Palmer High grappler first at national tournament

Trevor Pempek, one of the leading grapplers on the Palmer High squad as just a sophomore, extended his success from the Alaska wrestling scene to the national circuit.

Pempek won his weight class in the Northwest Cadet Regional Championships in Battleground, Wash., late last month. The tournament is a qualifier for the U.S. Cadet National Championships.

"I am really happy," Pempek said. "This is the first outside tournament that had wrestlers from a lot of states, that I actually won."

Athletes from 11 states participated in the event.

Pempek won each of his 13 matches during the two-day event and placed first in the 152-pound weight bracket of the 15- and 16-year-old age division.

What is unique about the Cadet tournament is that is features both Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling. Pempek said wrestlers drew for seedings and wrestled Greco on one day and freestyle the next. Participants wrestled in seven rounds each day. Pempek received a bye on the first day.

Pempek needed overtime to win the freestyle portion of the tournament. With the scored tied 2-2, Pempek was awarded a pair of overtime points after his opponent broke his lock and was pushed out of the ring by Pempek. In freestyle, a form of wrestling that is very different from the more conventional collegiate style, wrestlers lock up. Whomever breaks the lock hands the opponent a point. Wrestlers can also score by pushing the opponent out of the ring.

In the finals of the Greco portion of the event, Pempek earned a pin. The Palmer High grappler was ahead 9-1 when he notched the fall.

Pempek, who placed second in the 4A state championship in the 145-pound class in February, said he tries to go to at least two tournaments outside the state each year. In addition to the Cadet Regionals, Pempek has also competed in a Tri-State tournament in Coure D'Alane, Idaho.

To prepare for the Cadet Regionals, Pempek spent a week in Idaho working with his uncle, a wrestling coach in Bonners Ferry, Idaho. Pempek trained with another wrestler, Adam Hall throughout the week. Hall is coached by Pempek's uncle in Idaho.

Another standout from Alaska, Eli Hutchinson, placed third in the Rocky Mountain Regional Championships last month.

The Skyview junior competed in the 130-pound bracket of the freestyle wrestling tournament.