KINGS OF THE MAT: Valley schools crown trio of state champions

ANCHORAGE — Mononucleosis couldn’t knock out Tyler Adams. Neither could a defending state champion.

In the lone match of a final round that featured two defending state champs, Adams edged Soldotna senior Auston Tennis 9-7 in the 145-pound final of the ASAA/First National Bank 4A State Wrestling Championships at Bartlett High School in Anchorage.

The Wasilla senior earned a pair of near-fall points during the final seconds of the match to win his second straight state title and block Tennis from scoring back-to-back titles.

Last year, Adams used his championship to help Wasilla win a state title. But this year, Adams earned the crown after missing six weeks of the season with mono.

Which one is sweeter?

“I have to say this one’s better,” Adams said after his win. “Coming back from illness, beating a state champion that won it last year, someone I’ve always thought of as an extraordinary wrestler. It was an honor to wrestle another state champion in the final match. Two seniors duking it out in the match. It was an honor to be in that match.”

Adams was one of a pair of Warriors and three Valley wrestlers to win state titles. Wasilla senior Abe Fox also won his second straight crown, edging Kodiak’s Francis Llorente at 120. Colony senior Ty Farber beat Service’s Derrek Zorea 15-9 in the 220-pound championships.

Wasilla’s Nate McKimson and Colony’s Simon Root also advanced to the final round and finished second.

Service rolled to the team title, snapping the Mat-Su Valley’s nine-year winning streak. The Cougars, who finished with 250.5 points to win the title, placed nine wrestlers in the finals. Five Service wrestlers won state titles.

Wasilla, led by its three finalists, finished second in the team standings with 214.5 points. Northern Lights Conference champion Kodiak was third.

One match of the final round went to overtime and two others were decided by just a point, but Adams’ win was among the most thrilling matches of the round.

Tennis, a three-time state finalist, scored an early takedown in the first period and built a 7-2 lead in the second period. Early in the second, Tennis got Adams on his back and used three near-fall points to take a 5-0 lead. Adams scored a reversal to cut Tennis’ lead to 5-2. With less than 20 seconds left in the second, Tennis scored a reversal near the edge of the mat to push his lead to 7-2. Momentum carried the wrestlers out of bounds with 12 seconds left.

But the key moment came in those final seconds of the match.

With Adams in the down position, the Wasilla senior scored a quick reversal right after the whistle blew and managed to get Tennis to his back and earn the near-fall points. Those five points tied the match at 7.

“I felt more confident going into that last period,” Adams said. “Going into that last period I felt like I kind of hit my stride in the match and stopped his momentum.”

The rivals, who also wrestled in the final round of the North/South Invitational and the Northern Lights Conference Championships, battled throughout the third period. With Tennis in the bottom position, there was a scramble during the final seconds. Tennis appeared to get the reversal, but just as that was happening, Adams turned Tennis to his back. Adams was awarded a pair of near-fall points and the win.

“When the whistle blew, I pretty much knew it was mine because I had him on his back,” Adams said. “I was excited to come off with another state championship.”

Adams’ win is even more remarkable, considering his journey through the 2011-12 season. He was a favorite to repeat early in the year, but nearly watched his senior season slip away as he was diagnosed with mono. The diagnosis came after Adams beat Tennis to win the North/South title, but he learned that he’d had the illness for a considerable time.

“When I went into the hospital, they said I’d already had it three weeks,” Adams said.

Adams said his neck was swollen, it was hard to breathe and he was nauseous and vomiting. He was stunned with the diagnosis.

“At first I was like, kissing disease? What? That’s not what’s going on right now,” Adams said.

He later learned sharing a water bottle led to mono, and was left wondering if he’d be healthy before the end of the season.

It took visits to three doctors, the last being an internal medicine specialist, for Adams to be cleared to return. Doctors were worried about his spleen. He underwent a scan of the spleen, and it was determined he was in good enough condition to wrestle.

Adams said it was a rough return.

“Lack of cardio, had to gain my weight back. I lost tons of weight with my illness,” Adams said.

But he was able to get strong enough to beat Tennis to win an NLC title last weekend and another state title on Saturday.

Like Adams, Fox also saw a familiar opponent in the final round. Last week, Fox needed double-overtime to edge Llorente 3-2. Fox beat Llorente by the same score Saturday. But the match was much different. Fox led throughout the match and Llorente scored his lone points very late in regulation.

“I didn’t really wrestle him too good last weekend,” Fox said.

Right after the first whistle of the match, Fox shot in for the double-leg and was able to get behind Llorente. Fox was not awarded points and the wrestlers stayed neutral, but Fox felt like he set the tone for the match with his aggressiveness.

“He doesn’t really do too much. Last weekend when I wrestled him in Kodiak, I had 19 shots to his three shots,” Fox said.

Fox advanced to the state final for the third time in four years Saturday. He was second at 103 as a freshman, and won the 119-pound title as a junior. He missed the region and state tournament his sophomore year.

Farber won his first individual state title with the 15-9 win over Zorea. As a freshman, Farber was on a Knights squad that scored a team title, but Saturday he was the Knight to stand out.

“I was on a state championship team as a freshman, but I never thought I’d be here,” Farber said.

Farber was dominant in the neutral position during the final and used his ability to throw to beat the Service grappler.

“I’m not very good on bottom, so my strategy was take him down, let him up, take him down, let him up,” Farber said.

It worked.

