Hawks 3rd in 123A state tourney

ANCHORAGE — Houston head coach Brian Cook had a hunch, with a strong weekend of wrestling, the Hawks could earn a top-3 finish in the state tournament team standings.

Saturday, the Hawks capped a terrific 2014 season by achieving that goal. Houston, which won its first conference team title in school history last weekend, finished with 132.5 total points to place third in the team standings of the ASAA/First National Bank 123A State Wrestling Championships at Bartlett High School.

“I knew that if we wrestled well that we could be in the top three, and we achieved that,” Cook said Monday, following the state tournament. “I’m always shooting for (number) one but realistically I think when I looked at it, Kotzebue’s just so tough. They were the standout team that was gonna win (state) and everyone knew it.”

So in his mind, Bethel, Nikiski and Houston were fighting for second and third.

Houston used a state finalist and seven state placers to earn the third-place finish in the team standings. Senior Jacob McAnulty led the Hawks with an appearance in the state finals and runner-up finish.

Junior Kendel Beasley was third at 220 pounds. Junior Kavan Weinberger (106 pounds), senior Aaron Drake (126) and senior Arrin Paul (170) each finished fourth.

Junior Sean Lang (195) and senior Kyle Quincy (220) were both fifth in their respective weight classes for Houston.

McAnulty, wrestling at 113 pounds, reached the state championship finals for the first time in his career. The senior pinned his first two opponents (Tyler Andrews of New Stuyahok and Ian Jenson of Wrangell). In the semifinals, the third-seeded McAnulty used a 5-3 victory to upset the No. 2 seed, Buddy Stalmach of Petersburg.

“He made some mistakes (on the first day) but we talked about it and changed up his style a little bit so that he would be able to beat him,” Cook said, of McAnulty and Stalmach. “I knew he could do it, it was just a matter of putting everything together that he’s been working on for the last two years.”

In the finals, McAnulty suffered a 7-3 loss to Gavin Maslen of Kotzebue, who earned his second state title with the win.

But the Hawk kept Maslen on his toes.

“It felt good knowing that I had him scared going into the third round,” he said. “I could see he was getting a little jumpy, just trying to do stuff before the whistle blew. Nobody’s had him in that position in like the last, like, year.”

McAnulty said he was “a little sad but happy at the same time” after the match, as he knew he had done well in the meet and all season.

As a senior, the end of this season, too, is bittersweet for McAnulty. He finished the year with a 28-7 record and will compete in a national tournament in Virginia Beach, Virginia, this coming spring, but a little regret gnaws at him for not taking Cook’s advice to him some years ago.

“I kinda wish I’d started as a middle school wrestler,” he said.

Still, McAnulty intends to wrestle at the collegiate level after he graduates high school, and will participate in the Native Youth Olympics for the fourth year in a row this spring.

In addition to making history with a conference title, the Houston team also was a part of the historic first girls’ tournament in the 123A division.

Houston senior Shyan Horner was the only girl on the team this year, wrestling with the boys at 113 pounds up until the region meet.

“I think it’s unfortunate that ASAA did it that way only because I think we would have a lot more girls coming out if they knew they didn’t have to wrestle boys all season,” Cook said. “A lot of the girls wanted the opportunity to wrestle guys in state to show that they were tough, tough enough to wrestle with the guys.”

Still, Horner pulled off a win in the 106 weight class of the girls’ bracket at the region meet, wrestled at state, and had a good four years representing the female Hawks.

“She’s improved dramatically,” Cook said. “She’s a very dedicated, tough wrestler, and it was nice to see her shine against other girls.”

Having coached his senior athletes all four years, a first for him, Cook said he was able to see them grow throughout their high school careers.

“It’s the first time I’ve been through an entire four-year cycle with kids and it’s really cool to watch them grow and see how they change and how they develop,” he said. “It’s a cool thing, and I’m privileged to be able to be a part of that.”

Although Houston is suffering big losses with Horner, McAnulty, Aaron Drake, Arrin Paul and Kyle Quincy graduating in the spring, Cook said he has a “top-notch crew of juniors” and other returning athletes who will have opportunities to step up next season.

“I am so proud of this team,” he said. “Taking third in state, being region champions — it’s just evidence of how hard they’ve worked. I’ve never coached a team who has had as much heart as this team has.”

Susitna Valley also had a wrestler in the final round of the state championships this weekend. Heavyweight Marshall Pinard finished second.

Contact Caitlin Skvorc at 352-2266 or caitlin.skvorc@frontiersman.com.