Matinee

PALMER — At some points during the prep wrestling season, the average crowd consists mostly of other wrestlers. There may be a few parents, but aside from the final round of the major tournaments, the typical wrestling crowd is far from standing-room only.

But on Thursday, the Colony Knights and Wasilla Warriors had the chance to hit the mat in front of a full house.

Colony hosted Wasilla in an afternoon dual in front of its student body on Thursday.

“I thought it was a pretty big deal. It got our kids pumped up for the match,” said senior Eric Fan, who sparked a raucous ovation from the Colony student body when he pinned Wasilla’s Ryan Pomrenke during the first period of the 215-pound match. “I thought it was a lot of fun for the team. It’s good to see our peers watching wrestling.”

It’s the second year that the Valley rivals — programs that make up the last six 4A state team champions — have met in an afternoon dual while school was in sessions. Wasilla hosted last year, and both program hope it becomes a signature event in the Mat-Su rivalry.

“It’s good. It gets the kids involved. They get to see wrestling,” Wasilla head coach Shawn Hayes said. “A lot of these kids who are here during the day never get the chance to come to after-school events.”

Not only does the event expose other students to the sport, Colony head coach Dave Booth said it generates excitement amongst the athletes.

“They were excited,” Booth said. “This is the biggest crowd, besides state. It’s great.”

Colony won nine matches en route to scoring the 47-16 dual win over the Warriors on its home mat.

Colony’s Fan, Renn Wright (285), Noah Roetman (103) and Gabe Loggins (125) each pinned their opponents. Sam Loggins (135) and Kyle Boss (135) scored major decisions, while Isaac Wilson (112), Charles Coisman (125) and Nate Wolfe (152) each won by decision.

Booth noted Wolfe’s work specifically.

“I wrestled him up a weight class and we beat a tough kid,” Booth said of Wolfe’s 5-4 win over Brad George at 152.

A Wolfe takedown late in the second period proved to be the difference in the match. Wolfe led 5-3 in the third, and George escaped the grasp of Wolfe with less than 30 seconds left in regulation, but Wolfe was able to maintain the lead for the final seconds of the match.

Ben Fujimoto also won by forfeit for Colony.

Jeremy White (189), Josh Brown (130), Derek Johnsen (140) and Jacob Marshall (171) won matches for Wasilla.

Johnsen and Marshall both won in come-from-behind fashion.

Johnsen, who trailed Chad Lowery in the second period, broke way to score an escape point with less than 10 seconds left in regulation to edge Lowery 7-6.

Marshall recovered from a 7-4 second-period deficit to beat Knutson 12-9.

“He’s been wrestling Ryan for two years now, having a rough time with him,” Hayes said of Marshall. “It’s nice to see him pull off a win.”

Colony and Wasilla are both scheduled to compete at the Glen Vandergaw Invite, which starts today at Dimond High School. Wasilla is hosting the Northern Lights Conference championships Dec. 4-5.

Colony 47, Wasilla 16

Thursday, Colony High School

189 — J. White, Was p. T. Farber, Col 3:54; 215 — E. Fan, Col p. R. Pomrenke, Was 2:43; 285 — R. Wright, Col p. D. Green, Was 2:56; 103 — N. Roetman, Col p. C. Minnick, Was 2:37; 112 — I. Wilson, Col d. C. Miller, Was 6-3; 119 — C. Coisman, Col d. T. Adams, Was 11-5; 125 — G. Loggins, Col p. C. Lowe, Was 2:59; 130 — J. Brown, Was m.d. L. Faulkner, Col 10-0; 135 — S. Loggins, Col m.d. J. Diederich, Was 17-8; 140 — D. Johnson, Was d. C. Lowery, Col 7-6; 145 — K. Boss, Col m.d. D. Jacobson, Was 16-3; 152 — N. Wolfe, Col d. B. George, Was 5-4; 160 — B. Fujimoto, Col won by fft; 171 — J. Marshall, Was d. R. Knutson, Col 12-9.

