Palmer continues strong season with Colony Invite win

PALMER — Palmer picked up a crucial team victory Saturday night, placing seven wrestlers into the finals of Saturday’s Colony Invitational.

The Moose won the Colony Invite with 192 points, out-pacing cross-town rival and host Colony, which finished second with 170.5. Service (158.5), East (134.5) and Kodiak (122) rounded out the top-5, with Valley rival Wasilla placing sixth with 88.5 team points.

Of the seven Moose in the finals, two walked away with individual titles.

This win comes at an especially important time for the Moose. After playing second fiddle in the Valley to Colony and Wasilla in recent years, Palmer now has depth and talent in a program that is racking up tournament titles. The next title in the eyes of Palmer head coach Dale Ewart is the Northern Lights Conference Championships, which PHS hosts late in the season.

“We started making the turn last year,” Ewart said. “We beat Colony in all three duals last year and placed higher than them in all the tournaments. They’ve beat us in two duals this year. The region as a whole has been tough.”

Mason Cochran and Caleb Nielsen led the Moose with individual championships. Cochran won at 120, while Nielsen took gold at 182.

Overall, 14 Valley wrestlers advanced to the finals. In addition to the Palmer pair, Bryce Adams won the title at 98 pounds for Colony. Billy Shultz won at 195 for Wasilla.

After the final round started with three quick pins, Cochran had to last all three periods against Service’s Joshua Fetko to win a 6-3 decision.

“I assumed I was going to be in the finals, but I knew it was going to be a tough match,” Cochran said. “I think it’s huge that I got a win in this tournament because I’ll definitely have a good chance going into regions.”

Palmer senior Luke Heun lost his final, a 9-2 decision to Rilen Skieens of Service at 160 pounds. Heun spent much of the match battling Skieens, a defending state champion, from his back.

“I was really happy,” Ewart said. “He’s real tough. Luke caught him on his back had him scrambling in a 7-2 match with a state champ.”

In an all-Valley final, Nielsen battled Colony’s Austin Rench at 182. Nielsen earned an early takedown, but Rench would earn a point for an escape and tie the score on a penalty point for stalling. When the match went to overtime, Rench was visibly exhausted. Time and time again, Nielsen worked Rench near the edge of the mat and moved in for a take down, only to be called out of bounds and have to start all over again. Frustration set in for Nielsen, but he was able to move on and score the win on a takedown in double overtime.

“It came down to him doing what he needed to do to get the win,” Ewart said. “He outworked his opponent.”

Joel Ryno of Palmer lost to Shultz at 195 in another exciting all-Valley final match.

Ben Button and Collin Benedixen also lost in the finals for Palmer. Blake Marks made the final for Wasilla at 145. Spencer Adams of Colony lost in the finals at 132.

Colony Invitational

Saturday, Colony High School

Team scores:

1. Palmer 192, 2. Colony 170.5, 3. Service 158.5, 4. East 134.5, 5. Kodiak 122, 6. Wasilla 88.5, 7. Eagle River 71, 8. Thunder Mountain 60, 9. Bartlett 47, 10. South 33.5.

Championship finals:

98 pounds — Adams, C pinned Conrad, P 1:07; 106 — Willard, E pinned Valdez, K 1:19; 113 — Caballa, K pinned Nero, C 1:32; 120 — Cochran, P dec. Felko S 6-3; 126 — Nanez, S dec. Burris K 6-4; 132 — Pounds, S maj. dec. Adams, C 8-0; 138 — Sierra, E pinned Bendixen, P 4:44; 145 — Florence, ER dec. Marks, W 4-2; 152 — Thammavongsa, S pinned Horton, ER 5:11; 160 — Skeens, S dec. Heun, P 9-2; 170 — Wiggins, E dec. Dunbar, S 7-0; 182 — Nielsen, P dec. Rench, C 4-2 2OT; 195 — Schultz, W dec. Ryno, P 4-2; 220 — Zorea, S maj. dec. Button, P 11-2; 285 — Sega, K dec. King, E 12-8.

Third-place match:

106 pounds — Hoffman, S wins with a bye; 113 — Sanders, P dec. Simpson S 5-1; 120 — Fannon, C win with a bye; 126 — Molesky, P maj. dec. Fannon, C 12-2; 132 — Amold, ER pinned Campbell, W 3:30; 138 — Lucas, C wins with a bye; 145 — Ray, C dec. Taylor TM 13-7; 152 — Molesky, P wins with a bye; 160 — Sosa, E dec. Marquez, E 7-5; 170 — Sweinehart, P dec. Pavitt, TM 7-0; 182 — Rockstad, W pinned Gold, E 5;49; 195 — Bigley, K pinned Braudis, B 1:24; 220 — MacKenzie, C dec. Wandersee, K 8-1; 285 — Johnson, TM inj. Smith, E 3:00.