Hawks eye high finish at ACS

JEREMIAH BARTZ/Frontiersman sports editor

HOUSTON - The Houston Hawks finished fifth in the team standings Kachemak Conference Championships, and advanced nine wrestlers to the 1-2-3A state championships last season.

Good for Houston. But this year, Houston head coach Chris Roggie thinks the Hawks can do better.

Roggie said his squad could pass as many as a dozen grapplers to next week's state championships, and place as high as second in the team standings of the Kachemak Conference Championships which starts today at Anchorage Christian School.

&#8220ACS is pretty tough, but we definitely have the possibility to pull in at number two,” Roggie said. &#8220That would be a good accomplishment for our team, and it's definitely realistic.”

The Hawks have four, if not five, wrestlers who could find themselves in the region's final round. Senior Clinton Banzhaf is a defending region champion, and the favorite to win in the 215-pound weight class.

&#8220Most of the tough guys in the region and the state are in his weight class. So he has his work cut out for him,” Roggie said. &#8220But he definitely has the ability.”

Banzhaf's toughest competition may be Sam Beacher of ACS. But the Houston grappler owns a 5-1 mark against Beacher this season, Roggie said. Banzhaf defeated Beacher to win titles of the Houston Invitational and ACS Tournament. Beacher pinned Banzhaf in the finals of the Valdez tourney. Roggie said another tough opponent could be Seward's James Aasie, who edged Banzhaf in the semifinals of the Grace Christian School Invitational.

Banzhaf has been the runner-up in his weight class in the last three tournaments Houston has wrestled in. But each in each of those tourneys, Banzhaf wrestled primarily large-school competition.

He suffered losses to a wrestler from South Anchorage - an emerging power in the state - in all three of those tournaments. Despite the losses, Roggie said Banzhaf is better for it.

&#8220Wrestling against the 4A has really helped him a lot. It's helped all our guys to get ready,” Roggie said. &#8220It's really going to pay off for us.”

Senior Bradd Erickson is also expected to vie for a region title this weekend. Erickson is another Hawk who has fared well in the 4A tourneys. He was third in the Palmer Invitational, fourth at the North-South Invite and sixth at the Bob Bailey.

Erickson's primary competition could be Seward senior Coty Beck. In their only meeting of the season, Beck defeated Erickson 8-0 in the finals of the Grace Tourney.

&#8220It was a lot closer match than the score indicated,” Roggie said. &#8220Bradd's improved a lot. We're really shooting for state. Win or lose this weekend, it's next weekend that matters for Bradd.”

Earlier in the season, Erickson won the 189-pound title of the Houston Invitational.

Roggie said another senior, Chris Hanson, also has a great shot of taking home a region title. Last season Hanson had the misfortune of running into teammate, and eventual state champion, Daniel Harvey in the region finals. With Harvey now wrestling for Western State University in Colorado, Hanson can feel more comfortable in his weight class.

&#8220This year it's his for the taking,” Roggie said.

Leading a talented group of Hawk freshman is Thang Veng. Roggie said Veng is expected to be the top-ranked wrestler in the 103-pound bracket. In his first season, Veng advanced to the finals in the Valdez and Palmer tourneys.

He was also fifth at ACS and North-South.

Freshman Justin Allmaras could be either the first or second seed at the 112-pound class.

&#8220All of our freshman should be tough,” Roggie said.

Eight of the 14 grapplers the Hawks are taking to regions are freshmen.

A wild card for the Hawks is Matt Gardner, a region finalist last season.

&#8220Gardner is pretty dissatisfied with his performance this season, but I still have a lot of confidence in him,” Roggie said. &#8220This is his time of the year.”

Roggie said in all he would like to see about a dozen of his wrestlers eligible for the 1-2-3A state tournament that Houston hosts next week at the Wasilla Multi-Use Sports Complex.

&#8220Some of them are going to have to beat guys they are not expected to beat,” Roggie said. &#8220They've got it in them. They just need to perform.”