Mother Nature 1, Valley teams 0

MAT-SU — Thursday’s freezing rain did more than close up shop for Mat-Su Borough School District schools, it also tossed a large monkey wrench into the prep sports schedules.

District policy says that when classes are cancelled, so are all other activities, including sporting events and travel to games and tournaments. That left the Colony, Palmer and Wasilla hockey teams home in the Valley instead of traveling for a weekend of peninsula games.

If school is in session Friday, the plan is to travel to the peninsula and play a pair of games today, and Saturday’s regularly scheduled game, said Palmer head coach Eric Troisi. If they can’t travel, though, the teams will still look for opportunities to make up those games, he said.

“I don’t know what the plan will be,” he said. “I think you definitely have to play them, they’re region games, so you have to figure that out.”

Although disappointing, the overall goal of maintaining student safety has to be achieved, Troisi said. If the roads are very slick and dangerous Friday, he would understand another cancellation of classes.

“I was at the post office today, and I’ve been on skates all my life, and I was slipping all over the place,” he said.

Houston was also scheduled for a pair of home games against Glenallen tonight and Saturday, but a weather cancellation of school would nix those games as well.

Cross-country skiing

In an ironic twist, the one winter sport that doesn’t totally frown on inclement weather — cross-country skiing — is another casualty of Mother Nature’s ice storm. That’s because the weather forced the cancellation of the Homer Invite, where Colony, Palmer and Wasilla ski teams were scheduled to compete. Those races were moved to the Tsalteshi Trails behind Skyview High School, but the Valley squads already have another plan, said Palmer head coach Mark Strabel.

If school isn’t cancelled, the teams will be part of Nordic ski races at the Government Peak Recreation Area. High school races are slated for Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. On Sunday, the University of Alaska Anchorage and Fairbanks, along with skiers from Alaska Pacific University, will compete in a mixed skier classic relay.

Valley high school skiers, along with Valdez and Grace Christian School, will being a 5-kilometer freestyle race at 2 p.m., Friday and do a 5-k classic race at 11 a.m., Saturday. The college mixed, classic relay will start at 11 a.m., Sunday.

Wrestling

One program left in limbo as of Thursday evening is the Houston wrestling squad, scheduled to travel to Nikiski for its 123A regional wrestling tournament. If classes are cancelled Friday, school district policy will prohibit Houston from traveling to the regional. If the tournament moves ahead as scheduled, it could mean Houston wrestlers would forfeit their matches and their chances to qualify for next weekend’s state tournament.

Closer to home, Thursday’s dual match between Valley rivals Wasilla and Palmer was also cancelled.

UPDATE: Classes are in session Friday, and Valley schools were cleared to travel to and host sports events. That means Houston left this morning to Nikiski for the Kachemak Conference Championships.

As of this posting, that tournament is moving through its first rounds. Due to a lack of competitors at 98 pounds, Houston’s Kavan Weinberger has already advanced to the region semifinals with a pair of byes. He’ll face Jadzia Martin of Homer, who also advanced with two byes.

Also on are a slew of hockey games between Valley and Kenai Peninsula teams down south. To make up for missing Thursday games, Palmer and Colony are playing two games today, while Wasilla will play a game today and a pair of games on Saturday.

As of this posting, Palmer had lost its first game against Kenai 7-1, and is set to face off with Soldotna at 6:15 p.m. Colony came from behind in the third period to beat Soldotna 2-1 and will play Kenai at 8:30 p.m.

Wasilla will play Homer today, then Soldotna (1 p.m.) and Kenai (6:15 p.m.) on Saturday, while both Colony and Palmer will round out their peninsula trip with games against Homer.

Closer to home, the Houston hockey team is a go to host Glenallen at the Big Lake Lions Club Rec Center in back-to-back games tonight and Saturday.