Teeland wins another title

WASILLA — The Teeland Titans needed a come-from-behind effort to stay on top of the Alaska middle school wrestling ladder, including some newfound success from a few of their grapplers.

Dillon Simpson, Tristan Talvi and Austin Gilland each scored key wins late in the tournament to help Teelend win the Tanana Invitational, Alaska’s unofficial middle school state championship, in Fairbanks last weekend

“Thirty-eight kids won the tournament. But it’s a pretty big deal. Those three each beat kids they’ve lost to before,” Teeland head coach Bill Booth said on Monday. “All three of those kids beat kids who destroyed them earlier in the year.

The Simpson and Gilland wins came during the championship round, and Talvi’s victory came in a third-place match. Each win was key, Booth said, as the Titans amassed 278 team points en route to winning their sixth Tanana title in the last 10 years.

In the 148-pound bracket, Talvi, a fourth seed, beat a second-seeded grappler in the third-place match who had beat Talvi three times during the regular season.

At 77 pounds, Simpson, a second seed, edged top-seeded Jared Virgin of Glennallen 8-6 in the finals. It was Simpson’s first win over the Glennallen grappler.

At heavyweight, Gilland pinned North Pole’s Jesse Bennett in the finals. Booth said Bennett had pinned Gilland very early during a match at the Houston Invitational this year.

Teeland moved five wrestlers into the finals and crowned a pair of champions, Simpson and Gilland.

Chance Fannon (114), Alex Valdez (122) and Silas Root (210) also advanced to the finals and finished second. Fannon and Valdez made the final round as a first-year wrestler.

Colony Middle School, which led after the first day of the meet, finished third with 232 points. Bryce Adams (84) and Chace Booth (105) each won titles for CMS.

Palmer Junior Middle School was fourth with 221 points. Wyatt McGann (122) and Christian Bergey (132) were crowned champions for PJMS.

Kristian Palaniak led seventh-place Wasilla Middle with the 174-pound title. Kendal Beasley won the title at 210 pounds for 11th-place Houston Middle.

The team title marked not only Teeland’s sixth championship since 2004, but it was also the ninth straight top-2 finish for the Titans.

“We’ve been lucky with the kids who have come through our door,” Booth said.

Booth gave a great deal of credit to his fellow coaches at Teeland — David Childs, John DePriest and Chad Aliniva.

“No.1 we have a consistent coaching staff and we care about kids a lot,” Booth said. “We recruit everybody. We try to include all kids in the mix, boys and girls.”

Teeland’s win also continues the Valley’s decades of domination in the sport. It’s the 19th straight year that a Valley team has won the team title at Tanana, a streak that dates back to Palmer Junior Middle School’s victory in 1994.

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

Tanana Invitational

Friday-Saturday, Fairbanks

Team scores (top 15):

1. Teeland Middle 278; 2. North Pole Middle 254; 3. Colony Middle 232; 4. Palmer Junior 221; 5. Tanana Middle 190.5; 6. Bethel 158.5; 7. Wasilla Middle 135.5; 8. Kenai Middle 113.5; 9. Ryan Middle 111.5; 10. Randy Smith Middle 104.5; 11. Houston Middle 98; 12. Kotzebue Middle 95; 13. Glennallen 85.5; 14. Kodiak 75; 15. Eielson 69.

Championship finals:

70 pounds — M. Ee, Unat d. D. Lincoln, Tan 3-1 OT; 77 — D. Simpson, Tee d. J. Virgin, Glen 8-6 OT; 84 — B. Adams, Col p. A. Laliberte, Pal 4:11; 91 — G. Schack, Anc p. N. Smith, Pal 2:32; 98 — P. Steffensen, Ken p. M. Amico, Anc 1:50; 105 — C. Booth, Col wb inj def M. Glover, Anch; 110 — D. Rogers, NP d. K. Dunlap, Eie 14-9; 114 — J. Malnoske, Anch t.f. C. Fannon, Teel 15-0; 118 — G. Arnold, Anc d. R. Pellumbi, Anch 7-2; 122 — W. McGann, PJMS m.d. A. Valdez, Teel 9-1; 126 — J. Ficilone, Smith d. W. Patten, 7-5; 132 — C. Bergey, PJMS d. T. Kim, Anch 7-6; 140 — E. Schumaker, NP d. G. Eakin,k Kot 6-2; 148 — J. Levan, Kod d. C. McNeal, NP 7-4; 160 — A. Martines, Tan p. B. Phillips, Dry 2:07; 174 — K. Palaniuk, Was p. D. Hess, Ken 0:42; 210 — K. Beasley, Hou p. S. Root, Teel 2:10; 275 — A. Gilland, Teel p. J. Bennett, NP 1:44.

