensen, Ken d. J. Fricilone, WV 6-0; Z. Ritchie, Sou d. E. Schumaker, NP 10-8.

160 — K. Lucas, Col d. B. Blumentritt, Sol 5-3; C. Elliott, West d. R. Haan, Col 7-5.

170 — D. Morrow, Was p. C. Jury, Chu 4:00; G. McSharry, Sou d. C. Ray, Col 6-3.

182 — A. Correa-Medina, Sou d. B. Antesberger, NP 7-2; J. Dickinson, Lat d. J. Waller, Chu 3-2.

195 — J. Nelson, Chu d. H. Fanning, Ser 4-1; A. Farris, Pal p. A. Gold, East 5:03.

220 — B. Button, Pal t.f. D. Walker, NP 22-6; N. Wandersee, Kod d. K. Queja, East 4-2.

285 — N. Stevens, Ser won by in def M. Daigle, Col; Z. Rockstad, Was d. K. King, East 7-4.