Valley wrestlers earn state titles

Hot off the heels of last week's Region III championships, Valley wrestlers traveled to Fairbanks over the weekend to pit their talents against Alaska's best in the spring session state wrestling tournament.

Palmer, Colony and Wasilla returned with individual titles, with Wasilla finishing fourth as a team behind Chugiak, Lathrop and West Valley. Palmer finished eighth and Colony ninth.

In what was billed as one of the biggest matches in the tournament, Wasilla's Jed Wade defeated West Valley's Ward Dobbs 8-4 in the 189-pound final. Both sophomores, Dobbs had defeated Wade twice earlier in the season in matches at the North/South tournament in Wasilla and at West Valley.

The 189-pound title is the second state championship for Wade. He won the 171-pound state championship last year as a freshman. Wade's second championship in two years keeps him on track to become a member of an elite group of Alaska wrestlers who have won four state titles in high school. Only two wrestlers in Alaska have ever accomplished that task.

Three other Wasilla wrestlers made it to the finals in the tournament but were denied championships. Abe Salmon advanced to the 160-pound title match, but fell 5-2 to West Valley's David Lorring. Ben Olson dropped a 7-3 decision to Howard Gregg of East in the 152-pound title match and Ryan Olivera fell to Daniel Graham of Colony 6-3 in the 140-pound championship match.

Wasilla's loss in the 140-pound match was Colony's gain, with Graham attaining his first state title. The title match with Olivera was a rematch of the 140-pound Region III championship held last week at Colony High School, with Graham winning the region with a 5-2 decison over Olivera. Graham and Olivera grew up together in wrestling, facing each other numerous times in matches dating back to middle school.

"Ryan and I know each other well -- we know each other's moves, which makes for a low-scoring match," Graham said after the Region III championship match.

The state title was the first for Graham. He was edged out of a title with a 3-2 loss in the 145-pound championship match in last year's tournament.

Colony's Dustin Killian advanced to the championship match in the 103-pound weight divison, but fell to West Valley's Kaylen Baxter in a 5-2 decision.

Senior Andy Andersen of Palmer finished his high school wrestling career by repeating as champion of the 112-pound weight division. Andersen defeated Travis Schultz of Chugiak with a 13-4 major decision.