South edges Wasilla for team title; Valley crowns 5 champs

ANCHORAGE — If Saturday’s ASAA/First National Bank 4A State Wrestling Championships was a horse race, it would’ve been South Anchorage in a photo finish over Wasilla for the team title.

The Wolverines, with 226 points, eked out a narrow 3.5-point win over the Warriors (222.5) to claim the 4A state crown in a tournament that literally came down to South’s last match. With Wasilla holding a razor-thin 222.5 to 222 lead over South, the Wolverines sent 113-pounder Galvin Alvarado onto the mat, needing Alvardo to upset a defending state champion, Kodiak’s Andrew Caballa, in order to leapfrog Wasilla and clinch the team race.

That’s just what Alavarado did with an 11-6 decision. And while the close team race for the top two spots in the team standings captivated the crowd at Bartlett High School in Anchorage, it didn’t overshadow a dominant Valley showing that saw all three 4A local programs finish in the top 5, crown five individual state champions and place 27 of 55 qualifiers.

“We have a lot of kids come up wrestling in Wasilla, Colony and Palmer,” said Wasilla head coach Shawn Hayes. “We have a core group of wrestlers who wrestle freestyle and wrestle Outside. The Valley has tough wrestlers.”

Although South sent Wasilla to its second straight second-place finish, the Warriors had three in the finals and crowned three champs — Nate McKimson at 145 pounds, Bryce Serna at 152 and Quace Wright at 220. Colony finished fifth overall, led by 182-pounder Saywer Root, who was dominating in winning his first state title, pinning his way through the tournament. Palmer placed fourth overall, paced by Mason Cochran at 120 pounds, who won Palmer’s first individual state title since Nick Stahler won at 140 pounds in 2008.

“He did a great job,” Palmer head coach Dale Ewart said of Cochran. “Mason really won the state championship a month ago when he finally turned that corner and realized he’s tough and is mentally tough. He’s crapping and working for every point. He doesn’t get flashy, he just works.”

While Cochran was the last of 10 Valley wrestlers in Saturday’s finals, Wasilla’s Nate McKimson — the only returning Valley finalist from last year in the 2013 finals — got the ball rolling by winning his first state championship, beating Lathrop’s Sam Zimmerman 5-3 in the 138-pound finals.

After wrestling to a 2-2 tie through the first two periods of the match, McKimson took a 3-2 lead when Zimmerman picked up his second stalling call. A quick takedown would extend the Warriors’ lead to 5-2. Zimmerman scored an escape with about a minute left, but McKimson wouldn’t allow any other scoring opportunities.

After the match, McKimson credited Zimmerman for wrestling a strong match.

“I was just trying to shoot in and get something, keep the pressure on him,” he said. “It feels good.”

At the time, the match was “pretty huge,” he said, because his points put Wasilla ahead 214.5 to 213 in the team race.

“Right there, that put us ahead and we had three others in the finals who could win,” McKimson said.

The first of those three others made the most of his chance in the next match at 152 pounds when Bryce Serna came out on the winning end of a 4-2 decision over North Pole’s Moo Rogers.

Serna was the aggressor from the beginning, keeping Rogers in a defensive posture through much of the match. The pair were scoreless after the first period, then Serna drew first blood with an escape about 30 seconds into the second period.

Trailing 2-0 in the third, Rogers scored an escape with less than a minute left to cut the lead to 2-1, but Serna remained aggressive, scoring a final double-leg takedown to push his cushion to 4-1. Rogers had another escape in the final 10 seconds, but it was too little, too late.

Although he knew he had a three-point edge, Serna said he wanted to stay aggressive.

“I didn’t want to stall in the last 30 seconds,” he said. “I wanted to end it with all I had, and I left everything I had out there. … It feels so amazing and I’m super emotional right now. It’s one of the greatest moments of my life.”

