TOUGH TOURNEY: State’s best hit mats for Lancer Smith Memorial

WASILLA — Colony junior Eric Christy stepped into the Lancer Smith Memorial unbeaten and the top seed in the 170-pound weight class. But on the other side of the bracket stood a familiar foe, Palmer junior Levi Farris, one of 19 defending or past state champions in the 2017 Lancer Smith field.

Christy had a hunch he’d see his rival in the finals. And when he got his chance, Christy held on for a 7-4 victory over Farris during the championship round at the Menard Memorial Sports Center Saturday night in Wasilla.

“I kind of had a feeling I was going to meet up with him, but I was making sure I was winning one match at a time though,” Christy said after the final round. “I was a little bit nervous, but I’ve wrestled him a bunch before. We’ve wrestled all the time growing up.”

Christy, one of three Knights in the finals, helped Colony earn the overall team title, with 227 total points. He was also part of an overall theme for the annual tournament, hosted by Palmer High School for the past 15 years.

The brackets are as stacked as you’ll see in the state of Alaska, and even state champions are not guaranteed a piece of the spotlight.

Nineteen defending or past individual state champions hit the mats during the opening round of the two-day tournament. Saturday, only eight of those wrestlers were left standing on the top of the podium.

And two needed a win by sudden victory.

“It’s crazy. I love the competition,” Christy said.

Christy was one of four wrestlers to upset a past state champ in the finals. He was also one of four Valley grapplers to win their weight class. Houston senior heavyweight Dylan Jackson pinned West Anchorage’s Poe Vaafuti early in the second period to earn the crown and state undefeated. Jackson, now 14-0, still has not allowed a takedown, reversal or near-fall points.

“With this win over a 4A opponent, I hope this lets everybody know he’s the best heavyweight in the state, which he is,” Houston head coach Danny Moffitt said during the finals.

Wasilla also boasted a pair of champs. Defending state champion Isaiah Elvsaas stayed undefeated with his 6-3 victory over Lathrop’s Jordan Opp in the 138-pound final. Andrue Shepersky stunned Lathrop’s Wyatt Story, pinning the previously undefeated wrestler, the top seed in the bracket, early in the 152-pound final.

The Warriors finished fifth overall in the team standings with 146.5 total points. Palmer was seventh at 114.

Palmer had a champ in the girls’ tournament. Teeana Nicholia beat Mt. Edgecumbe’s Andrea Prince 7-4 in the 132-pound final. Nicholia was also named co-Most Outstanding Wrestler for the girls meet, alongside Mt. Edgecumbe’s Sydnee Kimber.

The Lancer Smith Memorial featured 49 teams in just the boys’ varsity tournament. But that was just one of the five classes in the tournament. The 15th annual meet also featured girls, junior varsity boys, middle school and elementary school divisions. In all the projected total of wrestlers was nearly 900.

During the busiest points of the tournament 12 mats were in use inside the Menard Center, the home of the tournament for the second straight year.

Below is more about each varsity final and bracket.

98 pounds — In a battle of freshmen, Anchorage Christian’s Caleb O’Hara scored near-fall points during the final seconds to upset South’s Adam Concepcion 5-3 in the finals. Concepcion, who suffered his first loss in 32 matches this season, led 3-1 with less than 10 seconds remaining in regulation.

106 — Defending state champion Aedyn Concepcion of South remained undefeated, pinning Bethel’s Jarius Allain in the finals. Concepcion, who won a Division I state title at 98 last year, is now 34-0.

113 — In a battle of nationally-ranked wrestlers, three-time defending state champion Thomas Dyment, of Bethel, scored a 7-2 win over Lathrop senior Jacob Spencer in the finals. It was also a match of former state champs. Spencer won his title two seasons ago. Entering the weekend, Dyment was ranked 18th nationally in his weight class by USA Wrestling Magazine, Spencer 30th.

120 — Soldotna’s Gideon Hutchison was one of four wrestlers to beat a defending state champion in the Lancer Smith finals. Hutchison pinned New Stuyahok’s Blunka Blunka Jr. in the finals. Blunka earned a Division II state title at 113 last year. Blunka was one of two former state champs Hutchison beat during the weekend. Hutchison also scored a 14-0 major decision over Ketchikan’s Matthew Rodriguez in the quarterfinals. Rodriguez earned a Division I title at 106 last year.

126 — South Anchorage’s Jacob Shack edged Colony’s Rush Fannon, a defending state champion, 3-2 in the finals. Shack improved to 25-0 with the win. Fannon earned a state title at 113 last year. The bracket also included Wasilla senior Micah Mathis, a three-time defending state champion. Mathis was upset during the tournament twice by South’s Theo Cha, and had to settle for fourth place.

132 — Wasilla senior Christion Alexander nearly upset the top 3 seeds in his bracket. After Alexander beat the third seed in the quarterfinals and second in the semis, defending state champion Luciano Fasulo of Homer needed sudden victory to edge Alexander in the finals. Fasulo, an undefeated defending state champion, got a takedown with six seconds left in the overtime tiebreaker to get past Alexander. Earlier in the tournament, in another overtime match, Alexander beat Colony’s Sam Sisco, a past state champion and the bracket’s third seed, 10-7, in the quarterfinals. Alexander followed that with a win over second-seeded Brandon Linne of Ketchikan in the semis.

