State’s largest high school wrestling tournament continues to grow

WASILLA — The state’s largest prep wrestling tournament is getting bigger.

The Lancer Smith Memorial, which drew athletes from more than 50 programs across Alaska last season, will also include youth and middle school tournaments this year. That means wrestlers will hit the mat in five different classes — varsity boys, junior varsity, girls, middle school and youth — when the event starts Friday morning at the Menard Memorial Sports Center in Wasilla.

“It gets a lot of people who care about wrestling in one spot,” Palmer High School activities director Dale Ewart said earlier this week.

Palmer High has hosted the tournament named in honor of Lancer Smith, and Alaska wrestling legend, for nearly two decades. Last season, tournament officials opted to move the event from Palmer High School to the Menard to accommodate the rapid growth of the annual event. After a successful run in 2016, Ewart said tournament officials decided to added the middle school and youth divisions.

“It’s a chance to see all those kids wrestling in one venue,” Ewart said.

Ewart said it’s appealing to local families who may have wrestlers at multiple age levels. But he said it’s also a popular idea with those in rural communities in Alaska who may have difficulty finding matches for their younger wrestlers.

“It really appeals to the Bush community schools,” Ewart said.

Ewart used Bethel and Nome as examples.

“The middle school programs are already working with the high schools. They can just bring them all,” Ewart said.

Ewart said tournament officials expect to see wrestlers from about 60 different high school programs. Last year, 55 teams registered, and about 51 attended.

Ewart said the Menard could house as many as 900 wrestlers this weekend, a total that would include wrestlers in all five classes. Tournament officials expect the totals in the varsity, junior varsity and girls to rise from last year. Ewart said wrestlers can register to compete in the youth tournament until Friday morning, which makes those numbers harder to predict. Those interested can register at palmerwrestling.com.

Ewart called the 2016 Lancer Smith a success, was thrilled with the attendance, and said he’s looking forward to the weekend.

“Once we get it started rolling, you can sit back and really enjoy a cool event and a lot of great wrestling,” Ewart said.

The tournament will feature 12 mats, eight in the Menard Ice Arena, and another four on the facility’s indoor turf field.

Iconic wrestling announcer Sandy Stevens, a member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, is also returning to serve as the voice of the tournament for another year.

The Lancer Smith varsity tournament has evolved to become known as the toughest event of the regular season by most. The 2017 brackets will feature a combined 17 defending state champions, at the Division I and II levels, and three others who are also past state champions. The list includes Wasilla senior Micah Mathis and Bethel senior Thomas Dyment, a pair of three-time state champions. Dyment (24-0) is one of seven defending state champions who are undefeated this season. Homer’s Luciano Fasulo (29-0), Holy Rosary’s Michael Lewis (23-0), Grace Christian’s Evan Bockman (17-0), South Anchorage’s Aedyn Concepcion (29-0), Wasilla’s Isaiah Elvsaas (4-0) and North Pole’s Bradley Antesberger (29-0) are also on the list of undefeated grapplers who won a state title last year.

Wrestling in the high school tournaments starts Friday at 9 a.m. Championship semifinals are tentatively scheduled for Friday at 6:30 p.m. Wrestling continues Saturday at 8:30 a.m., with the championship finals slated for 5:30 p.m.

The final round will include three mats, for the varsity, junior varsity and girls classes. The middle school and youth tournaments are set to begin Friday at 1 p.m., and continue Saturday at 9 a.m.

For more information, or to register for the youth tournament, see palmerwrestling.com.

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