Colony wins North/South Tournament

WASILLA — While the early season spotlight has been on defending large-schools state champion South Anchorage and runner-up Wasilla, Colony stole the show Saturday at the North/South Tournament at Wasilla High School.

The Knights cruised to the team title, scoring 207 points, out-pacing South (186.5) and Wasilla (146.5) while crowning four tournament champions.

"They've wrestled hard," said Colony head coach Todd Hopkins about his Knights. "We lost some really close ones, but we're wrestling really hard all the way through."

Along with advancing a tourney-high six grapplers into Saturday night's finals, the Knights got a lot of production throughout their lineup, Hopkins said.

"Some of our second varsity guys at each weight are coming up big," he said. "At a lot of weights, we have two guys who are placing, so that's exciting."

Leading going into the finals, Colony heavyweight Mitchell Daigle got the Knights off to a strong start with an impressive first-period pin of East High's Keanu King in 1:38. As they grappled from their feet, Daigle countered a King move, throwing him to his back near the edge of the mat.

That set up a run of three straight North/South titles for the Knights. After Daigle's match, Bryce Adams pinned Dimond's Scott Harris at the 5:20 mark of the 98-pound finals and Soren Simpson dominated Jack Divelbiss of Dimond at 106 in a 13-0 major decision. Riley Fredrickson round out the finals for Colony in the last final of the evening at 182 pounds, beating Abraham Falegoatai of West Anchorage 3-2.

Another pair of Knights — Kamber Lucas (152) and Jarod Ruffing (160) — finished second.

The Valley's other large-schools teams, Wasilla and Palmer, each crowned a pair of tournament champions.

For Palmer, Mason Cochran beat South's Rami Pellumbi 3-1 to win the 132-pound bracket, and Caleb Deemer won a hard-fought 5-2 decision over East's Keahi Queja.

Wasilla's Nate McKimson beat Lucas 16-7 in that 152-pound final.

But it was the match at 220 pounds that had the attention of many in the stands at Wasilla High — defending state champion Quace Wright of Wasilla and Palmer's Ben Button. Button upset Wright by a single point in a dual the night before, but Wright's technical ability made the difference Saturday in a 5-2 decision for the North/South title.

Wright scored an early takedown 19 seconds into the first period, and never trailed. He led 3-1 early n the second, then another takedown with just 9 seconds left. Button scored another point on an escape in the third, but couldn't find a chink in Wright's defense in the final 2 minutes.

The North/South win can be a confidence-builder for the Knights as the season continues, Hopkins said. For now, he wants his wrestlers to focus on what's next on the schedule.

"We're looking to do well next week at the state duals, that's a big one for us," he said. "That's one of our goals. Over the break, we're going to wrestle at the West Classic, then we're taking our team down to Oregon to wrestle in the Northwest Duals."

2013 North/South Wrestling Tournament

Saturday, Wasilla High School

Team scores

1. Colony 207, 2. South 186.5, 3. Wasilla 146.5, 4. East 125, 5. Service 108, 6. Palmer 107.5, 7. West 66.5, 8. Eagle River 59, 9. Dimond 57, 10. Kenai 48, 11. Chugiak 40, 12. Bartlett 33, 13. Juneau 10, 14. Soldotna 8.

Championship matches

98 pounds — Bryce Adams, Col pinned Scott Harris, D 5:20; 106 — Soren Simpson, Col maj. dec. Jack Divelbiss, D 13-0; 113 — Brennan Girard, East dec. Greg Shack, South 9-2; 120 — Jejomar Briones, West dec. Matt Glover, South 1-0; 126 — Paul Steffensen, K dec. Gavin Alvarado, South 2-0; 132 — Mason Cochran, P dec. Rami Pellumbi, South 3-1; 138 — Kraig Hammond, South pinned Gavin Arnold, East 3:30; 145 — Anthony Sierra, East dec. Nick Ottum, South 8-4; 152 — Nate McKimson, W maj. dec. Kamber Lucas, Col 16-7; 160 — Tyler Thammavongsa, Ser pinned Jarod Ruffing, Col 5:25; 170 — Xavier Horton, ER dec. DJ Morrow, W 12-6; 182 — Riley Fredrickson, Col dec. Abraham Falegoatai, West 3-2; 195 — Caleb Deemer, P dec. Keahi Queja, East 5-2; 220 — Quace Wright, W dec. Ben Button, P 5-2; 285 — Mitchell Daigle, Col pinned Keanu King, East 1:39.

Third-place matches

98 pounds — Val Shuman, West pinned Andrew Hampton, D 2:45; 106 — Quest Lema, Ser pinned Zx Dio Abobon, Bart 3:44; 113 — Slava Hoffman, Ser dec. Chace Booth, Col 8-6; 120 — Logan Albrecht, W dec. Bryan McKimson, W 7-3; 126 — Matt Vandermartin, K pinned Andrew Concepcion, South :026; 132 — double forfeit; 138 – Nathan Pempek, P dec. Aaron Troxell-Tom, K 8-3; 145 — double forfeit; 152 — Robert Huffer, Chug inj. Wade Booth, Col 0:55; 160 — Gabe Mcsharry, South dec. Blake Marks, W 5-3; 170 — Emetrius McLeod, Ser SV1 Logan Conway, Col 5-4; 182 — Zane Fejes, South dec. Zachariah Doan, Col 7-3; 195 — Billy Schultz, W maj. dec. Toren Cheely, Chug 15-4; 220 — Zech Rockstad, W pinned Elisha Wright, South 4:27; 285 — double forfeit.

Fifth-place matches

98 pounds — Kyler Chamberlain, Col pinned Odin Anderson, P 2:03; 106 — double bye; 113 — Weston Martin, South pinned Berit Sturgeon, W 1:47; 120 — double forfeit; 126 — Justin Gentz, W dec. Riley Stewman, South 8-2; 132 — double forfeit; 138 — Dawson Nash, Col pinned Trevor Cole, East 4:10; 145 — double forfeit; 152 — Joshua Noe, South maj. dec. Mario Herrera, Ser 12-4; 160 — Dylan Carter, K dec. Christophe Ray, Col 7-5; 170 — Graydon Powell, P dec. Cablin Wilson, W 9-2; 182 — Andrew Gold, East dec. Jesse Nelson, Chug 3-2; 195 — Josiah Walker, D inj Anthony Braudis, Bar; 220 — Matt Keogh, South pinned Jerry Yandall, East 4:05; 285 — Wyatt Bruso, Bar inj. Javin Smith, East.