State’s biggest prep wrestling tournaments have new homes

PALMER — The state’s two biggest prep wrestling events will have a new home this season.

The Lancer Smith Memorial and the ASAA/First National Bank State Wrestling Championships are both being moved to new venues for at least the 2016 season. The Lancer Smith Memorial, hosted by Palmer High School, will be held at the Menard Sports Center in Wasilla in November. And for the first time, the Alaska Airlines Center on the UAA campus will be the home of the ASAA/First National Bank State Wrestling Championships.

“I think it’s huge. It’s what the wrestling community has wanted for a long time,” Palmer High School activities director and Region III representative Dale Ewart said earlier this week.

Ewart, who was elevated to PHS activities director after more than a decade as Palmer’s head wrestling coach, said the plan to move the Lancer Smith Memorial from the PHS gymnasium to the Menard has long been in the works. But the move of the state championships — which includes the 123A, 4A and girls tournaments — came to fruition in a matter of weeks. For about two years, there has been discussion about the potential to move the state wrestling tournaments to the Alaska Airlines Center, which is already the home of the ASAA state volleyball and basketball tournaments. Ewart said scheduling conflicts have been an issue in prior years. But this fall, Ewart said, the Alaska Schools Activities Association was contacted by officials within the Alaska Airlines Center with the interest of also hosting state wrestling.

The state tournaments have been co-hosted by Chugiak and Bartlett high schools. Both venues were used for early rounds, and Bartlett has been the recent home of the consolation final and championship final rounds. With the interest there, Ewart said ASAA officials met with Anchorage School District officials to inquire about the possibility of hosting the tournaments at an alternative venue.

In recent weeks, ASAA accepted bids from both the Alaska Airlines Center and the Sullivan Arena. On Oct. 18, the ASAA Board of Directors accepted the Alaska Airlines Center’s bid to host the tournaments, with stipulation that the Chugiak and Bartlett would continue to be the official host schools, but host the tournaments off campus. Ewart said another important provision was Alaska Airlines Center officials approval of athletes to bring their own food into the facility. During other events at the facility, food and drinks can only be purchased at the center’s concessions vendors. That had been a dealbeaker in the past. Ewart said the need for a specific diet for the wrestlers was stressed.

“With their diets, the thing they have to do is maintain their caloric intake energy and not explode their weight up,” Ewart said. “Eating at the concession stands in not an option.”

From the standpoint of a spectator, Ewart said the move of the state tournament is tremendous.

“Watching-wise, it’s going to be excellent,” Ewart said. “I’ve been to a number of events, and there’s really not a bad seat in the house. Even in the upper (seats) you’re able to see well. There’s not a lot of interference blocking your way.”

Ewart also said the facility will also be big enough to have wrestling on eight mats at the same time, and there are plenty of locker rooms for the athletes.

Ewart said he’s also excited about the Menard Center’s ability to host the Lancer Smith Memorial Nov. 18-19.

“It’s kind of been my vision to get it over there,” Ewart said. “Realistically, we’ve been talking about this for about five years.”

Ewart said the tournament — the largest of any prep wrestling event in the state — has simply outgrown the facilities at Palmer High.

“We foresee it growing. We knew we were going to grow every year,” Ewart said.

Ewart said in recent years it’s been increasingly tough to get the number of matches to finish the tournament in a timely fashion. Like state at the Alaska Airlines Center, the Lancer Smith Memorial will also feature wrestling on eight mats. There will also be much more room for spectators who hit the tournament that is expected to feature more than 700 varsity and junior varsity athletes from anywhere from 40 to 45 programs.

In years past, the varsity tournament has been at Palmer High and Colony High has hosted the junior varsity tournament. This year, all the wrestling will be under one roof.

The mats will be in the Menard ice arena. The facility’s ice will remain installed — the wrestling season coincides with hockey — but the Menard has material that can be placed on top of the ice for the mats to rest upon.

The Menard Sports Center is also a past home of the ASAA state wrestling events.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.