Local teams sweep top spots at duals championships

ANCHORAGE — In a meet controlled by the Northern Lights Conference, Valley teams rose to the top.

Wasilla, part of an all-NLC semifinal round, beat a pair of conference rivals to win the Alaska State Duals Championships at South Anchorage High School Saturday.

Wasilla edged Colony 32-29 in the final dual after beating Kodiak 48-21 in the semifinals. The Knights finished as the runners-up and Palmer was third in the 16-team duals meet.

Wasilla head coach Shawn Hayes said he was surprised to see the Valley, and the NLC, do so well in the tournament.

“I knew any one of us could probably be in the finals,” Hayes said. “It was pretty cool.”

Despite missing about four wrestlers on their top line to injury, the Warriors were able to slip past their cross-town rival. Bryan McKimson and Logan Albrecht scored key decisions late in the dual to help the Warriors preserve the win. With the team score tied at 26, McKimson beat Colony’s Bryan Adams 5-2 in the 98-pound class. Albrecht followed with a 2-1 win over Colony’s Soren Simpson.

Shannon Carpenter (126 pounds) and Ryker Steiner (132) each pinned their opponents to give the Warriors an early lead. Nate McKimson (145), Blake Marks (152), Hayden Seltenreich (170) and Billy Shultz (195) also earned wins for the Warriors.

Hayes also praised the work of DJ Morrow, who suffered a loss to Colony’s Simon Root, one of the state’s top wrestlers, at 160.

“We bumped him up from 152 and he wrestled tough,” Hayes said. “I don’t know if he ever went to his back. That’s a big deal, not to give up points.”

Hayes not giving up the extra points (six team points are awarded for a pin, compared to four for a major decision or three for a straight decision) is a reason why Wasilla was able to prevail.

Sawyer Root, with a major decision at 182, joined Simon Root in the win column. Chance Fannon (120), Kamber Lucas (138), Ian MacKenzie (220), Mitchell Daigle (285) and Jordan Nero (113) also scored wins for Colony.

Wasilla beat Kodiak, the defending NLC champions, 48-21 in the semifinals. Hayes noted a few key matches in that dual.

Andrew Shannon upset Levi Fried, the top-ranked wrestler in the state, 5-3 in the 120-pound match.

Carpenter, who suffered a number of losses to Kodiak’s Eddy Burris last year, pinned Burris in the second period of the 126-pound match.

Colony beat rival Palmer 48-29 in the semifinals. Nero (113), Spencer Adams (132), Lucas (138), Christopher Ray (145), Root (160), Adams (98) and Simpson (106) all recorded pins for the Knights.

Wyatt McGann (126), Masen Swineheart (170), Coleman Smith (195) and Ben Button (285) recorded pins for the Moose.

Button scored a 15-7 major decision over South’s Jeramie Augafa to lead Palmer to a 40-39 come-from-behind victory over the Wolverines in the third-place dual. Palmer trailed 39-36 heading into the final, and needed the major decision, worth four points in the team standings, to win the dual.

Wasilla opened action with a 77-6 win over NLC rival Kenai in the first round, and followed with a 48-33 victory over East Anchorage to move into the semifinals. Colony beat South/Service 63-10 in the first round and North Pole 62-16.

Palmer set a state duals record in the first round with an 87-0 win over Dimond. Palmer recorded 10 pins in the win. The Moose also beat South 40-37 in the quarterfinals.

South edged Kodiak in the consolation semifinals, and settled for fifth. East finished sixth, while Service and North Pole rounded out the top eight.

Hayes said he looks forward to the duals championships every year.

“It’s my favorite one of the whole year,” the longtime Wasilla head coach said. “(South head coach) Tom Ritchie puts on a great tournament. It’s far enough into the season, we all have kids down to weight for the most part. It’s great to match up and see where you’re at.”

Hayes reminded the duals championships are still far different than the Alaska state tournament, slated for early February. He said he expects Valley teams to continue to be tough, but a few other programs will also be in the mix.

“I know South and Service are contenders. I think that there is still a lot of season, a lot of things left,” Hayes said.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com and find him by searching Valley Sports Huddle on Facebook.