Valley wrestlers

hold top spots

PALMER — Four Mat-Su Valley wrestlers are ranked first in their weight class according to the latest poll compiled by akmat.org.

The Alaska wrestling Web site touts Wasilla’s Abe Fox (103) and Caleb Pempek (152), and Colony’s Kenny Boykin (171) and Eric Fan (215) as the best of their class.

Colony, the three-time defending state champion, is listed first in the 4A team standings. Wasilla is fifth.

4A wrestling rankings

Compiled by akmat.org

Team rankings

1. Colony, 2. North Pole, 3. South Anchorage, 4. Lathrop, 5. Wasilla.

103 pounds — 1. Abe Fox, Wasilla; 2. Nathan Marquez, East; 3. Hope Steffenson, Kenai; 4. Noah Roetman, Colony; 5. Gage Wright, North Pole; 6. Elisha Fields, Kodiak.

112 — 1. Dillon Achman, Lathrop; 2. Isaac Wilson, Colony; 3. Johnny Hogenson, South; 4. Cody Decker, North Pole; 5. Cole Miller, Wasilla; 6. Adam Wood, North Pole.

119 — 1. Joe Hughes, Lathrop; 2. Charles Coisman, Colony; 3. Ross Sanford, Ketchikan; 4. Tyler Adams, Wasilla; 5. Bryce Wilson, Skyview; 6. Brent Amos, South.

125 — 1. Matt Malnoske, East; 2. Eric Tupper, Lathrop; 3. Luke Falkner, Colony; 4. Jacob Russell, South; 5. Jufer Librando, Juneau; 6. LJ Leppanen, Palmer.

130 — 1. Skyler Moore, East; 2. Sam Loggins, Colony; 3. Ian Fultz, Ketchikan; 4. Josh Brown, Wasilla; 5. Kyle Curry, Lathrop; 6. Jered Kemp, Palmer.

135 — 1. Ben Sullivan, Chugiak; 2. Jake Rahlfs, North Pole; 3. Chad Lowery, Colony; 4. Taylor Osborne, Lathrop; 5. Cody Carroll, Soldotna; 6. Dominic Smith, North Pole.

140 — 1. Nathan Hoffer, East; 2. Chase Montgomery, Colony; 3. Derek Johnson, Wasilla; 4. Chris Frazier, North Pole; 5. Austin Tennis, Skyview; 6. Ken Banning, Service.

145 — 1. Grant Sullivan, Chugiak; 2. Luke Shelley, South; 3. Drake McGraw, Dimond; 4. Kevin Jutila, North Pole; 5. Nick Gordon, Service; 6. Jacob Shangin, South.

152 — 1. Caleb Pempek, Wasilla; 2 Trent Lemons, Lathrop; 3. Mitch Wyatt, Homer; 4. Ben Nix, Dimond; 5. Jared Thomas, Skyview; 6. Mike Miranda, Dimond.

160 — 1. Eric Antesberger, North Pole; 2. Buddy Pressler, West; 3. Fred Pollard, Skyview; 4. Nathan Such, Chugiak; 5. Ryan Knutson, Colony; 6. Jacob Marshall, Wasilla.

171 — 1. Kenny Boykin, Colony; 2. Kyle Kirn, South; 3. Trent Shepersky, North Pole; 4. Steve Lawson, Skyview; 5. Kyle Lefew, Service; 6. Jesse Hamilton, East.

189 — 1. Stephen Ellis, Service; 2. Dan Wilson, East; 3. Ross Morehouse, South; 4. Garrett Morrison, Chugiak; 5. Jeremy White, Wasilla; 6. Jacob Johnson, Wasilla.

215 — 1. Eric Fan, Colony; 2. Andy Enz, Service; 3. Nick Archuleta, South; 4. Nathaniel Williams, Eagle River; 5. Leo Parsley, Dimond; 6. Mike Eyre, Skyview.

285 — 1. Nathan Strieby, Soldotna; 2. Caleb Green, Bartlett; 3. Anthony Antonio, Kodiak; 4. Renn Wright, Colony; 5. Dillon Short, South; 6. Jason Jeffords, Service.