Prep wrestling: Knights win North-South wrestling tourney; Hawks 2nd at Glennallen

WASILLA — Valley Division I teams used the North-South Invitational as the final test before the region tournament, and Mat-Su powers Colony and Wasilla claimed the top two spots in the team standings.

A half-dozen Knights won their weight class and helped Colony finish first with 297 points. Wasilla, led by a trio of individual champs, was second with 272. Palmer placed fifth in the team standings.

Jared Hopkins (106 pounds), Marcus Riedinger (113), Trace Severson (145), Eric Christy (170), Caleb Hopkins (182) and Brandon Holmes (285) finished first for Colony.

Jack Fuller (98), Andrue Shepersky (152) and Rowdy Bailey (160) placed first for Wasilla. Garrett Blydenbaugh (98), Jason Watkins (160), Levi Farris (170), Jeff Glynn (182) and Christian Kurka (195) led Palmer with second-place finishes.

The tournament used a round-robin format, with a maximum of six wrestlers in each weight class.

Hawks win titles in Glennallen

A trio of Houston Hawks won their weight class during the Glennallen Invitational Saturday in Glennallen.

Heavyweight Dylan Jackson remained undefeated on the season, finishing 5-0 in round-robin action. Jackson pinned all five of his opponents, including West Anchorage’s Poe Vaafuti, who Jackson beat to win his class at the Lancer Smith Memorial in mid-November.

Robert Ritter also finished 5-0 in round-robin competition to finish first at 220. Houston’s Kobe Little finished second.

Houston’s Lane Guim also finished first at 152, beating West Valley’s Allen Howard 6-3 in the finals. Damien Jessup placed second at 138 for Houston and Justin Gericke was third at 182.

Houston was the runner-up in the team standings, finishing second to host Glennallen.

Eli Benson led Redington with a second-place finish at 132. Gavin Metcalf was third for the Huskies at 132. Ethan Tucker (106), Nickolas Clark (113), Joseph Haxton (160) and Oliver Severance (182) each finished fourth for Redington.

Warriors beat Moose, Colony tops Homer in Thursday duals

Palmer held an early lead with wins in the upper weights, but Wasilla won eight straight matches and scored a 45-33 dual win over the Moose Thursday at Palmer Junior Middle School.

Wasilla’s Hunter Hayes used a win by technical fall at 132 pounds to tie the score at 27. Sterling Uhlenhake gave Wasilla a 33-27 lead in the dual with a pin at 138 pounds.

Wesley Fraker (113), Sam Logsdon (126) and Rowdy Bailey (160) also pinned their Palmer opponents during that stretch. Gregory Dean held on for a slim 8-7 win over Palmer’s Nathan Reeves at 145.

In a battle of two of the Northern Lights Conference’s top wrestlers in the 152-pound class, Wasilla’s Andrue Shepersky beat Palmer’s Hunter Bleakney 8-4.

Palmer took a quick 18-0 lead with three straight pins. Levi Farris (195), Christian Kurka (220) and Lucas Santana (285) each won by fall. Palmer’s Jeff Glynn closed the dual with a pin in the 182-pound class.

Eric Christy remained undefeated and Caleb Hopkins scored another win over a Homer defending state champion as the Knights notched a 51-22 dual win over Homer Thursday night in Homer.

Christy improved to 27-0 with a 3-0 win over Homer’s Chris Cudaback in the 170-pound class. Hopkins followed with a 2-1 win over Tristan Cook, who earned a Division II state title for the Mariners last year.

A Colony defending state champion, Rush Fannon, pinned Homer’s Wayne Newman at 126. Colony’s Brandon Holmes (285) and Camryn Binning (152) also pinned opponents.

North-South Invitational

Friday-Saturday, Soldotna

Team scores:

1 Colony 297; 2. Wasilla 272; 3. Homer 169; 4. Soldotna 150.5; 5. Palmer 137.5; 6. Kenai 118; 7. Nikiski 40.

Individual results:

