Valley grapplers dominate NLC; Knights win another crown

WASILLA — During the tournament awards ceremony, as names were announced and individual medals were handed out, three words were heard over, and over, and over.

Colony, Wasilla and Palmer.

The Valley’s three 4A schools dominated the team standings and combined to place 52 wrestlers in the top 5 of their weight class during the two-day Northern Lights Conference Championships wrestling tournament at Wasilla High School.

Defending 4A state champion Colony powered to its third straight NLC title with 387 total points. The Knights crowned four individual champions and placed a meet-high 18 grapplers in the top 5.

“I think we’re a pretty good team this year. We’re pretty strong,” Colony junior Robert Haan said. “I think we have a shot at winning state.”

Haan (170 pounds), Rush Fannon (98), Levi Hopkins (120) and Chace Booth (145) each won their respective weight classes Saturday. Haan and Booth both captured the second region title of their careers.

Eric Christy (132), Caleb Hopkins (138), Chase Fannon (160), Jordan Nero (170) and Isaiah Christy (220) also advanced to the finals, and placed second for Colony.

Host Wasilla enjoyed a monster final round, crowing a half-dozen champions.

“The kids wrestled really well,” Wasilla head coach Shawn Hayes said. “They’re a young team with a good attitude, and they wrestled hard.”

Samuel Wolff, who was named Most Outstanding Wrestler of the meet, was among the six Warriors to win titles. Wolff finished first in the 138-pound bracket. Micah Mathis (113), Berit Sturgeon, Andrue Shepersky (152), Cablin Wilson (182) and Chase Minnick (220) also won titles.

Kayden Wall (106), Levi Schumacher (113), Isaiah Elvsaas (126) and Jonathon Inch (195) also advanced to the finals and placed second.

Mathis, a defending state champion, earned his second region title. Wasilla finished second in the team standings with 273.5 total points. The Warriors placed 17 wrestlers in the top 5.

The Palmer Moose finished third overall, with 323 points, and a pair of Palmer wrestlers won titles.

Christian Kurka finished first at 160 pounds, and Austin Farris won his second straight title, with a first-place finish at 195.

Odin Andersen (98), Levi Farris (145), Jeff Glynn (152) and Kendal Peratrovich-Brown (182) also advanced to the finals and placed second.

Palmer co-head coaches Dan Graham and Don Malone earned conference coach of the year honors.

Palmer placed 17 wrestlers in the top 5.

All 52 Valley wrestlers who placed in the top 5 earn automatic bids to the ASAA/First National Bank 4A State Wrestling Championships, scheduled for Friday at Saturday at Chugiak and Bartlett.

The following includes more about the championship finals:

98 pounds — Colony freshman Rush Fannon earned his first career region title with a 10-8 sudden victory win over Palmer junior Odin Andersen. Fannon, the top seed in the bracket, landed a throw late in the tiebreaker to get the win over Andersen, the No. 2 seed. Fannon heads into state with a 37-2 record. Andersen is 27-12.

106 — Soldotna’s Gideon Hutchison made it two straight for freshmen in the final round, scoring a second-round pin of Wasilla sophomore Kayden Wall. Wall, now 20-5, was the No. 3 seed in the bracket, and advanced to the finals with a win over second-seeded Trace Severson of Colony in the semifinals. Severson rebounded to finish third.

113 — Wasilla sophomore Micah Mathis earned his second straight NLC title with a 24-9 win by technical fall over teammate Levi Schumacher. The match was one of two during the finals which featured two wrestlers from one program. Schumacher, now 24-9, was the No. 3 seed, and advanced to the finals with a win over Colony’s Gabe Whisman, the second seed. Mathis, the top seed and a defending state champion, is now 29-1.

120 — Colony freshman Caleb Hopkins, the No. 2 seed in the bracket, held on to upset top-seeded Russell Delacruz of Kodiak 7-5 in the finals. Hopkins, now 35-5, was one of two Colony freshmen to win region titles.