For Palmer, Luke Heun was the first of three Moose finalists to take the mat. And the senior had a tough draw at 160 pounds — undefeated returning state champion Rilen Skieens of Service. Skieens would win 7-1.

Heun said he was disappointed with the loss, but acknowledged Skieens is about as challenging a high school wrestler as he’s faced.

“He’s a tough kid,” he said. “He’s tough on top and tough on his feet. He’s also one of the toughest kids in the state in defending the shot.”

While Wasilla was busy battling South in the team standings, Colony 182-pounder Sawyer Root was busy pinning his way through the state tournament. Root opened the tournament with a 1 minute, 53 second pin of Chugiak’s Jesse Nelson, then pinned Soldotna’s Troy Streiff in 5:11. In the semifinals, he pinned Mark Dobbs of Wasilla in 5:23. So, it wasn’t a surprise to see him put West Valley’s Hyland Story on his back in the finals for a 5:04 pin and the title.

“Since the offseason, I told my coach I was going to be the 182-pound state champion,” Root said after his win. “I’ve been light all season and I’ve been expecting it.”

What’s next for the sophomore?

“Two more years of the same thing,” Root said.

The 220-pound finals saw the only Valley matchup of the evening, with Wasilla’s Quace Wright winning a narrow 3-2 decision over Colony’s Ian MacKenzie. For the pair, it was another fierce and friendly competition on the mat.

“He knows my technique and knows what I like to do,” Wright said. “We’ve been wrestling each other for five years.”

After wrestling to a scoreless tie in the first period, MacKenzie drew first blood in the second with an escape. That 1-0 lead would hold into the third, when Wright would tie with an escape of his own to tie it at 1. He then quickly scored a takedown off a MacKenzie shot to lead 3-1. The Colony grappler would score another escape with about 25 seconds left, but Wright was able to hold on for the win.

Going out as a champion “feels amazing,” Wright said.

“My coaches all season have told me to dig deep, that I had the heart of a lion,” he said. “So, I came out and wrestled as hard as I could in that third period. I knew I needed a takedown.”

In one of the closest matches of the finals, Palmer’s Brian Thompson dropped a 6-5 nail-biter to Kodiak’s Salalau Sega at 285 pounds. Sega took a 5-1 lead into the third period. But Thompson rallied to tie the score at 5 with 20 seconds remaining. But Sega managed an escape in the final 10 seconds for the 6-5 edge.

Giving up a big lead early was the key, Thompson said.

“It was more in that second (period) when he tossed me and got that five-count,” he said. “A five-point lead is hard to come back from. I knew I’d have to get some luck and try as hard as I could, but it wasn’t (there).”

That set up one of the most pivotal matches of the finals at 98 pounds, the only match to feature both Wasilla and South wrestlers — Wasilla junior Logan Albrecht and South’s Greg Shack. Shack came into the match ranked No. 1 and an undefeated 42-0. And in the end, Shack proved just too tough, winning a 9-1 major decision. That pulled the Wolverines to wining a half point of the team title, which they would win in the 113-pound match.

Overall, the Valley showed why it’s the toughest region in the state, colony head coach Todd Hopkins said.

“In the Valley, it’s a popular sport and it doesn’t take much motivation (to get excited for Valley matches),” he said. “We have a great year.”

He also praised Root’s title run.

“Sawyer Root had a great tournament,” he said. “I believe he pinned his way through the tournament. It’s just incredible. He gave it his all.”

The final Valley wrestler of the evening was Palmer’s Cochran at 120 pounds. His 8-7 win over Joshua Fetko of Service marks the first individual champion for the Moose since 2008.

“I feel great,” Cochran said after the win. “Worked hard all year and that was the goal. I knew even if it went into overtime I could beat him. … I knew after that region title that I could do it. It’s amazing. We’ve been working hard. … The goal is another state championship, and a team state championship would be amazing, too.”

Contact reporter Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.

