Peaking at the right time

DARRELL L. BREESE/ Frontiersman reporter

ANCHORAGE - Houston junior Matt Gardner hasn't been having the kind of season he hoped for, with a 17-14 record heading into the Kachemak Conference wrestling championships Saturday.

And midway through the first period of the championship bout in the 145-pound division it appeared his dreams of securing a second straight conference title were slipping away.

But then with one swift kick of his leg, things turned around.

Somehow Gardner escaped the cradle hold of Anchorage Christian School's Nolan Willis and went on to become one of four Houston wrestlers to win individual titles. Thang Veng (103) Chris Hansen (171) and Clinton Banzhaf (215) were the other Hawks crowned as champions.

&#8220I was beat,” Gardner said. &#8220I told myself that I wasn't going to get pinned, so I kicked as hard as I could and the next thing I knew I was free.”

Gardner was not only free from the hold, but he also found a way to turn Willis to his back.

&#8220I rolled free and right into the perfect pinning hold,” Gardner said. &#8220That really changed the whole match around. I wish I could have pinned him there, but the period ended.”

He did manage to cruise to a 10-4 victory thanks to the big turn-around.

&#8220It was a big win for me,” Gardner said. &#8220He has beaten me all four times we wrestled this season, including a pair of overtime wins.”

In the final stretch of the season, Gardner now sees his record as 3-0.

&#8220I'm putting the regular season behind me,” Gardner said. &#8220I'm undefeated when it counts this season.”

&#8220That's typical of Matt,” Houston coach Chris Roggie said. &#8220Its tournament time and he is a fierce competitor when things are on the line.”

Veng, a freshman, started off the championship matches with an 11-1 win over Seward's Scott Reierson, giving up a point for locking his hands with eight seconds remaining in the match. It was the only point he surrendered during the tournament.

Hansen dominated Nathan Buck of Anchorage Christian School for the 171-pound division title. He scored the initial takedown 30 seconds into the match, and proceeded to roll to a 12-1 victory.

Banzhaf, who was the top seed in the 215-pound division, faced off with a familiar foe in Sam Beecher of Anchorage Christian. It was the sixth time the pair had wrestled and Banzhaf recorded his fifth win, with an 11-2 decision.

Bradd Erickson and Justin Allmaras also represented the Hawks in the championship finals, but they both lost and brought home the silver second-place medals. Erickson lost to Cody Beck of Seward, allowing the Seahawks to slip past Houston for second place in the team competition.

When the final whistle blew, the Hawks were 2.5 points behind Seward with 148.5 total points and settled for third. Host Anchorage Christian School tallied 211.5 points to claim the team title.

&#8220We came in with the goal of finishing second, &#8220Roggie said. &#8220And I'm a little disappointed we just missed it. But on the other hand we have 10 of the 14 wrestlers on the team advancing to the state tournament. I'm happy about that.”

Joining the four champions and two runners-up at the state tournament will be Jon Stinson (125), Kent Locken (140), Jeremy Grube (189) and Justin Bowman (275).

Roggie, who has built the Houston program into a contender for the conference title, was named coach of the year by the other coaches in the conference.

Justin Tumbaga of Nikiski was named wrestler of the year, despite a loss to Cody Dunbar of Anchorage Christian School in Saturday's final.

The Class 1-2-3A state championship wrestling tournament will be held at Wasilla Multi-Use Sports Center starting Friday. Opening round matches begin at 9 a.m., while championship matches are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

Contact Darrell L. Breese at 352-2267 or at darrell.breese@

frontiersman.com.