138 — Defending state champion Isaiah Elvsaas of Wasilla stayed undefeated with a 6-3 win over Lathrop’s Jordan Opp in the finals. Elvsaas, who won it all at 126 last year, also had to beat Wasilla teammate Sterling Uhlenhake in the semifinals.

145 — Bethel sophomore Hayden Lieb is a defending state champion, but just the fourth seed in the 145-pound class. Lieb responded by upsetting the top two seeds, including a defending state champion, en route to winning his class. Lieb edged Lathrop’s Westley Bockert 2-1 in a tiebreaker in the semifinals. Bockert, the top seed in the class, earned the Division I title at 138 last year. Lieb followed with an 8-4 win over South’s Spencer Martin, the No. 2 seed, in the finals.

152 — Wasilla junior Andrue Shepersky made quick work of Lathrop’s Wyatt Story, the top seed in the bracket. Shepersky, the No. 2 seed, pinned Story in the first round, handing the Lathrop grappler his first loss of the season. Shepersky improved to 14-1.

160 — In a match of unbeatens, Holy Rosary Academy senior Michael Lucas scored near-fall points during overtime to earn a 6-1 sudden victory win over Lathrop senior Zachary Tolver. Lucas, a two-time state champion and three-time finalist, improved to 28-0 with the win, and was named Most Outstanding Wrestler following the tournament. Tolver entered the match 15-0.

170 — It was undefeated against defending state champ in the 170-pound final. Colony junior Eric Christy improved to 26-0 with a 7-4 win over Palmer junior Levi Farris, who earned a state title at 152 last season. Christy led just 5-4 with a minute left in the third period, but was able to add a takedown to help cement the win.

182 — Two-time defending state champion Evan Bockman of Grace Christian scored a 7-0 win over Caleb Hopkins, a two-time state runner-up, in the finals. Hopkins beat Homer’s Tristan Cook, a Division II defending state champion, 11-2 in the semifinals.

195 — North Pole junior Bradley Antesberger continued to dominate, pinning Homer’s Levi King in the finals. Antesberger improved to 32-0. Antesberger won a state title at 195 last year.

220 — Homer senior Kyle Wells helped the Mariners finish as the top Division II team in the team standings by winning his class. Wells beat Service’s Kaden Calderera, a 2016 Division I runner-up, 11-7 in the finals.

285 — Houston senior Dylan Jackson stayed undefeated, pinning West’s Poe Vaafuti in the finals. Jackson is 14-0.

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

Lancer Smith Memorial

Friday-Saturday, Menard Arena

Team scores (top 20)

1. Colony 227; 2. Lathrop 211; 3. South Anchorage 178; 4. Homer 160.5; 5. Wasilla 146.5; 6. Bethel 117; 7. Palmer 114; 8. North Pole 90.5; 9. Ketchikan 82; 10. Soldotna 64.5; 11. Service 55; 12. Barrow 53; 13. Houston 43; 14. Dimond 41.5; 14. Eagle River 41.5; 16. Thunder Mountain 39.5; 17. Grace Christian 37; 18. West 33; 19. Chugiak 32; 20. ACS 31.5.

Championship finals:

98 pounds — C. O’Hara, ACS d. Ad. Concepcion, Sou 5-3; 106 — Ae. Concepcion, Sou p. J. Allain, Bet 1:20; 113 — T. Dyment, Bet d. J. Spencer, Lat 7-2; 120 — G. Hutchison, Sol p. B. Blunka 3:37; 126 — J. Shack, Sou p. R. Fannon, Col 3-2; 132 — L. Fasulo, Hom d. C. Alexander, Was SV: 138 — I. Elvsaas, Was d. J. Opp, Lat 6-3; 145 — H. Lieb, Bet d. S. Martin, Sou 8-4; 152 — A. Shepersky, Was p. W. Story, Lat 1:44; 160 — M. Lucas, HRA d. Z. Tolver, Lat 6-1 SV; 170 — E. Christy, Col d. L. Farris, Pal 7-4; 182 — E. Bockman, Gra d. C. Hopkins, Col 7-0; 195 — B. Antesberger, NP p. L. King, Hom 3:31; 220 — K. Wells, Hom d. K. Calderera, Ser 11-7; 285 — D. Jackson, Hou p. P. Vaafuti, West 2:36.

Third-place matches:

98 — T. Clapp, Col p. J. Bockert, Lat 1:03; 106 — J. Hopkins, Col m.d D. Perez, Eie 14-3; 113 — A. Ehmann, Col d. J. Mays, TM 6-4; 120 — V. Cramer, Col d. D. Peterson, NP 12-5; 126 — T. Cha, Sou d. M. Mathis, Was 11-9; 132 — H. Hayes, Was d. K. Ames, Lat 3:36; 138 — S. Uhlenhake, Was m.d. D. Martizhev, Voz 17-3; 145 ¬— W. Bockert, Lat d. T. Severson, Col 14-7; 152 — B. Metcalf, Sol d. H. Bleakney, Pal 9-5; 160 — J. Watkins, Pal d. J. Nummer, Kod 13-10; 170 — E. Roetman, Kotz won by fft C. Cudaback, Hom; 182 — T. Cook, Hom d. A. Vreeland, Dim 4-2; 195 — B. Dunham, Ken p. C. Harris, Ket 3:33; 220 — T. Clark, Mon d. J. Edwards, Lat 7-0; 285 — O. Talaiasi, Bar p. L. Santana, Pal 1:52.