ASAA/First National

Bank 4A State

Wrestling Championships

Friday, Saturday at Bartlett High School

Team scores:

1. South 226, 2. Wasilla 222.5, 3. Service 175.5, 4. Palmer 162.5, 5. Colony 149.5, 6. North Pole 123, 7. Kodiak 122, 8. East 120, 9. Ketchikan 92.5, 10. Chugiak 92, 11. West Valley 90.5, 12. West 64, 13. Kenai 45, 14. Lathrop 43, 15. Eagle River 35, 16. Bartlett 29.5, 17. Soldotna 21, 18. Thunder Mountain 7, 19. Dimond 2, 20. Juneau 0.

Championship finals:

98 pounds — Shack, South maj. dec. Albrecht, Was. 9-1; 106 — Willard, East dec. Jejomar Briones, West 8-4; 113 — Alverado, South dec. Caballa, Kod. 11-6; 120 — Cochran, Pal. Dec. Fetko, Ser. 8-7; 126 — Agnew, WV dec. Burris, Kod. 15-9; 132 — Pounds, Ser. Pinned Wright, Nor. 1:34; 138 — Steffensen, Ken. Dec. Hammond, South 4-2; 145 — McKimson, Was. Dec. Zimmerman, Lath. 5-3; 152 — Serna, Was. Dec. Rogers, Nor. 10-3; 160 — Skieens, Ser. Dec. Heun, Pal. 7-1; 170 — Wiggins, East dec. Elliot, WV 5-4 2OT; 182 — Root, Col. Pinned Story, WV 5:04; 195 — Sauder, South dec. Powers, Kod. 7-6; 220 — Wright, Was. dec. MacKenzie, Col. 3-2; 285 — Sega, Kod. Dec. Thompson, Pal. 6-5.

Third-place matches:

98 pounds — McKimson, Was. Pinned Wutzke, Ketch. 0:53; 106 — Ottum, South pinned Frazier, Nor. 3:58; 113 — Glover, South pinned Hallstrom, Ketch. 2:28; 120 — Pellumbi, South dec. Concepcion, South 4-2; 126 — Nanez, Ser. Pinned Wintersetee, Chug. 2:23; 132 — Steiner, Was. dec. Ritchie, South 6-3; 138 — Sierra, East dec. Lucas, Col. 7-0; 145 — Thammavong, Ser. Dec. Ray, Col. 8-2; 152 — Fricilone, WV dec. Huffer, Chug. 4-3; 160 — Best, Nor. Dec. Sosa, East 7-6; 170 — Dunbar, Ser. Dec. Root, Col. 3-1; 182 — Schultz, Was. Pinned Cruz, Ser. 0:54; 195 — Schultz, Was. Pinned Cruz, Ser. 0:54; 220 — Button, Pal. Dec. Borroughs, Chug. 5-4; 285 — Ring, Ketch. Pinned Alexander, Sol. 3:33.

Fifth-place matches:

98 pounds — Adams, Col. maj. dec. Music, Nor. 14-3; 106 — Amico, ER dec. Steffensen, Ken. 7-1; 113 — Abbot, Was. Dec. Sanders, Pal. 10-4; 120 — Shannon, Was. ff Luff, ER; 126 ¬— Molesky, Pal. Dec. Kennedy, East 5-4; 132 — Jury, Chug. Pinned Arnold, ER 2:21; 138 — Sotelo, Bar. dec. Bendixen, Pal. 10-8; 145 — Goeden, WV pinned Jury, Chug. 1:30; 152 — Hakala, South dec. Morrow, Was. 3-1; 160 — Forbush, Chug. Dec. McSharry, South 6-1; 170 — Wharton, Lat. Dec. Innes, Nor. 9-2; 182 — Ryno, Pal. Pinned Frizzell, Ket. 3:27; 195 — Ryno, Pal. Pinned Frizzell, Ket. 3:27; 220 — Zorea, Ser. Pinned Hyde, West 0:46; 285 — Augafa, South dec. Frohling, Pal. 5-2.