Third place:

70 pounds — B. Todd, Anch wb dq M. Mathis, Was; 77 — K. Chamberlin, Col d. G. Hasseltine, NP 10-8; 84 — W. Martin, Anch p. T. Evan, Bet 0:46; 91 — B. Sturgeon, Teel p. D. Johnson, Anch 3:57; 98 — N. Ottum, Anch d. D. Nash, Col 7-0; 105 — M. Lucas, Unat p. G. Hoffman, Bet 6:18; 110 — R. Haan, Teel m.d. J. Sanders, PJMS 10-2; 114 — D. Budke, Anch d. N. Carstens, Unat 7-4; 118 — R. Smith, NP d. A. Hanohano, Hou 8-5; 122 — J. Boynton, Tan d. F. Pelayo, Tan; 126 — B. Rustad, Tan p. M. Torres, Teel 4:30; 132 — J. Horner, Nome d. D. Jutila, NP 10-6; 140 — J. Ruffing, Col p. R. Miller, Stik 4:35; 148 — T. Talvi, Teel d. B. Robbins, PJMS 5-4; 160 — R. Pickney, Tan p. J. King, Bet 0:59; 174 — D. Laporte, Hou p. R. Bankston, Anch 4:59; 210 — E. Wright, Anch p. J. Koeneman, Hou 3:55; 275 — L. Freeman, Teel p. J. McKinney, Ryan 1:23.

Fifth place:

70 pounds — C. Hynes, Anch m.d. O. Anderson, PJMS 12-0; 77 — F. Urbano, Col d. N. Bryant, Tan 7-6; 84 — W. Kutney, Was m.d. C. Appelhanz, Unat 14-5; 91 — T. Croft, Unat d. E. Meyer, Dry 5-2; 98 — E. Bockman, Grace p. R. Monzulla, NP 0:38; 105 — L. Erikson, Nome d. M. Banks, Kot 5-0; 110 — K. McEnerney, Ken p. B. Bracker, Kotz 2:59; 114 — J. Bartley, NP p. C. Charlie, Bet 0:29; 118 — T. Newland, Teel d. T. Tripple, TB 5-3; 122 — D. Ertz, Col p. S. Woods, Kot 1:25; 126 — A. Olsen, Bet d. J. Jenkins, NP 6-4; 132 — D. Miller, Stik t.f. N. Corporan, PJMS 16-0; 140 — S. Finau, Glen p. S. McKinstry, Tan 2:59; 148 — J. Smith, Tan wb for A. Farris, AC; 160 — K. Hays, Hain p. C. Streiff, Ken 1:31; 174 — H. Bigley, Kod p. S. Stanley, Smith 2:17; 210 — M. Barrett, Hou d. G. Cole, Rya 5-3 OT; 275 — J. Rhodes, Glen p. H. Young, Col 0:56.

Seventh place:

70 — J. Crawford, Hou d. K. Brown, Eie 10-5; 77 — B. Akaran, Ryan d. K. Wall, Was 9-4; 84 — T. Curtis, RSM d. J. Banner, Val 10-4; 91 — J. James, Val wb inj def T. Rodriguez, Ket; 98 — C. Hopkins, Col d. I. Lynch, Was 5-1; 105 — K. Harper, Was d. T. Jackson, Col 7-0; 110 — J. Todd, Anch p. B. Evans, Bet 1:43; 114 — C. Greene, Val d. D. Easthman, Col 7-6; 118 — J. Payne, Kot d. C. Fannon, Teel 4-3; 122 — R. Smith, Ryan p. Z. Jeffries, Tan 1:44; 126 — J. Pace, Anch m.d. C. Velez, Eie 10-0; 132 — R. Westdahl, bet d. A. Wellborn, Ken 9-5; 140 — J. Dickinson, Ryan d. B. Lowe, Anch 3-0; 148 — P. Kylook, Bet wb inj def J. Rodriguez, Kod; 160 — E. Gerlitz, Tan wb inj def C. Lincoln, Col; 174 — K. Gillian, Bet d. D. Pekar, Bet 4-0; 210 — R. Wharry, Col p. M. Grothe, PJMS 0:22; 275 — T. Kong, PJMS wb fft.