Prep wrestling: Wasilla wrestling team in an unfamiliar position

WASILLA — Most wrestling teams would be happy to rebuild like Wasilla.

But most teams aren’t Wasilla, a program that has dominated the Alaska wrestling high school scene for much of the decade.

After seeing a three-year state title run end last season at the hands of arch rival Colony, the Warriors now enter the 2007 campaign in an unfamiliar position.

Underdogs.

“We’ve got less kids at this time of year than we’ve had in the past,” Wasilla coach Shawn Hayes said Saturday following the Bob Bailey Memorial Invite at Chugiak High School.

At the Bob Bailey, the Warriors advanced two wrestlers into the finals and placed seven wrestlers — including three in one weight division — in the top-6. The Warriors placed third, behind Chugiak and Lathrop. Not a bad finish, but nothing spectacular.

With 58 wrestlers out for the team this season, Wasilla has good numbers — but not as many as some other state contenders — and Hayes acknowledged he’s in a bit of a “rebuilding” mode.

“We’ve got a pretty young team,” he said.

Those are typically the words of a coach who knows he’s in for a long season. But Hayes isn’t exactly writing his team off this year, either.

“We’re not too bad,” he said.

That’s high praise from a coach who has come to demand excellence from his wrestlers. In the past four seasons, Wasilla has produced three state titles and eight individual champions. At last year’s state tournament, Alan Bartelli at 119 pounds and Duane Carpenter at 140 each brought titles home as the Warriors finished fourth overall behind Colony, Chugiak and South Anchorage.

In the team battle this year, Wasilla likely could fall short because of sheer numbers. In individual match-ups, the Warriors should do just fine.

Having lost just seven of 20 state qualifiers from last year, the Warriors do have experience. But five of six state place winners and two state champions are gone meaning Wasilla has a stable of athletes looking to step up to the next level.

That list starts with senior Mike Chafin, the team’s top returning wrestler after placing second in state at 125 pounds a year ago. Still at 125, Chafin is a good bet to make a deep run into the state bracket this season. And if any Warrior has the right mentality to lead the program to success, he’s the guy to do it.

Chafin, a walking ball of energy who also played running back for the Wasilla football team this year, began wrestling practice before the football season even ended.

“I’ve been going in the mornings,” Chafin said minutes after putting away East’s Dustin Maxwell in the finals of the Bob Bailey.

Wrestling the morning and playing football in the evenings was no big deal for Chafin, who Hayes said is a natural team leader.

“I had a few (football players) ask for a week off, but Mike was in the Monday after football,” Hayes said. “He’s a captain, a senior and he really works hard.”

Two of those youngsters looking to step up will be Casey Katchinska and Karl Rathbun, juniors who made it to state as 152-pound sophomores last season but didn’t place. Katchinska’s now at 171, while Rathbun has moved to 160, and both appear to have benefited from a year’s growth.

At the Bob Bailey, Rathbun won his weight class, while Katchinska placed third with a 4-1 record.

Other top performers at that 18-school tournament included Kendra Nelson (4th at 103), Chris Gross (6th at 130), Mack Gagnon (5th at 160), James Langendorf (6th at 160) and Chris Crane (3rd at 189). Nelson, Langendorf and Crane are all returning state qualifiers.

As captain, Chafin said he doesn’t think the Warriors can be counted out as a team. He said that if Wasilla’s younger wrestlers reach their potential, the Warriors could threaten the top teams in the state.

“We’ve got a young crowd, but if they step up and take it seriously, we should be ok,” Chafin said.