Wagner, Drake win titles for Houston

ANCHORAGE — Luke Wagner capped his quest to be a three-time state champion the same way he wrestled through much of his high school career — by pinning his opponent.

The Houston High School senior pinned Thomas Hoseth of Dillingham in 2 minutes, 35 seconds Saturday evening in the 220-pound finals of the ASAA/First National Bank 123A State Wrestling Championships, capping a state tournament that saw him pin his way to the championship. In fact, his semifinal pin in 2:45 of Calvin Gooson of Eielson was his longest match of the tournament.

Wagner, who also won the 220-pound title in 2012 and 2011, was joined on the championship podium by teammate Aaron Drake, who won the 120-pound crown when he pinned Brettlyn Reich of Kotzebue in the finals.

Wagner and Drake were two of three Hawks wrestling for titles on Saturday evening. Ryan Radmer was also in the 152-pound finals and placed second at state. He lost a close 4-3 decision to Thorne Bay’s Luther Jenson.

Houston qualified nine grapplers for this year’s state tourney, tying a school record. The Hawks finished sixth overall in the team standings with 112.5 points, four places higher than their 10^th-place finish in 2012.

ASAA/First National Bank 123A State Wrestling Championships

Anchorage

Team scores (top 10)

1. Bethel 217, 2. Kotzebue 167.5, 3. Valdez 152.5, 4. Skyview 138.5, 5. Nome 136, 6. Houston 112.5, 7. Homer 85.5, 8. Glennallen 70.5, 9. Petersburg 69.6, 10. Mt. Edgecumbe 65.

Editor's note: This is an update to a story posted earlier Saturday about the 123A state wrestling tournament. Below is the earlier post:

Houston puts 3 in finals

ANCHORAGE — With the consolation matches winding down before Saturday’s ASAA/First National Bank 123A State Wrestling Championships, Houston was preparing to see a trio of Hawks in their respective finals.

As of press time Saturday afternoon, the Hawks were in sixth place overall in the team standings with 100.5 points. Bethel was leading the way at 207, more than 50 points ahead of second-place Kotzebue (151.5).

In the finals, Houston’s Luke Wright is hoping the third time’s a charm as he wrestles for his third consecutive 220-pound state tile. The senior was dominating in winning a region title last weekend in Nikiski, and carried that through to the state tournament. He pinned his way into the finals, first sticking Isaac Zacharoff of Pilot Station in 1:02 in the first round. He pinned Seward’s Ben Miranda in 1:30 in the quarterfinals, then capped his run to the finals with a 2:45 pin of Eielson’s Calvin Gooson in the semifinals.

For the title, Wagner squares off against Thomas Hoseth of Dillingham, who also pinned his way into the finals.

Joining Wager in the finals are teammates Aaron Drake at 120 pounds and Ryan Radmer at 152. Both were also region champs.

Drake began his route to the finals with a 15-0 tech fall over Jay Stone of Eielson, then a 9-3 decision over Cotton Sieh of Kotzebue and an 8-4 decision over Seard’s Terrance Annogiuk. That placed him in the finals against Brettilyn Reich of Kotzebue.

Radmer will faced off with Luther Jenson of Thorne Bay in the finals. Like Wagner, Radmer also was dominant leading up to the finals. He beat Pedro Ochoa of Homer 9-6 in the opening round, then pinned Dylan Brorssard of Nikiski in 1:31 and Koy Jonson of Kotzebue in 5:52.

With a few matches still left to wrestle before Saturday evening’s 123A state finals, another pair of Hawks were still in the running to be state placers.

At 220 pounds, Walker Stephens was set to wrestle in the third-place mach, while Seth Lang was trying for fifth place.

More online: Saturday’s finals happened after the Frontiersman’s deadline for the Sunday morning print edition. Read this story online for updated results and read Tuesday’s Frontiersman for more on Houston wrestling.