Colony leads NLC wrestling tourney after first day; 21 Valley wrestlers advance to finals

PALMER — The host Colony Knights ruled the first day of the Northern Lights Conference Championships wrestling tournament.

Colony moved nine wrestlers into the finals and amassed 241.5 points during Day 1 of the tournament at Colony High School. Defending region champion Wasilla stood in second place with 190 points after the first day. Palmer was fourth with 135.5 points.

Bryce Adams needed only 50 seconds to record a pair of pins and move into the 98-pound finals. Adams recorded his first pin in just 13 seconds, and pinned Wasilla’s Bruce Hill in 37 seconds during the semifinals.

Adams is among nine Knights who will wrestle in the final round that starts Saturday at 1 p.m. at CHS. Chase Booth (113), Dawson Nash (132), Robert Haan (138), Spencer Adams (145), Kamber Lucas (152), Kody Nash (160), Logan Conway (170) and Riley Fredrickson (182) also advanced to the finals for Colony.

Defending state champions Nate McKimson (152) and Quace Wright (220) lead a group of seven Wasilla Warriors in the finals. Dillon Simpson (98), Brandon Abbott (106), Berit Sturgeon (106), Weston Wall (138) and Chance Boatman (170) will also wrestle in Saturday’s final.

Defending state champion Mason Cochran (132) leads Palmer’s group of five Moose in the finals. Hunter Molesky (160), Caleb Deemer (195), Ben Button (220) and Brian Thompson (285) are also in the finals.

Valley wrestlers own 21 of the 30 spots in the final round.

Team scores:

1. Colony 241.5, 2. Wasilla 190, 3. Kodiak 144, 4. Palmer 135.5, 5. Kenai 103.5, 6. Soldotna 23.

Championship semifinals:

98 pounds — B. Adams, Col p. B. Hill, Was 0:37; D. Simpson, Was won by inj def O. Andersen, Pal.

106 — B. Abbott, Was p. S. Simpson, Col 2:54; B. Sturgeon, Was p. Y. Ohki, Kod 3:35.

113 — C. Booth, Col m.d. R. Delacruz, Kod 20-9; J. Valdez, Kod p. A. Skiba, Sol 1:12.

120 — A. Caballa, Kod m.d. B. McKimson, Was 14-2; K. Jonson, Kod d. L. Albrecht, Was 6-3.

126 — P. Steffensen, Ken p. J. Gentz, Was 2:36; J. Small, Kod d. A. Molesky, Pal 10-4.

132 — M. Cochran, Pal m.d. A. Rohr, Kod 14-3; D. Nash, Col d. M. Vandermartin, Ken 7-6.

138 — R. Haan, Col t.f. D. Everett, Ken 16-0; W. Wall, Was p. I. Kolendo, Col 0:22.

145 — E. Steffensen, Ken t.f. W. McGann, Pal 16-1; S. Adams, Col d. T. Loutzenhiser, Col 5-0.

152 — N. McKimson, Was p. H. Bourgeois, Sol 4:48; K. Lucas, Col d. W. Booth, Col 10-7.

160 — K. Nash, Col d. J. Ruffing, Col 2-1 2OT; H. Molesky, Pal d. D. Morrow, Was 7-2 OT.

170 — C. Boatman, Was d. J. Yavorsky, Kod 8-3; L. Conway, Col d. G. Powell, Pal 3-1.

182 — R. Fredrickson, Col won by inj def. Z. Doan, Col; K. Hunter, Ken p. L. Owens, Kod 2:21.

195 — K. Powers, m.d. T. Brown, Ken 14-2; C. Deemer, Pal p. B. Schultz, Was 5:38.

220 — B. Button, Pal p. Z. Koziczkowski, Ken 3:35; Q. Wright, Was d. I. MacKenzie, Col 3-2.

285 — L. Sega, Kod p. D. Best, Sol 1:12; B. Thompson, Pal d. M. Daigle, Col 5-1.