Valley wrestlers qualify for nationals

PALMER — Valley wrestlers capped the 2016 high school season by securing 13 spots in the 4A state finals and seven titles. Local grapplers have continued that success during the youth freestyle and Greco season.

Three Valley wrestlers reached the finals, and two won championships, during the 2017 USA Wrestling Northwest Regional junior and cadet freestyle and Greco tournaments in Centralia, Washington, late last month. Thirteen different Alaska grapplers — competing for Team Alaska and the Selected Team Alaska Grappling Elite program — qualified for the USA Wrestling National Championships in Fargo, North Dakota, in July.

Levi Hopkins led the 22 Alaskans in the tournaments with a pair of titles. Hopkins, a Colony High sophomore, finished first at 152 pounds in the cadet division in both freestyle and Greco. Ezra Lincecum, who wrestled his senior season at Wasilla High, also won a title, finishing first at 285 pounds in the junior freestyle tournament. Palmer High junior Jeff Glynn reached the finals at 160 pounds in the junior division of each tournament, and finished second in both freestyle and Greco.

Hopkins beat three wrestlers from Washington and another from California en route to his freestyle title. Hopkins advanced to the finals with a 13-6 win over Weston Lyver of Team Washington in the semis, and earned his championship with a 10-0 victory by technical fall over Peter Ming of Team California.

Hopkins, a 4A state champion in 2015 and runner-up in 2016, beat Team Washington’s Riley Van Scoy, 18-12 in the Greco finals. That victory came after another win over Lyver in the semifinals, a 12-6 victory.

Lincecum won his final two matches by pin in the 285-pound freestyle bracket. Lincecum, a 3A state champion at Houston in 2015 and the 4A-runner up for the Warriors in 2016, needed only 39 seconds to pin Team Washington’s Yuriy Slutskiy in the semifinals. Lincecum pinned Team Washington’s Jevin Anderson at the 1:47 mark of the finals.

In the 160-pound semifinals of the freestyle tournament, Glynn pinned Team Washington’s Mason Sabin at the 2:10 mark. Logan Meek of Team Oregon scored a 10-0 win by technical fall over Glynn in the finals.

Glynn won four matches in the Greco tournament before falling in the finals. He pinned Team Washington’s Johnathan McBride in 44 seconds in the quarterfinals and followed with a 17-6 victory by technical fall over Team Washington’s Zayne Ball in the semis. Team Washington’s Jack Ervien beat Glynn 12-0 in the final.

Soldotna’s Gideon Hutchinson was the fourth Alaskan to reach the finals, finishing as the runner-up at 120 pounds in the junior division.

Levi Farris, who earned his first 4A state title in 2016 as a sophomore with Palmer High, recorded a pair of top-4 finishes. Farris was fourth at 160 pounds in the cadet division of the freestyle tournament. He finished third in the Greco tourney. Farris needed a win over a fellow Alaskan to notch third. He beat Anchorage’s Alex Hernandez 13-3 in the 160-pound third-place match.

Isaiah Elvsaas and Sam Sisco also placed in the top 4 in the freestyle tourney. Elvsaas, a Wasilla High wrestler, placed third at 132 pounds in the freestyle. Sisco, a Colony senior, was fourth at 126.

Hernadez, Asa Barnes, Jacob Spencer, Vincent Cramer, Blake Tomlinson and Jason Watkins also placed in the top 4 of the Greco tourney. Hernandez of Anchorage, was fourth in the cadet class at 160 pounds. Barnes, of Palmer High, finished third in the cadet class at 152. Spencer, a 4A runner-up for Lathrop in 2016, finished third in the junior class at 120. Cramer, a Colony freshman, was fourth in the cadet class at 113. Tomlinson, a Palmer High wrestler, finished fourth in the cadet class at 195. Watkins, also of Palmer High, was fourth in the junior class at 152.

The northwest regional in Centralia featured some of the two youth wrestlers from Alaska, Oregon, Washington, California, Idaho and Hawaii.

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