Knights win six weight classes, Lancer Smith Memorial team title

PALMER — Colony used a half-dozen wins during the championship round to cruise to the team title of the Lancer Smith Memorial wrestling tournament at Palmer High School on Saturday.

Isaac Moore upset defending state champion Matthew Malnoske, of East Anchorage, in the 112-pound final and was the first of six CHS wrestlers to win their weight class at the annual tournament named for Lancer Smith, a former Palmer wrestling coach and member of the Alaska Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Wilson used a 5-3 win to upset the top-seeded Malnoske, who won a state title at 103 last season.

Kyle Wilson (125), Sam Loggins (130), Josh West (140), Kenny Boykin (160) and Eric Fan (215) also won their weight classes for the two-time defending 4A state champions.

The Knights, who posted 267.5 total points during the two-day tourney, placed 10 grapplers in the final round.

Warren Milke (103), Charles Coisman (119), Angelo Bellotte (189) and Thad Muetz each finished second.

Skyler Moore, of East Anchorage, needed double-overtime to slip past Coisman at 119. Wasilla’s Chris Crane edged Bellotte 3-1 at 189.

Crane was one of five individual champions for the Warriors, who finished second in the team standings with 177.5 points.

Abe Fox (103), Chris Gross (135), Casey Katchinska (171) and Jed Johnson (285) also won their weight classes for the Warriors.

Gross, a state qualifier at 130 last year, beat two of the top three wrestlers in his weight class to finish first at 135.

Gross edged the top-seed, Parker Lennihan of Chugiak, 7-6 in the semifinals on Friday. On Saturday, he beat Skyview’s Austin Tennis, the third seed, 7-5 in the finals.

The host Palmer Moose placed a pair of wrestlers in the finals and finished seventh overall with 62.5 points.

Seniors Nick Stahler (140) and Sam Heindel (171) both finished second.

Senior Justin Crowley led the Houston Hawks with a second-place finish at 215. Fan beat Crowley 9-3 in the final.

Next weekend the four Valley wrestling squads will hit three different tournaments.

Houston and Palmer make the trip to Cordova to compete in the Cordova Invitational. Colony is slated to head to the Interior for the Bill Tobin Invitational at North Pole High School. Wasilla is scheduled to travel south to participate in the North/South Invitational at Soldotna High School.

Lancer Smith Memorial

Friday-Saturday, Palmer

Team scores: 1. Colony 267.50, 2. Wasilla 177.50, 3. Skyview 124, 4. Chugiak 118, 5. Soldotna 97, 6. Valdez 63, 7. Palmer 62.50, 8. Houston 59, 9. East Anchorage 56.50, 10. Kodiak 47.50, 11. Anchorage Christian 34, 12. Glennallen 7, 13. Tok 0.

Final round:

103 pounds — 1. A. Fox, Was d. W. Milke, Col 8-2; 112 — I. Wilson, Col d. M. Malnoske, Col 5-3; 119 — S. Moore, East d. C. Coisman, Col 3-2 2OT; 125 — K. Wilson, Col m.d. B. Sullivan, Chu 10-2; 130 — S. Loggins, Col m.d. J. Brown, Was 8-0; 135 — C. Gross, Was d. A. Tennis, Sky 7-5; 140 — J. West, Col d. N. Stahler, Pal 7-0; 145 — G. Sullivan, Chu p. T. VanMatre, Kod 1:10; 152 — D. Henry, Chug m.d. C. Pempek, Was 13-5; 160 — K. Boykin, Col d. B. Price, Sol 6-2; 171 — C. Katchinska, Was d. S. Heindel, Pal 9-4; 189 — C. Crane, Was d. A. Bellotte, Col 3-1; 215 — E. Fan, Col d. J. Crowley, Hou 9-3; 285 — J. Johnson, Was p. T. Muetz, Col 1:58.

Consolation finals:

103 pounds — 1. G. Loggins, Col d. C. Miller, Was 6-1; 112 — B. Wilson, Sky d. C. Ivanoff, Kod 9-3; 112 — W. Koch-Fuxa p. N. Wharton, Chu 1:50; 125 — L. Charters, ACS d. D. Maciariello, Sky 6-2; 130 — M. Downing, Val d. D. Brandon, ACS 11-7; 135 — P. Lennihan, Chu m.d. M. Ace, Val 18-4; 140 — N. VanMatre, Kod d. N. Brockman, Glen 13-7; 145 — J. Phieffer, Col d. A. Smith, Col 8-3; 152 — J. Thomas, Sky d. J. Fujimoto, Col 2-1; 160 — J. Allen, Val p. J. Berzanske, Sky 1:22; 171 — J. White, Was p. T. Edwards, Col 4:30; 189 — R. Kelley, Pal p. K. Mahan, Sky 0:54; 215 — J. Cumley, Sol p. R. Pomrenke, Was 1:16; 285 — N. Strieby, Sol d. R. Gingras, East 7-4.