Hawks take 3rd at wrestling regionals

SEWARD - The Houston Hawks, paced by two individual championships and three individual second-place finishes, took third place in the Region III/1-2-3A Wrestling Tournament in Seward.

Houstons Pat Carrier won the 160-pound championship with a 6-5 victory over Brian Thrall of Seward. Casey Bullock, wrestling in the very next weight class, took the 171-pound title by pinning John Hamilton of Seward just 30 second into the match.

Houston was also paced by three second-place finishes by wrestlers in the tournament. Lance Pettijohn took second in the 135-pound class, Seth Schachle was second in the 140-pound division and Jeff Nagel fell to Sean Sullivan in the finals at 145 pounds.

Nikiski, the three-time defending class 1-2-3A state champions, easily won the team championship behind nine individual titles. Nikiski amassed 275.5 points, almost 100 ahead of second-place Seward with 180. Houston ended with 120.5 points.

In consolation finals, the Hawks also had a pair of wrestlers with great finishes. Adam Thornton pinned Grace Christians Matt Marchant 3:21 into the match to take third place in the 145-pound division, while Craig Seime beat Sewards Adam Ross 14-8 to finish third in the 152-pound class.

Carrier, Bullock, Pettijohn, Schachle, Nagel, Thornton and Seime all qualified for the state tournament, which is Friday and Saturday at Anchorage Christian School.