Prep grapplers hit the mats

Dec. 8, 2006

By Jeremiah Bartz/ Frontiersman

WASILLA - More than 200 grapplers hit the mats today, marking the start of the 2006 ASAA 1-2-3A State Wrestling

Championships.

The event, hosted by Houston High School at the Wasilla Multi-Use Sports Complex, features two days of action, culminated by the championship finals scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Friday.

The small-schools state wrestling championships is one of the most diverse athletic high school athletic events on the schedule, featuring student-athletes from populated areas such as Anchorage, Fairbanks and the Mat-Su Valley as well as remote villages such as New Stuyahok, Akiachak and Klawock.

Seven Houston Hawks earned spots in the state tournament. The cast includes one region champion, sophomore Jon Stinson.

Stinson was one of two Houston wrestlers to reach the finals of the Kachemak

Conference championships last week, and posted the win in the last match of the 135-pound class.

Senior Blake Elder was the runner-up at 152.

Joining Stinson and Elder in the state tournament this weekend are Rachel Shannon (112 pounds), Cass Melin (140), Matt Gardner (160), Justin Crowley (160) and Garrett Mooney (275).

Houston finished fourth in the team standings of the region tournament. Houston head coach Chris Roggie said he would to see his squad post a top-10 finish at the state meet.

&#8220We'd be pretty excited if we could do that,” Roggie said.

Gardner is the only one of the seven Houston wrestlers to have placed in the event last year. As a junior, Gardner finished fourth in the 145-pound class.

The bracket features two other wrestlers who placed in the top five last season. New Stuyhok's Mike Gumlickpuck finished fourth at 152 last year, and D.J. Linstrom, of Hoonah, finished fifth at 160.

Gardner saw both Linstrom and Gumlickpuck at the Anchorage Christian School Invitational earlier this season.

Linstrom scored a third-round pin against Gardner during the semifinals, while Gumlickpuck pinned Gardner during the second round of the consolation finals.

The ACS tourney is thought of by many as a preview of the small-school state meet.

Elder finished second in the ACS Invite. He pinned Hutchison's James Gillen, a region champion in the Denali Conference, in the semifinals.

For a complete list of the wrestlers in the event, see Page B8.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.