South stakes early claim to wrestling supremacy

HOUSTON — The top three Class 4A wrestling squads picked up right where they left off last season, battling for the highest spot in the team standings.

In the first tournament of the new season, South Anchorage bested defending state champion Colony to win the team title of The Altercation at Houston High School Oct. 17. South finished with 222 total points, ahead of runner-up Colony (194) and Wasilla (150) in the team standings. Colony, South and Wasilla finished first, second and third, respectively, in the 4A state tournament last season.

Colony placed five grapplers in the championship finals, and three captured individual titles. Levi Hopkins (120), Caleb Hopkins (138) and Robert Haan (182) each won their respective weight class for the Knights.

Levi Hopkins edged Glennallen’s Jared Virgin 2-1 in the 120-pound final. Caleb Hopkins beat East’s Brenan Powell 3-0 at 138. Robert Haan needed only 1 minute, 11 seconds to pin South’s Ryan Bankston in the 182-pound final.

Rush Fannon, also notched a first-place finish, winning a round-robin bracket at 98 pounds.

A trio of Wasilla wrestlers — Micah Mathis (113), Dillon Simpson (126) and Andrue Shepersky (152) — won individual titles for the Warriors. In a battle of defending state champions, Mathis edged Colony’s Sam Sisco in the final match of the 113-pound bracket. Simpson needed the ultimate tiebreaker to beat teammate Isaiah Elvsaas 6-2 at 126. Andrue Shepersky slipped past Palmer’s Jeff Glynn 4-3 at 152.

Host Houston was the top 123A program in the tournament, and placed fourth with 103.5 points in the team standings. Sean Lang led the Hawks with the 220-pound title. Lang pinned Wasilla’s Chase Minnick at the 2:23 mark of the match. Michael House finished second for the Hawks at 195.

Moose second in Barrow

Palmer finished as the runner-up in the four-team Barrow Scramble Saturday in Barrow.

The Moose finished with 125 points in the team standings. Kotzebue, the defending 123A state champion, won the meet with 164 points.

Jason Watkins (145), Levi Farris (152) and Austin Farris (220) won their weight classes for Palmer.

For complete results, visit frontiersman.com

The Altercation

Friday-Saturday, Houston High School

Team scores:

1. South 222; 2. Colony 194; 3. Wasilla 150; 4. Houston 103.5; 5. Chugiak 93; 6. Glennallen 61; 7. Palmer 58; 8. East 51; 9. West 51; 10. Grace Christian 42; 11. Dillingham 36; 12. Susitna Valley 33; 13. Anchorage Christian 28; 15. Holy Rosary 28; 16. Dimond 19; 17. Galena 17; 18. Newhalen 10; 19. Valdez 5.5.

Championship finals:

98 pounds — R. Fannon, Col (won round-robin); 106 — Je. Briones, West d. T. Serverson, Col 6-4 OT; 113 — M. Mathis, Was d. S. Sisco, Col 6-4; 120 — L. Hopkins, Col d. J. Virgin, Glen 2-1; 126 — D. Simpson, Was d. I. Elvsaas, Was 6-2 OT; 132 — G. Shack, South d. B. Sturgeon, Was 4-2; 138 — C. Hopkins, Col d. B. Powell, East 3-0; 145 — M. Lucas, HRA won by fft N. Ottum, South; 152 — A. Shepersky, Was d. J. Glynn, Pal 4-3; 160 — R. Pellumbi, South d. D. Budke, Chu 8-5; 170 — B. Lowe, Chu p. J. Butler, Chu 2:45; 182 — R. Haan, Col p. R. Bankston, South 1:11; 195 — 1. A. Correa-Medina, South (won round-robin); 220 — S. Lang, Hou p. C. Minnick, Was 2:23; 285 — M. Pinard, SV p. K. Gillilan, South 1:10.

Third-place matches:

106 — K. Wall, Was p. B. Rogers, Dim 4:44; 113 — S. Martin, South d. T. Savo, Dill 11-6; 120 — D. Lincoln, South m.d. O. Garcia, Bar 11-0; 126 — S. Harris, South d. S. LeMay, ACS 4-3; 132 — E. Christy, Col d. M. Glover, South 5-3 OT; 138 — E. Bockman, Gra p. W. Martin, South 4:09; 145 — C. Booth, Col d. E. Kinney, Hou 6-1; 152 — C. Gerlach, Glen p. L. Nerland, South 2:11; 160 — R. Martin, Gra p. G. Zacker, New 0:49; 170 — A. Valdez, Col p. N. Plumb, Hou 0:52; 182 — J. King, East d. C. Eby, Col 13-4; 220 — R. Carrington, Pal p. R. Levi, Gal 3:40; 285 — M. Speziale, Bar d. A. Kollander, 7-3.

Barrow Scramble

Friday, Saturday, Barrow

Team Standings:

1 Kotzebue 164; 2. Palmer 125; 3. Eagle River 119; 4 Barrow 57.

Individual results:

98 pounds — 1. C. Blank, ER; 2. M. Hatch, Kotz; 106 — 1. O. Andersen, Pal; 2. A. Wolfert, ER; 113 — 1. K. Jones, Kotz; 2. D. Richards, Pal; 3. A. Librado, Bar; 120 — 1. W. Salter, ER; 2. W. McGann, Pal; 3. A. Kraft, ER; 132 — 1. G. Maslen, Kotz; 2. T. Thesing, Pal; 3. J. Atkinson, Kotz; 138 — 1. R. Hickerson, Kotz; 2. G. Burningham, ER; 3. J. Nobleza, Bar; 145 — 1. J. Watkins, Pal; 2. E. Ezekeil, Kotz; 3. J. Davis, Pal; 152 — 1. L. Farris, Pal; 2. H. Bleakney, Pal; 3. E. Mills-Bain, Kotz; 160 — 1. G. Eakin, Kotz; 2. M. Amico, ER; 3. D. Wilson, ER; 170 — 1. S. Woods, Kotz; 2. Z. Rogers, Pal; 3. C. Kurka, Pal; 182 — 1. L. Edenshaw, Kotz; 220 — 1. A. Farris, Pal; 2. D. Denter, ER; 285 — 1. T. Mila, Bar; 2. M. Stafford, ER.