Knights edge Warriors in close dual on the mat

WASILLA — As two of the state’s top programs of the last decade, the Colony Knights and Wasilla Warriors wrestling programs have enjoyed a spirited rivalry in recent years.

But one match during a dual of the Valley foes Thursday night presented a different twist to that cross-town rivalry. Colony junior Ian MacKenzie and Wasilla junior Quace Wright, longtime friends and former Colony High teammates, met in the dual’s 220-pound bout.

“He’s one of my best friends,” MacKenzie said. “It’s really complicated when we know each other’s style pretty well.”

That familiarity produced the second straight overtime match between the friendly rivals. Wright edged MacKenzie in the consolation semifinals of Palmer High’s Lancer Smith Memorial earlier this month. But Thursday, MacKenzie scored a quick escape during the match’s fourth overtime frame to slip past Wright 3-2 and help lead Colony to a 37-36 dual win over Wasilla at Wasilla High School.

“I didn’t want to get too far into overtime, I just wanted to win it,” MacKenzie said.

The match featured two of the top-ranked wrestlers at 220 in the state. Wright was ranked second and MacKenzie fourth prior to the meeting. MacKenzie said he’s focused more on progress, rather than ranking.

“Ranking doesn’t really matter, I just wanted to wrestle my hardest,” he said.

Spencer Adams, ranked third in the state at 138, sealed the dual win for the Knights with a pin during the final match of the night. Wasilla used back-to-back pins from Shannon Carpenter (126 pounds) and Ryker Steiner (132) to take a 36-31 lead in the dual with one match left, but Adams came through for the Knights.

“I knew it was going to be close,” Adams said after using a first-period pin to give the Knights the win. “I knew I was going to go out there and try my hardest to get the pin.”

Sawyer Root (182), Mitchell Daigle (285) and Chance Fannon (120) also pinned their opponents during the dual. Simon Root, the state’s second ranked wrestler at 160, scored a win by major decision. Austin Rench (195) also won by decision for the Knights.

Wasilla’s Nate McKimson, the second-ranked grappler at 145, opened the dual with a tight 6-4 win over Colony’s Kamber Lucas at 145. Blake Marks followed with a 5-0 decision over Colony’s Taylor Mulkins at 152 to give the Warriors an early 6-0 lead in the dual. Hayden Seltenreich extended his team’s advantage with a win at 170, before Colony began to rally.

Brandon Abbott (113) and Bryan McKimson (98) also won matches for the Warriors.

Both Wasilla and Colony are slated to compete in the North/South Invitational, which starts today in Soldotna.

Colony 37, Wasilla 36

Thursday, Wasilla High

145 pounds — N. McKimson, Was d. K. Lucas, Col 6-4; 152 — B. Marks, was d. T. Mulkins, Col 5-0; 160 — Si. Root, Col m.d. D. Morrow, Was 14-2; 170 — H. Seltenreich, Was p. Z. Doan, Col 4:00; 182 — Sa. Root, Col p. M. Dobbs, Was 4:55; 195 — A. Rench, Col d. B. Schultz, Was 3-2; 220 — I. MacKenzie, Col d. Q. Wright, Was 2OT 3-2; 285 — M. Daigle, Col p. J. Campbell, Was 4:51; 98 — B. McKimson, Was won by fft; 113 — B. Abbott, Was p. J. Nero, Col 0:58; 120 — Chan. Fannon, Col p. T. Newland, Was 3:39; 126 — S. Carpenter, Was p. Chase Fannon, Col 1:35; 132 — R. Steiner, Was p. J. Jones, Col 0:27; 138 — S. Adams, Col p. C. Ozella, Was 1:38.

Hawks set for regions

HOUSTON — The Houston Hawks are among 14 teams set to compete in the Kachemak Conference Championships, which begins today at Grace Christian in Anchorage.

Leading the way for Houston is defending state champion Luke Wagner, who won his title at 220 pounds last year. Wagner is currently ranked No. 2 in the state at 220.

Aaron Drake is ranked fourth at 106 for Houston.