126 — Soldotna senior Seth Hutchison needed to get by upset-minded Isaiah Elvsaas of Wasilla to earn the fourth region title of his career. Hutchison used an ankle pick to record the go-ahead takedown with 1:06 left in the third period to score the 5-4 win. Hutchison, 39-2, now has two NLC titles with SoHi. The senior also earned a pair of 3A region titles with Skyview before Skyview closed its doors after his sophomore year.

132 — Wasilla junior Berit Sturgeon earned his first NLC title, pinning Colony freshman Eric Christy in the final round. Sturgeon, who was second in regions last year, was the top seed of the bracket and now has a 25-4 record. Christy was seeded second, and will take a 24-5 mark into state.

138 — In one of the most exciting matches of the final round, Wasilla junior Samuel Wolff earned a 4-2 sudden victory win over Colony sophomore Caleb Hopkins, the top seed, in the finals.

“He wrestled great. He had not beat Hopkins until now, so that’s great,” Wasilla head coach Shawn Hayes said of Wolff, who was named the meet’s Most Outstanding Wrestler.

Wolff, the No. 2 seed, is now 31-4. Wolff was third in regions last year. Hopkins, who also finished second in regions as a freshman, is 34-3.

145 — Colony senior Chace Booth won his second career NLC title with a 12-0 win by major decision over Palmer freshman Levi Farris. The top-seeded Booth, who also won a region title as a sophomore, is 38-4. Farris, now 28-7, was the No. 3 seed in the bracket, and advanced to the finals with a win over second-seeded Andrew Newland of Wasilla in the semifinals.

152 — Wasilla freshman Andrue Shepersky upset the top two seeds in his bracket en route to his first career title. After beating second-seeded Keyshawn Mcenerny in the semifinals, Shepersky pinned top-seeded Jeff Glynn of Palmer in the finals. Shepersky was the No. 3 seed, and is now 26-9. Glynn heads into state 22-3.

160 — Palmer sophomore Christian Kurka scored his first career NLC title after Colony senior Chase Fannon was forced to default due to injury. Fannon was the top seed and held a 26-3 record prior to the loss. Kurka, the No. 2 seed, is now 36-8.

170 — In an all-Colony final, Knights junior Robert Haan accepted a win by forfeit over teammate Jordan Nero. Top-seeded Haan, now 36-2, earned his second career NLC title and third trip to the NLC finals. Haan advanced to the finals last year against then-teammate Kamber Lucas. Haan forfeited and placed second. Haan earned his first NLC crown as a freshman. Nero, who won an NLC title as a junior, was the No. 2 seed. Nero enters state 29-3.

182 — Wasilla junior Cablin Wilson scored the first NLC title of his career, accepting a medical forfeit by Palmer senior Kendal Peratrovich-Brown. Wilson, the No. 2 seed, is now 22-5. Peratrovich-Brown, the No. 4 seed, enters his first career state tournament with a 10-5 mark.

195 — Palmer junior Austin Farris needed less than two total minutes to pin his way to his second straight NLC title. Farris, the No. 1 seed, pinned Soldotna’s Paul Wilcox in 27 seconds in the semifinals. In the finals, Farris pinned Wasilla senior Jonathon Inch in 1:31. Farris, a state runner-up is now 31-5. Inch is now 16-10.

220 — In the third match of the final round that pitted a Wasilla grappler against a Colony wrestler, Wasilla junior Chase Minnick scored a 14-6 win by major decision over Colony junior Isaiah Christy. Minnick, who suffered a loss to Christy in the region semifinals last year, was the top seed this season, and is now 24-4. Christy, 28-7, was the No. 3 seed, and advanced to his second straight region with a victory over Kodiak’s Hunter Bigley in the semifinals.

285 — In the only match of the final round that did not involve a Valley wrestler, Kenai heavyweight Zach Koziczkowski pinned rival Dalton Best of Soldotna.