Farber threw Zorea six times in the match to earn takedowns. The match was tied at 3 after the first period, and Zorea used a takedown to take a 5-4 lead with 90 seconds left in the second period. Farber took control of the match with consecutive throws for takedowns during the final 30 seconds of the second, and scored another six points in the third.

McKimson also advanced to the finals for the runner-up Warriors, but was pinned by Service’s Jacob Lunsford with three seconds left in the match. Lunsford held a slim 3-1 lead heading into the third period and led 5-1 when he pinned McKimson.

It was McKimson’s first trip to the state finals.

Root also wrestled in his first state final and suffered a 5-2 loss to Daniel Murakami. Farber and Root helped Colony finish in a tie for ninth in the team standings with 85.5 points. Sawyer Root was fourth at 152.

Palmer finished sixth in the team standings with 123 points. Three Palmer wrestlers were in the consolation finals. Nate Pempek was third at 126, and Cole Frohling (220) and Brian Thompson (285) both finished fourth. Luke Heun (fifth at 145), Mason Cochran (sixth at 106) and Caleb Nielson (sixth at 182) also placed for Palmer.

Wasilla started with 20 wrestlers in the tournament, tied for the second highest in the tourney. The Warriors were 11-9 in the first round and 3-6 in the semifinals. Service had 15 wrestlers, but finished 13-2 in the first round and 9-1 in the semifinals.

Half of the Warriors placed in the top 6. Andrew Shannon (113), Bryce Serna (138) and Adam Akelkok (220) finished third; Shannon Carpenter (120), Alex Fuller (182) and Austine Gonzalez (195) were fourth; and Tyler Seims (220) finished sixth.

ASAA/FIRST NATIONAL

BANK 4A STATE WRESTLING

CHAMPIONSHIPS

Friday and Saturday,

Bartlett High School

Team scores

1. Service 250.5, 2. Wasilla 214.5, 3. Kodiak 201.5, 4. South Anchorage 142, 5. East Anchorage 136, 6. Palmer 123, 7. Lathrop 121.5, 8. Chugiak 117, 9. (tie) Colony 85.5, West Anchorage 85.5, 11. Eagle River 59, 12. North Pole 48, 13. West Valley 44, 14. Soldotna 38, 15. Ketchikan 27, 16. Bartlett 26, 17. Kenai 16, 18. Juneau 9, 19. Thunder Mountain 8.5, 20. Dimond.

Championship finals

106 pounds — Caballa, Kod, md Willard, East 11-0.

113 — Hendrix, Lat, dec. Nanez, Ser, 5-0.

120 — Fox, Was, dec. Llorente, Kod, 3-2.

126 — Pounds, Ser, dec. Decker, NP, 9-2.

132 — Achman, Lat, dec. White, Kod, 3-1 OT.

138 — Lunsford, Ser, fall McKimson, Was, 5:57.

145 — Adams, Was, dec. Tennis, Sold., 9-7.

152 — Skieens, Ser, dec. Pena, West, 6-2.

160 — Murakami, Ser, dec. Si. Root, Col, 5-2.

170 — Wiggins, East, dec. Dunbar, Ser, 5-2.

182 — Morrison, Chug., md Johnson, Kod, 14-5.

195 — Ellis, Ser, fall Crews, West, 1:17.

220 — Farber, Col, dec. Zorea, Ser, 15-9.

285 — Green, Bar, dec. Pili, Ser, 4-3.

3rd-place matches

106 pounds — Girard, East, dec. Alvarado, South, 3-1.

113 — Shannon, Was, dec. Ritchie, South, 8-1.

120 — Burris, Kod, fall Carpenter, Was, :59.

126 — Pempek, Pal, def. Agnew, WV, ID.

132 — Hogenseon, South, dec. Townes, East, 4-2.

138 — Serna, Was, dec. Gillen, Lat, 8-4.

145 — Zimmerman, Lat, dec. Taus, ER, 2-1.

152 — Lepola, Kod, dec. Sa. Root, Col, 9-3.

160 — Shangin, South, dec. Rogers, NP, 3-2.

170 — Cheney, Lat, md Sheets, ER, 19-5.

182 — Lopez, South, dec. Fuller, Was, 7-5.

195 — Medeiros, Chug., dec. Gonzalez, Was, 8-6 OT.

220 — Akelkok, Was, dec. Frohling, Pal, 6-3.

285 — Garris-Shoemaker, WV, dec. Thompson, Pal, 5-3 OT.

5th-place matches

106 pounds — Fetko, S, dec. Cochran, Pal, 3-2.

113 — Fried, Kod, def. Ottum, South, ID.

120 — Hammond, South, fall Luff, ER, 4:31.

126 — Jury, Chug., md Hu, Dim, 12-3.

132 — Huck, West, def. Steffensen, Ken, ID.

138 — Downing, East, md Jury, Chug., 13-4.

145 — Heun, Pal, def. Mackey, Ketch., ID.

152 — Corbett, East, fall Hamilton, Ketch., 4:41.

160 — Forbush, Chug., tech. fall Deal, Kod, 18-1.

170 — Parson, Kod, dec. Elliot, West, 10-9 OT.

182 — Strieff, Sold., dec. Nielson, Pal, 12-5.

195 — Madabuko, ER, fall Seims, Was, 1:50.

220 — Burroughs, Chug., fall Pettit, Was, 2:27.

285 — Trombley, Chug., def. Jones, East, ID.