Knights dominate Peninsula Duals

NIKISKI — Colony head wrestling coach Todd Hopkins had a successful return to the Kenai Peninsula Friday and Saturday at the Peninsula Duals at Nikiski High School.

Colony took the championship dual meet 53-18 over Homer, while the Colony junior varsity topped Soldotna 57-24 for third place in the tournament.

“Colony is solid. Holy cow,” Homer assistant Chris Perk said in calling the Knights the top team in the state. “We were wrestling our tails off against them and just missing on a couple moves.”

Hopkins, who became the head coach in 2012 and last season won his second Division I title in three years, is not ready to anoint his team the best. He said Wasilla, Lathrop and South all will have something to say about that.

But the victory close to his roots had him feeling good. Hopkins grew up in Seldovia and was introduced to wrestling in middle school by Kevin Daugherty, the former Soldotna High School head coach.

“This worked out really well,” Hopkins said. “I like coming back here.”

Colony’s depth carried the day in both the championship and third-place matches. In the championship, the Knights scored 30 points by forfeit without forfeiting a match.

In the third-place match, Colony’s JV piled up 24 points due to forfeits and did not forfeit a match.

“The biggest thing is we have a program where the coaches from the club, middle school and high school all teach the same way,” Hopkins said. “That gives the kids consistency.

“They know what’s expected and rise to it immediately.”

The JV team did just that.

“The JV team had the confidence to come in and wrestle hard,” Hopkins said. “As the dual meets went on, they started believing they could wrestle with everybody.”

The final highlight for Hopkins came when his son, Caleb Hopkins, defeated Homer’s Tristen Cook 2-1 at 182 in the championship dual. Cook had defeated Hopkins 5-1 in a Friday dual between the teams. “It’s always a highlight when somebody who lost comes back and turns it into a win,” Todd Hopkins said.

Championship match

Colony 53, Homer 18

113 — Aidan Ehrmann, Col, won by forfeit;

120 — Vincent Cramer, Col, dec. Seth Inama, 3-1;

126 —Rush Fannon, Col, sudden victory over Wayne Newman, 5-3;

132 — Luciano Fasulo, Hom, dec. Sam Sisco, 5-1;

138 — Mose Hayes, Hom, dec. Brice Lestenkof-Chapman, 2-1;

145 — Daniel Colley, Col, m.d. Joshua Bradshaw, 19-9;

152 — Landis Erwin, Col, p. McKenzie Cook, 0:29;

160 — Cody Gamble, Col, won by forfeit;

170 — Eric Christy, Col, m.d. Chris Cudaback, 11-0;

182 — Caleb Hopkins, Col, dec. Tristen Cook, 2-1;

195 — Levi King, Hom, p. Simon Ganchenko, 3:52;

220 — Kyle Wells, Hom, p. Cole Wilson, 1:06;

285 — Brandon Holmes, Col, won by forfeit;

98 — TJ Clapp, Col, won by forfeit;

106 — Jared Hopkins, Col, won by forfeit.

Third-place match

Colony 2 57, Soldotna 24

113 — Jacob Harvey, Col, p. Ben Booth, 1:59;

120 — Gideon Hutchison, Sol, p. Kolby Torres, 3:20;

126 — Hunter Sasser, Col, won by forfeit;

132 — Quinten Sereyko, Col, won by forfeit;

138 — Dylan Holmes, Col, won by forfeit;

145 — Brayden Reeves, Col, p. Aiden Willets, 2:38;

152 — Bechler Metcalf, Sol, p. Camryn Binning, 4:54;

160 — Braeden Tennis, Sol, sudden victory over Noah White, 8-6;

170 — Frank Urbano, Col, dec. Hudson Metcalf, 4-3;

182 — Jamar Toston, Col, p. Dylan Donham, 0:42;

195 — Ricky Westover, Col, p. Eli Floyd, 2:18;

220 — Aaron Faletoi, Sol, p. Tyde Riopelle, 0:52;

285 — Jacob Nelson, Col, p. Melvin Floyd, 0:25;

98 — Tarren Gudmunson, Col, won by forfeit;

106 — Logan Craig, Sol, dec. Rett Gallagher, 13-8.