New coach to lead Knights

PALMER — Former Colony High wrestling coach Dave Booth has moved south with his family. But the level of success of Colony’s state championship caliber wrestling program is not expected to go south anytime soon.

Booth, who led the Knights to one state title as a head coach and was an assistant coach on three Colony state championship teams, stepped down from his position following the 2011-12 season and moved with his family to Hawaii just days after the school year. Replacing Booth is Colony assistant Todd Hopkins.

Recently, Booth said he expect great things for the Hopkins-led Knights.

“I think he’ll be fantastic,” Booth said by cellphone from his new home in Hawaii earlier this month. “I would not say there is another person as into wrestling as Todd. He lives the sport.”

Hopkins has been a teacher at Colony High for the last seven years and has served as an assistant on the wrestling staff since 2010. The Seldovia native has also been a part of the very successful Tri-Valley Club youth wrestling program in the Valley since 2006. Hopkins holds bronze level certification through USA wrestling and also served as a volunteer assistant coach at Bozeman High School in Bozeman, Mont., for four seasons.

Hopkins is a graduate of Montana State University in Bozeman.

“We’re excited to bring Todd in as our new wrestling coach at Colony High School,” Colony High principal Cyd Duffin said in a press release. “He has earned the respect of the wrestling community in the Valley through his dedication to the sport of wrestling.”

While Hopkins is heading into his tenure as the Colony head coach, Booth — a longtime wrestling coach in Alaska — said he stayed away from taking an official position for a while.

“I might spend some time volunteering, but it might be nice to be able to watch,” Booth said. “I’ve been coaching in the Valley for 12 years. I’ve been a coach for 15 years, a long time. I’ll miss it, but I’m not going to cry over it.”

Booth’s children are also wrestlers.

Booth, a graduate of Palmer High and a former Moose wrestler, coached in a number of programs during his time in the Valley. He was either an assistant or a head coach during Colony’s run of four straight state championships. Booth started as an assistant in 2005 and was named head coach in 2009.

Booth also served as an assistant coach at Teeland Middle School, Palmer Junior Middle School and Palmer High School.

Booth said his family vacationed in Hawaii, and often thought about relocating.

“We just decided it’d be neat to try something different,” Booth said. “I’ve lived in Alaska for 40 years.”

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