Northern Lights Conference Championships

Friday-Saturday, Wasilla High School

Team scores:

1. Colony 387; 2. Wasilla 373.5; 3. Palmer 323; 4. Soldotna 195.5; 5. Kodiak 125; 6. Kenai 83.

Championship finals:

98 pounds — R. Fannon, Col d. O. Andersen, Pal 10-8 SV; 106 — G. Hutchison, Sol p. K. Wall, Was 3:04; 113 — M. Mathis, Was t.f. L. Schumacher, Was 24-9; 120 — L. Hopkins, Col d. R. Delacruz, Kod 7-5; 126 — S. Hutchison, Sol d. I. Elvsaas, Was 5-4; 132 — B. Sturgeon, Was p. E. Christy, Col 1:20; 138 — S. Wolff, Was d. C. Hopkins, Col 4-2 SV; 145 — C. Booth, Col m.d. L. Farris, Pal 12-0; 152 — A. Shepersky, Was p. J. Glynn, Pal 4:33; 160 — C. Kurka, Pal won by inj. def. C. Fannon, Col 3:13; 170 — R. Haan, Col won by med. fft J. Nero, Col; 182 — C. Wilson, Was won by med fft K. Peratrovich-Brown, Pal; 195 — A. Farris, Pal p. J. Inch, Was 1:31; 220 — C. Minnick, Was m.d. I. Christy, Col 14-6; 285 — Z. Koziczkowski, Ken p. D. Best, Sol 2:07.

Third-place matches:

98 — L. Craig, Sol p. A. Edwards, Col 4:30; 106 — T. Severson, Col d. B. Gonzalez, Kod 5-0; 113 — K. Torres, Col d. G. Whisman, Col 5-2; 120 — K. Torres, Col d. Wa. McGann, pal 5-4; 126 — D. Simpson, Was d. S. Walton, Kod 9-6; 132 — H. Steiner, Was d. J. Nummer, Kod 6-2; 138 — W. McGann, Pal d. T. Newland, Was 10-4; 145 — B. Metcalf, Sol d. H. Bleakney, Pal 3-1; 152 — K. McEnerny, Ken d. A. VanHout, Sol 11-5; 160 — E. VanHout, Sol d. B. Dyer, Pal 9-7; 170 — A. Schrader, Sol d. N. Gross, Was 1:55; 182 — D. Nash, Col m.d. C. Eby, Col 10-1; 195 — P. Wilcox, Sol won by med fft T. Wheeler, Pal; 220 — L. Santana, Pal d. H. Bigley, Kod 14-10; 285 — K. Doyle, Col won by inj def K. Andersen, Pal 4:39.

Fifth-place matches:

98 — L. Sullivan, Sol bye; 106 — S. Fonov, Col bye; 120 — I. Hansen, Was p. D. Parker, Kod 0:42; 126 — J. Anderson, Ken p. W. Brewer, Kod 0:42; 132 — N. Reeves, Pal d. A. Miley, Col 10-3; 138 — S. Larionoff, Kod d. J. Watkins, Pal 7-2; 145 — A. Newland, Was m.d. J. Lautrup, Col 13-5; 152 — G. Nummer, Kod d. A. Barnes, Pal 7-2; 160 — B. Dunham, Ken d. S. Ganchenko, Col 11-5; 170 — J. Davis, Pal m.d. B. Furlong, Sol 9-1; 182 — M. Dorsey, Was p. S. Kruse, Ken 2:42; 220 — R. Carrington, Pal p. T. Riopelle, Col 1:00; 285 — A. Kollander, Pal p. J. Smith, Kod 0:42.

Girls brackets:

Championship finals:

106 — N. Chavez, Ken p. H. Warner, Was 5:09; 113 — K. Fabricante, Kod bye; 120 — A. Garcia, Col bye; 145 — D. Stolter, Col bye;