Knights, Moose rule duals at Colony High

PALMER — As defending state champion Colony prepares to compete for another title, the Knights had a rare chance to face senior-laden Ketchikan.

And it was all Colony.

The Knights bested the Kings 72-14 during a set of duals Friday at Colony High School.

Sam Sisco struggled during a match with a tough opponent. The two 132-pound wrestlers came out shooting aggressively, twisting for leverage and moving all over the mat. By the third period, both were worn out, and Sisco could not make a comeback. Brayden Linne won by decision 11-4.

Caleb Hopkins fared much better in his match for Colony in the same dual at 182. Hopkins methodically found a way to pin his opponent. Hopkins pinned Brandon Wieber in the first period.

Vincent Cramer bested Matthew Rodriguez 8-0 at 120, in a scrappy grudge match between the two.

When Palmer dualed Soldotna, Jason Watkins scored a major decision over Hudson Metcalf of Soldotna 12-0. Levi Farris won a major decision over Brenner Furlong 18-5, but in the following dual, fell to Tyler Farless of Service in a decision 10-7.

Farris, a defending state champion, has been busy in the offseason, wrestling with Team Alaska and traveling to North Dakota for a tournament and more exposure. Only a junior, Farris hopes to win state at 182. Farris says the team of Palmer wrestlers has been together since middle school, and credits his partner Jason Watkins in helping push him during practice.

"My big thing is wearing them down, always grinding, never stopping so by the time the third period comes, can obliterate them from there. My goal is to be top 3 in the state at 160 this year and win regions. I'm going have to beat some good kids, I've got to beat everybody, basically. It's not exciting if you don't put as much in, so when you win it's so exciting because you put so much work into it," said Watkins.

Caleb Hopkins set some pretty clear goals for the Colony wrestling team.

"We want to win state, we want to win regions, we want to win Lancer Smith, we don't want to lose," said Hopkins.

Hopkins finished second at state each of the last two years. He split matches with Farris last year, and is hoping to find a title at 182.

"My teammates, they're great guys. Every single day in practice we're playing a game. We're trying to have fun and keep it light even when guys are cutting weight just so that we're not dragging them down and they're bringing us up. Winning is fun, too," said Hopkins.

With two state titles and four region titles in six years as head coach, Todd Hopkins is preparing another squad for a run at a state title.

"As a team we just need to be stingier and make people work harder when they score points whether that's on our feet or scoring reversals we’ve got to be stingier," said Hopkins. "We have to keep getting better, stay healthy there are a lot of things that you're not in control of that have to go right like stay healthy and compete every day."

Colony and Palmer each finished 2-0 in the duals Friday. The Knights also beat Service 69-12. Palmer beat Service 39-33 and Soldotna 59-22.

Colony also hosted the Colony Invitational Saturday. Results were not available prior to press time. See frontiersman.com/sports and the Wednesday edition of the Frontiersman for more.

Tim Rockey is a freelance writer for the Frontiersman. Contact him at timothy.rockey@frontiersman.com.