98 pounds — 1. J. Fuller, Was; 2. G. Blydenbaugh, Pal; 3. C. Jasper, Was; 4. M. Draper, Col; 5. J. Ritz, Col; 106 — 1. J. Hopkins, Col; 2. Z. Loutzenhiser, Col; 3. R. Gallagher, Col; 4. L. Craig, Sol; 5. C. Jones, Was ; 6. T. Pendergrass, Pal; 113 — 1. M. Riedinger, Col; 2. A. Ehmann, Col; 3. W. Fraker, Was; 4. J. Harvey, Col; 5. B. Booth, Sol; 120 —1. G. Hutchison, Sol; 2. S. Inama, Hom; 3. V. Cramer, Col; 4. A. Logsdon, Was; 126 — W. Newman, Hom; 2. I. Rodman, Was; 3. M. Mathis, Was; 4. W. McGann, Pal; 5. J. Zeedar-Boeck, Pal; 132 — 1. L. Fasulo, Hom; 2. H. Hayes, Was; 3. Q. Sereyko, Col; 4. O. Manley, Pal; 5. M. Payne, Nik; 6. J. Caple, Pal; 138 — 1. M. Hayes, Hom; 2. S. Uhlenhake, Was; 3. B. Lestenkof-Chapman, Col; 4. T. Vann, Ken; 5. J. Tosten, Col; 6. J. Christianson, Pal; 145 — T. Severson, Col; 2. G. Dean, Was; 3. E. Kraus, Was; 4. D. Colley, Col; 5. J. Braadshaw, Hom; 6. M. Godwin, Pal; 152 — A. Shepersky, Was; 2. B. Metcalf, Sol; 3. H. Bleakney, Pal; 4. A. Barnes, Pal; 160 — 1. R. Bailey, Was; 2. J. Watkins, Pal; 3. C. Dahlberg, Was; 4. C. Gamble, Col; 5. E. Bleakney, Pal; 6. N. White, Col; 170 — 1. E. Christy, Col; 2. L. Farris, Pal; 2. C. Cadaback, Hom; 4. H. Metcalf, Sol; 5. F. Urbano, Col; 182 — 1. C. Hopkins, Col; 2. J. Glynn, Pal; 3. C. Gamble, Col; 195 — 1. B. Dunham, Ken; 2. C. Kurka, Pal 3. S. Ganchenko, Col; 4. J. Palmer, Was; 5. T. Litke, Nik; 6. R. Westover, Col; 220 — 1. K. Wells, Hom 2. C. Wilson, Col; 3. S. Kruse, Ken; 4. A. Bartlett, Was; 285 — 1. B. Holmes, Col; 2. J. Grant, Ken; 3. M. Lind, Sol; 4. R. Brock, Hom; 5. A. Reeves, Sol; 6. E. Martin, Was.

Glennallen Invitational

Friday-Saturday, Glennallen

Team scores:

1. Glennallen 151; 2. Houston 144.5; 3. Lathrop 134.5; 4. West Valley 116.5; 5. Eielson 107; 6. Hutchison 102; 7. West 98; 8. Delta 76.5; 9. Redington 74; 10. Seward 65; 11. Glacier View 18; 12. Monroe 13.

Wasilla 45, Palmer 33

Thursday, Palmer Junior Middle School

195 pounds — L. Farris, Pal p. J. Palmer, Was 2:51; 220 — C. Kurka, Pal p. A. Bartlett, Was 1:59; 285 — L. Santana, Pal p. E. Martin, Was 0:35; 98 — J. Fuller, Was won by fft; 106 — T. Pendergrass, Pal p. A. Prayner, Was 2:54; 113 — W. Fraker, Was p. B. McKeel, Pal 0:41; 120 — A. Logsdon, Was m.d. P. Portney, Pal 11-2; 126 — S. Logsdon, Was p. W. McGann, Pal 1:51; 132 — H. Hayes, Was t.f. S. Watchus, Pal 15-0; 138 — S. Uhlenhake, Was p. J. Dyer, Pal 1:41; 145 — G. Dean, Was d. N. Reeves, Pal 8-7; 152 — A. Shepersky, Was d. H. Bleakney, Pal 8-4; 160 — R. Bailey, Was p. A. Barnes, Pal 1:28; 170 — J. Watkins, Pal d. C. Dahlberg, Was 8-2; 182 — J. Glynn, Pal p. J. Anderson, Was 1:53.

Colony 51, Homer 22

Thursday, Homer

170 — E. Christy, Col d. C. Cudaback, Hom 3-0; 182 — C. Hopkins, Col d. T. Cook, Hom 2-1; 195 — L. King, Hom d. S. Ganchenko, Col 9-4; 220 — K. Wells, Hom p. C. Wilson, Col 1:58; 285 — B. Holmes, Col p. R. Brock, Hom 3:32; 98 — . Ritz, Col won by fft; 106 — M. Draper, Col won by fft; 113 — A. Ehmann, Col won by fft; 120 — S. Inama, Hom d. V. Cramer, Col 6-4 SV; 126 — R. Fannon, Col p. W. Newman, Hom 2:00; 132 — L. Fasulo, Hom p. Q. Sereyko, Col 2:51; 138 — M. Hayes, Hom m.d. B. Lestenkof-Chapman, Col 8-0; 145 — T. Severson, Col d. J. Bradshaw, Hom 5-2; 152 — C. Binning, Col p. D. Weisser, Hom 1:43; 160 — C. Gamble, Col won by fft.