Alaska State Duals Championships

Friday-Saturday, South High

Final team standings:

1. Wasilla; 2. Colony; 3. Palmer; 4. South; 5. Kodiak; 6. East; 7. Service; 8. North Pole.

Championship dual:

Wasilla 32, Colony 29

120 pounds — Chan. Fannon, d. A. Shannon, Was 9-8; 126 — S. Carpenter, Was p. Chase Fannon, Col 4:38; 132 — R. Steiner, Was p. S. Adams, Col 4:38; 138 — K. Lucas, Col p. P. Inglet, Was 0:23; 145 — N. McKimson, Was d. C. Ray, Col OT 8-6; 152 — B. Marks, Was d. R. Fredrickson, Col 10-7; 160 — Si. Root, Col m.d. D. Morrow, Was 14-5; 170 — H. Seltenreich, Was d. Z. Doan, Col 4-2; 182 — Sa. Root, Col m.d. M. Dobbs, Was 11-1; 195 — B. Schultz, Was t.f. Sil. Root, Col 15-0; 220 — I. MacKenzie, Col d. Q. Wright, Was 3-1; 285 — M. Daigle, Was p. S. Imhof, Was 3:17; 98 — B. McKimson, Was d. B. Adams, Col 5-2; 106 — L. Albrecht, Was d. S. Simpson, Col 2-1; 113 — J. Nero, Col d. B. Abbott, Was 10-8.

Third-place dual:

Palmer 40, South 39

98 — G. Shack, Sou p. B. Conrad, Pal 1:54; 106 — N. Ottum, Sou inj. fft C. Shelton, Pal; 113 — G. Alvardo, Sou p. J. Sanders, Pal 2:38; 120 — M. Cochran, Pal p. Ni. Ottum, Sou 1:23; 126 — Z. Ritchie, Sou d. W. McGann, Pal 10-5; 132 — L. Foster, Sou p. A. Molesky, Pal 2:34; 138 — K. Hammand, Sou p. C. Bendixen, Pal 1:26; 145 — E. Fouch, Pal d. G. Giordano, Sou 9-6; 152 — H. Molesky, Pal p. G. McSharry, Sou 3:12; 160 — L. Heun, Pal d. N. Hakala, Sou 13-6; 170 — M. Swinehart, Pal p. Z. Fejes, Sou 3:12; 182 — C. Nielsen, Pal won by fft; 195 — C. Smith, Pal inj. fft. E. Wright, Sou; 220 — D. Sauder, Sou p. J. Ryno, Pal 2:51; 285 — B. Button, Pal m.d. J. Augafa, Sou 15-7.

Semifinals:

Colony 48, Palmer 29

113 — J. Nero, Col p. J. Sanders, Pal 3:39; 120 — M. Cochran, Pal d. Chan. Fannon, Col 6-2; 126 — W. McGann, Pal p. Chase Fannon, Col 3:43; 132 — S. Adams, Col p. A. Molesky, Pal 0:52; 138 — K. Lucas, Col p. C. Bendixen, Pal 3:48; 145 — C. Ray, Col p. E. Fouch, Col 5:03; 152 — H. Molesky, Pal d. R. Fredrickson, Col 6-3; 160 — Sim. Root, Col p. L. Heun, Pal 3:09; 170 — M. Swineheart, Pal p. Z. Doan, Col 1:18; 182 — Sa. Root, Col d. C. Nielson, Pal 5-0; 195 — C. Smith, Pal p. A. Knowles, Col 2:23; 220 — I. MacKenzie, Col d. J. Ryno, Pal 6-1; 285 — B. Button, Pal p. M. Diagle, Col 3:17; 98 — B. Adams, Col p. B. Conrad, Pal 2;50; 106 — S. Simpson, Col p. C. Shelton, Pal 0:20.

Wasilla 48, Kodiak 21

98 — B. McKimson, Was p. J. Valdez, Kod 4:00; 106 — J. Valdez, Kod d. L. Albrecht, Was 6-2; 113 — A. Caballa, Kod t.f. B. Abbott, Was 15-0; 120 — A. Shannon, Was d. L. Fried, Kod 5-3; 126 — S. Carpenter, Was p. E. Burris, Kod 2:47; 132 — R. Steiner, Was p. H. Foster, Kod 4:52; 138 — K. Gonzalez, Kod d. P. Inglet, Was 6-4; 145 — N. McKimson, Was m.d. C. White, Kod 15-4; 152 — B. Marks, Was d. J. LeVan, Kod 7-2; 160 — D. Morrow, Was p. J. Lochman, Kod 4:47; 170 — H. Seltenreich, Was t.f. J. Oullette, Kod 15-0; 182 — K. Powers, Kod m.d. M. Dobbs, Was 9-0; 195 — B. Schultz, Was t.f. T. Bigley, Kod 18-2; 220 — Q. Wright, Was m.d. N. Wandersee, Kod 15-5; 285 — S. Sega, Kod p. S. Imhof, Was 5:28.