Knights win Colony Invite wrestling tourney

PALMER — Host Colony stormed to a win during the Colony Invitational Saturday at Colony High School.

The Knights crowned seven champions en route to finishing with 260 total points in the team standings, more than 100 better than runner-up Soldotna. Robert Zimmerman (98 pounds), Caleb Hopkins (126), Jordan Nero (138), Robert Haan (160), Dawson Nash (170), Kody Nash (182) and Isaiah Christy (195) all won their respective classes for the Knights. Gabe Whisman (98), Sam Sisco (113), Tyler Loutzenhiser (145), Spencer Adams (152), Chayse Eby (182), Zach Doan (220) and Mitchell Daigle (285) each finished second.

Colony placed 19 grapplers in the top 4. The Knights had a wrestler finish in the top 2 in all but one weight class.

The tournament featured both round-robin and bracketed classes. Hopkins and Haan each finished first in eight-man brackets, while the other five Knights who won weight classes were first in a round-robin class. Hopkins beat Wasilla’s Logan Albrecht 6-0 in the 126-pound final. Haan secured a second-round pin of Soldotna’s Hunter Bourgeois to earn a win during the 160-pound final.

Wasilla finished third in the tournament with 127 points. The Warriors, who also sent a squad to the John Tobin Invitational in North Pole on Saturday, had eight wrestlers place in the top 4. That group was led by Zech Rockstad, who won the 285-pound class.

The Palmer Moose sent their varsity team to North Pole. But Palmer senior Ben Button made his season debut at the Colony Invitational. Button, a defending state champion, had missed the first two months of the season due to an injury he suffered during the prep football season. Saturday, Button finished 3-0 to win the round-robin class at 220 pounds.

Colony Invitational

Saturday, Colony High School

Team scores:

1. Colony 260; 2. Soldotna 152; 3. Wasilla 127; 4. Eagle River 94.5; 5. Kenai 64; 6. Dimond 59; 7. Palmer 55.

Individual results:

98 pounds — 1. R. Zimmerman, Col; 2. G. Whisman, Col; 3. B. Rogers, Dim; 4. A. Wolfert, ER; 113 — 1. A. Craig, Sol; 2. S. Sisco, Col; 4. W. Salter, ER; 5. D. Colley, Col; 120 — S. Hutchison, Sol; 2, J. Divelbiss, Dim; 3. C. Alexander, Was; 4. G. Barkhurst, ER; 126 — 1. C. Hopkins, Col; 2. L. Albrecht, Was; 3. W. Spencer, Col; 4. J. Toth, ER; 132 — 1. R. Winter, Sol; 2. T. Newland, Was; 3. J. Watkins, Pal; 4. J. Lautrup, Col; 138 — 1. J. Nero, Col; 2. E. Villasenor, Dim; 3. B. Easley, Col; 145 — M. Amico, ER; 2. T. Loutzenhiser, Col; 3. A. Newland, Was; 4. A. Spangler, Was; 152 — 1. E. Steffensen, Ken; 2. S. Adams, Col; 3. M. Prado, ER; 4. E. Daman, Sol; 160 — R. Haan, Col; 2. H. Bourgeois, Sol; 3. E. Hall, Was; 4. B. Dyer, Pal; 170 — 1. D. Nash, Col; 2. D. Carter, Ken; 3. B. Knighten, Col; 4. A. Rabb, Dim; 182 — 1. K. Nash, Col; 2. C. Eby, Col; 3. J. Gallagher, Sol; 4. C. Minnick, Was; 195 — 1. I. Christy, Col; 2. S. Hill, Sol; 3. R. French, Sol; 4. C. Gagnon, Was; 220 — 1. B. Button, Pal; 2. Z. Doan, Col; 3. T. Macrae, Sol; 4. D. Denter, ER; 285 — 1. Z. Rockstad, Was; 2. M. Daigle, Col; 3. Z. Koziczkowski, Ken; 4. D. Best, Sol.