Back on the mat in the Valley

PALMER — The name Lancer Smith is synonymous with wrestling excellence, which is why his annual namesake tournament has become one of the premiere prep tournaments in the state.

As Valley teams prepare for this weekend’s Lancer Smith Invitational at Palmer High School, one is used to wearing a bulls-eye at every dual meet and tournament. Having won five of the last 10 class 4A state titles, and finishing runner-up to Service last year, Wasilla will use the Lancer Smith — which begins today and concludes with championship finals at 5 p.m., Saturday — to help gauge where the Warriors stand for the rest of the season, head coach Shawn Hayes said.

Coming off a strong performance that saw the Warriors place five in the finals of last weekend’s Bob Bailey tourney and crown a pair of champions, Hayes said he’s encouraged the Warriors can contend again — if his team is willing to put in the work.

“We wrestled pretty good there,” he said of the Bob Bailey. “None of the teams have all their kids ready yet, and we’re missing some wrestlers, too. (The Lancer Smith) will be better as far as competition goes. I think we’re going to be competitive. We always hope (to be in the title mix), but you never know. We should do all right this year.”

Wasilla is buoyed by a handful of experienced state placers and qualifiers. One of the team leaders is junior Nate McKimson, who placed fourth as a freshman and was in the 138-pound finals last year, Hayes said.

“He had a couple good matches at the Bob Bailey and he lost to a returning state champ from Valdez (at 145 pounds),” the coach said. “That happens and last weekend was our first competing. We need to look at what weight class he needs to be in.”

Junior Shannon Carpenter at 132 pounds is another returning placer. He finished third as a freshman and fourth last year. That experience is crucial if the Warriors hope to compete as a team.

“That’s a big deal,” Hayes said. “Getting there is one thing, but actually performing at state is another thing. That experience means a lot.”

Senior Bryce Serna at 145 is also a two-time state placer, Hayes said, and the team welcomes back junior Quace Wright. Wright was a state placer in 2010, but missed last season due to injury. Now he’s back, and at 220 pounds, helps bolster Wasilla’s upper weights.

“It will be nice to have somebody in the upper weights with some experience,” he said. “Both of our neighbors over there (Palmer and Colony) have a lot of placers in the upper weights. We’re pretty good in the lower weights, so we’re going to see what we get from our uppers.”

If Wasilla wants to contend for a sixth title in 11 years, the biggest obstacle is themselves, Hayes said.

“If we don’t work hard, we get beat,” he said. “As far as the team goes, that’s pretty much part of the culture. They seem to do pretty well every year because they’re used to it. But it doesn’t come easy and they work hard.”

Houston Hawks

With only 14 on their squad, the Houston Hawks are focusing on developing those into quality wrestlers, head coach Brian Cook said.

This is Cook’s first year as head coach for the Hawks, but he’s not new to the program, having served as an assistant coach last year. Overall, Houston is bringing along a young team, he said.

“We’re pretty young and have a pretty good group of freshmen and sophomores, and have only one senior on the team,” Cook said.

That would be 170-pounder Merlin Shanley, a transfer from Service High School wrestling his first year with Houston.

He joins a few juniors like 126-pounder Cisco Davila, whom Cook describes as “super solid.” Cavila was a state qualifier last year and “he’s been wrestling very well in a tough weight class,” the coach said.

Junior captain Ryan Radmer at 145 also qualified for state last year and he brings a lot of intangibles to the Hawks’ practice room.

“He’s bringing a leadership quality to the team, pushing them, and he’s the role model in practice, always looking for a tough match in practice,” Cook said. “He brings it every time on the mat.”

If Radmer is the leader in practice, 220-pounder Luke Wagner is the team’s inspiration on the mat. The junior enters the season as the defending 220-pound state champion. Because he wrestles in an upper weight, Cook said he often will practice against Wagner.

“He doesn’t have a whole lot of people to practice with, so he and I tend to wrestle quite a bit,” he said. “He’s a solid wrestler and has improved a ton this year. We’re looking for a second state championship out of him.”

Wagner also has some early season motivation, dropping his first match in two seasons early this year to Paul Johansen of Mount Edgecomb High School at the Anchorage Christian School tourney. Johansen is the same wrestler Wagner beat in overtime of the finals to win his title last year.

“I think that rivalry is one of the best things that could’ve happened,” Cook said. “That’s his only loss in two years. Since that loss, he’s really stepped up his practice ethic.”

That showed last weekend, when Wagner not only was a perfect 5-0 at the Peninsula Duals, he won all his matches by pin fall.

Palmer Moose

Hosting the Lancer Smith tournament is one of the wrestling highlights of the year for the Moose, who honor the national Hall of Famer who spent 18 years coaching the Moose.

There’s much for Palmer to build on going into the 2012-13 season. The Moose qualified 17 wrestlers for state last year, the most for head coach Dale Ewart in his tenure at Palmer. The Moose used those qualifiers to place sixth overall, one of three Valley teams in the top 10 (Wasilla was No. 2, and Colony No. 9).

Already off to a strong start returning this season is Luke Huen, who placed fifth at 145 pounds last year. At the Peninsula Duals last weekend, Huen was impressive at 160 pounds. Huen was 4-2 at the duals, one of those losses to cross-town Colony rival Simon Root.

Caleb Nielson is another returning state placer for the Moose. He was sixth at 182 pounds last year and looks to be set to wrestle at that weight again.

Senior Cole Frohling is also back after a fourth-place finish at 220 in 2011-12, and junior Brian Thompson also returns, looking to improve on his fourth-place state finish as well at 285.

Colony Knights

With a field of nearly 30 teams at the Lancer Smith, Colony will see a good early test and look for another strong early season showing. The Knights won the Peninsula Duals last weekend, going undefeated, capped by a 1-point 37-36 win over Kodiak on Saturday.

Leading the way for Colony are a trio of Roots — Simon (160 pounds), Sawyer (182) and Silas (195). Combined, the Roots were 14-1 at the duals with Simon and Silas both going undefeated.

The Knights will look to the Roots as major cogs in their plans to score well as a team at the state tournament. Sawyer and Simon are both returning state placers. Sawyer was fourth at 152 pounds last year, while Simon advanced to the finals at 160, losing to Daniel Murakami of Service to finish as runner-up.

Colony will miss their lone state champion at 220 pounds, Ty Farber, who graduated, but others seem poised to step up for the Knights this season, including Taylor Mulkins (152), Ian Mackenzie (220) Spencer Adams (138) and Terry Jackson (98).

Colony head coach Todd Hopkins said the Knights will look to their returning state placers for leadership.

“They’re our only state placers,” he said. “They just bring an intensity to practice and a desire to improve each day.”

Contact reporter Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.