Hawks hope to continue to soar in 123A state wrestling tourney

HOUSTON — Last weekend, the Houston High School wrestling program enjoyed a historic weekend. This weekend, the Hawks hope to continue to soar.

Fresh off its first conference championship in program history, Houston will boast a school-record 14 athletes during the ASAA/First National Bank 123A State Wrestling Championships, which start today at Bartlett High School in Anchorage.

“I think we’re going to have a great state tournament,” Houston head coach Brian Cook said earlier this week. “All these guys have the potential to place at state. If they wrestle like they did (during the conference tournament), it’s going to be a great state tournament.”

Houston used 14 state qualifiers, seven finalists and four individual champions to win the team title of the Kachemak Conference Championships last Saturday at Houston High. The Hawks amassed 222.5 total points to win the program’s first conference title, and achieve the feat on its home mat.

“It’s really exciting,” Cook said after the tournament. “These guys worked so hard this season. It’s one thing to win the title of a tournament, but to win the region tournament at home with the home crowd, it’s not much better than that.”

The Hawks achieved their goal of winning a region title. Now the pursuit of the new team goal starts today.

“My goal has always been top 3. That’s still the goal,” Cook said of where he hopes to see the Hawks finish in the 123A team standings.

Bethel is the defending state champion. Kotzebue, considered by most as one of the toughest teams at any level in Alaska, finished second last year. The Hawks were sixth. Cook said he also expects Kachemak runner-up Nikiski to also be in the hunt, as well as Ketchikan, a newcomer to the 123A level.

Houston has fared well against tough competition this season. In addition to winning the region title, Houston’s team wins also include the title at the Throwdown in Snow Town in Valdez. Houston won the team title, beating runner-up Bethel, the defending state champs, by 10 points.

“It’s a huge boost in confidence. (Bethel) always brings their A game,” Cook said.

Houston also beat Bethel in a dual meet at the Lancer Smith Duals at Palmer High School.

Defending state champion Aaron Drake is among the leaders on the mat this season. Drake won his first state title at 120 pounds last season. This year, Drake is undefeated at 126 pounds. The standout has enjoyed a stellar senior season. Highlights include beating South Anchorage’s Grag Shack, a 4A defending state champion, during the 126-pound final of the Lancer Smith Memorial at Palmer High. Drake was named most outstanding wrestler of the Lancer Smith event.

Drake is one of Houston’s four conference champions. Junior Kavan Weinberger (106 pounds), senior Jacob McAnulty (113 pounds) and senior Arrin Paul (170 pounds) each won their first individual region title last weekend. Etienne Kinney (132), Terry Jackson (138) and Kendel Beasley (220) reached the finals and placed second.

Of the 14 Hawks in the state tournament, three are in the 220-pound bracket. Ezra Lincecum and Kyle Quincy join Beasley in the tremendously deep class for the Hawks. Lincecum and Quincy placed third and fourth respectively for Houston during the region tournament.

Damien Jessup (98), Kyle Anderson (106), Sean Lang (195) and Dylan Jackson (285) all placed third in regions, and qualified for state. Shyan Horner (106) qualified for the Hawks in the girls’ bracket.

Drake and Lang both placed in the state tournament for Houston last season. Drake won the title at 120 and Lang was sixth at 182.

The state tournament begins today at Bartlett High with the preliminaries at 10 a.m. Championship semifinals are slated for today at 6 p.m. Wrestling continues Saturday at 9 a.m. The consolation finals are slated for 2:30 p.m., and the championship round is expected to begin at 5 p.m.