Squads expected to battle for team title

PALMER — Throughout the 2012-13 season, the Valley’s three 4A programs — Wasilla, Palmer and Colony — have stood as three of the top five or six teams in Alaska.

So things could get interesting when the Warriors, Moose and Knights hit the mat during the six-team Northern Lights Conference Championships, which starts today at Palmer High. Throw in defending NLC champion Kodiak, and there could be quite the battle for the region team title.

“I think it’s going to be really close, honestly,” Palmer head coach Dale Ewart said.

Last year, Kodiak became the first non-Valley school in about a decade to win the NLC team. Kodiak was sort of the wild card, but came through to win.

“Going into regions last year, Kodiak was kind of the third team. They surprised us all, so you never know,” Ewart said.

Each Valley team will have an army of seeded wrestlers in its quest for a title. Colony and Wasilla each have 12 wrestlers seeded in the top 3 of their respective weight classes. Palmer has 11 seeded in the top 3.

Six Wasilla wrestlers earned a top seed during the coaches meeting at Palmer High Thursday night. Defending NLC champion Nate McKimson leads the group and is seed No. 1 at 145 pounds. McKimson is 28-3 this year, according to trackwrestling.com, a website used to report Alaska prep wrestling results.

Bryce Serna (152), Ryker Steiner (132), Shannon Carpenter (126), Brandon Abbott (113) and Logan Albrecht (98) are also seeded No. 1. Serna finished as a runner-up in the NLC finals last year.

Quace Wright (220) and Blake Marks (145) drew No. 2 seeds.

Three of Colony’s dozen wrestlers in the top 3 landed No. 1 seeds. Two of those are defending region champions. Simon Root (170) and Sawyer Root (182) are both back to defend their titles as No. 1 seeds.

Simon Root was the champ at 160 last year, and Sawyer Root won at 152. Ian MacKenzie (220) is also a No. 1 seed for the Knights.

MacKenzie was the NLC runner-up at 195 last year.

Wylie Spencer (98), Soren Simpson (106), Kamber Lucas (138), Logan Conway (160) and Austin Rench (195) are all seeded second.

Defending NLC champion Brian Thompson (285) leads a trio of Palmer wrestlers with a top seed. Mason Cochran (120) and Luke Heun (160) are also seeded first in their weight class.

Cole Frohling, who is returning to the mat after missing most of the season due to injury, is seeded second at 285. Masen Swineheart (170), Hunter Molesky (152) and Wyatt McGann (132) are also seeded second.

First-round action begins today at noon, and the semifinals are scheduled for 6 p.m. Wrestling continues Saturday at 9 a.m., and the championship finals are slated for 1 p.m.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com and find him by searching Valley Sports Huddle on Facebook.