HAWKS THIRD IN TOURNEY

HOUSTON - Led by two individual champions and seven top-four finishes, the Houston wrestling squad took third place in the Houston Invitational, the only meet of the year at Houston High School.

Seward cruised to an easy victory in the meet, racking up 232 points.

Valdez was third, with 161 points, while Houstons 143.5 points held off Anchorage Christian School for third place. ACS finished with 134.5 points.

Cody Redford started the scoring for Houston by securing a fourth-place finish at 112 pounds.

The Hawks scored most of their points in the middle weights.

At 125 points, David Sandstrom finished second to Sewards Darian Draper, and Seth Schachle won the next weight class, 140 pounds, for the Hawks.

At 152 pounds, Adam Thornton finished third, and Craig Seime followed with a victory in the 160-pound weight class.

At 171 pounds, Casey Bullock took second to Talon Elkins of Unalaska, and Russell Shurtleff finished the finals for the Hawks by taking fourth place in the 189-pound class.

Seward had five individual champions, led by Jim Conant at 145 pounds.

He was named the tournaments most outstanding wrestler by a panel of coaches.

Up next for the Hawks is the Valdez Invitational, which starts today.