Five Valley wrestlers move into 4A final round

WASILLA — It’s never fun to wrestle a teammate in a tournament, especially when there’s a spot in the state championship finals on the line.

Wasilla junior Abe Fox used overtime to edge teammate Nate McKimson 2-1 during the semifinal round of the 119-pound class of the ASAA/First National Bank 4A State Wrestling Championships at the Curtis D. Menard Memorial Sports Center in Wasilla.

After the semifinal match, Fox — a top-ranked wrestler in his class throughout the season — admitted he was suprised the match with the tough freshman went to overtime.

“It’s kind of different,” Fox said of wrestling a teammate in a tourney. “I wrestle with him in practice a lot so he knows what I do.”

Fox used an escape during extra time to earn the win, become one of three Warriors and five Valley grapplers to earn spots in the final round.

Tyler Adams, the top seed at 130, pinned North Pole’s Tyler Barrie in the third round of the semis. Adams will face Service’s Jacob Lunsford in the finals.

Senior Jake Johnson also advanced to the finals with a first-round pin of Houston freshman Luke Wagner. The top-seeded Johnson will face Chugiak’s Garret Morrison in the final round.

A pair of wrestlers will represent four-time defending state champion Colony durnig the finals. Senior Kyle Boss edged Lathrop’s Taylor Osborn to advance to the finals in the 152-pound class. Boss, a top seed who is undefeated against 4A competition this season, will face Chugiak’s Pat Mullet in the finals.

Senior Renn Wright, another top seed for the Knights, qualified for the finals with a 6-2 win over Bartlett’s Drew Yeager. Wright will face another Bartlett grappler, second-seeded Caleb Green in the final.

Fox is one of three Valley wrestlers to reach the finals for the second time. As a freshman, Fox advanced to the finals in the 103-pound class. This time, he will wrestle Ketchikan’s Ross Sanford in the finals. Fox said he has never wrestled Sanford.

Johnson and Wright will wrestle in the finals for the second straight year. Both finished as a runner-up in 2009.

Wasilla left the Menard Friday night sitting in second place of the team standings, about a dozen points behind first-place Service. The Cougars moved four wrestlers into the final round.

A key match during the race for the team title may come in the 130-pound final when Adams faces Lunsford.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/matsu_sports.