Valley grapplers win NLC wrestling titles

The Colony Knights crowned four individual champions and finished as the runner-up in the team standings during the Northern Lights Conference Championships wrestling tournament Dec. 8 in Soldotna.

Asher Clayton (119 pounds), Matthew Mitchell (130), Elijah Larsen (130) and Jackson Goss (285) all won their weight class. The four Knights were among seven Valley grapplers to win an NLC title. Wasilla’s Elijah Allen (103) and Deshawn Campbell (160), and Palmer’s Cody Vansiegman (140) also finished first. Vansiegman was named the tournament’s most outstanding wrestler.

Colony finished second in the team standings with 376.5 points, followed by Wasilla (286.5) and Palmer (263.5) in third and fourth place. Host Soldotna won the team title with 456.5 points.

A total of 16 Knights finished in the top five of their weight class and earned an automatic bid to the Division I state tournament, which starts Friday at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage.

Evan Holmes (125) and Raif Floresta (189) also advanced to the finals and placed second. Ty Hermon (125), Tegan Olson (135), Emiliano King (145) and Robert Yundt (171) placed third; Logan Rathbun (125), Kaden Hears (135), Dominic Binder (145) and Slate Houghtelling (171) finished fourth; and Isaiah Schultz (112) was fifth.

Fifteen Wasilla wrestlers finished in the top five. Achilles Alexander (103), Joseph Spangler (119) and Liam Brown (215) advanced to the finals and placed second. Chase Foss (112), Vance Griffen (130), Eugene Obukhovsky (140), Izak Punturo (152) and James Lackey (215) placed third; Thailyn Reynolds (130) and Pedro Camacho (160) were fourth; and Peyton Wright (125) and Ayden Stickle (135) placed fifth.

Palmer had 16 place in the top five. Kael Salisbury (112), Will Lindsey (135) and Larsen Corbridge (152) wrestled in the finals and placed second. Carter Paulson (189) was third; Kyle Henry (112), Kaelan Vesel (189) and Blaze Stone (215) were fourth; and Carson Mastberg (130), Nolan Deemer (140), Elden Caple (152), Kayson Asay (160), Seth Garland (171), Jacob Lehman (189), Harley Watkins (215) and Remington Mothershead (285) placed fifth.

Four Valley athletes earned NLC titles in the girls tournament. Colony’s Gia Jones (185), Wasilla’s Paris Johnson (152), and Palmer’s Lillie Vansiegman and Noelle Buck (235) won championships.

Colony’s Grace Loutzenhiser (100), Hayden VanderPool (107) and Bayleigh Harrington (126); and Palmer’s Emma O’Brien (114), Nena Trout (138), Selene Farris (145) and Ally Hrncir (152) also wrestled in the finals and placed second.

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