Warrior wrestlers win region

KODIAK -- The Wasilla Warriors placed eight wrestlers in the finals and earned 307.5 total points en route to winning the 2004 Region III wrestling championships in Kodiak last weekend.

Jed Wade, Jake Wade, Chuck Carpenter and Jeramiee Meisler each won individual titles for the Warriors.

Jed Wade defeated Zach Rohr of Skyview 3-1 to win the 189-pound class. The win marked Wade's fourth region title of his career. Jed's younger brother, sophomore Jake Wade, downed Kodiak's Steve O'Brien 7-3 to win at 171.

Carpenter scored a takedown in overtime to defeat Colony's Kyle Newman at 160. Jeramiee Meisler went 3-0 in the tournament to win the heavyweight division and remain undefeated in Alaska.

Alan Bartelli (103), Sam Miller (112), Duane Carpenter (125) and Mike Miller (140) each placed second for the Warriors.

Chris Odom, the top-ranked wrestler in the state in the 130-pound class, suffered an upset in the semifinals to Clark Buffington of Skyview, but came back to defeat Palmer's Zack Tomco to take third.

Colony placed four wrestlers in the finals and had a pair of athletes walk home with individual titles.

Freshman Hollan Gravely won the 112-pound class and remained undefeated in Alaska. Junior Domminick Bellotte defeated Dennis Bryant of Kodiak to win the 215-pound title.

Newman and Dustin Killian (119) finished second.

Palmer advanced one wrestler to the finals and five to the consolation finals.

Trevor Pempek edged Jake Savely of Skyview 4-3 in double overtime to win the 145-pound class.

Jake Huen (215) and Colby Yuill (189) each won for Palmer in the consolation finals to take third. Tomco, Tom Eller (112) and Steel Tubbs (171) placed fourth.

The top six grapplers in each weight class of the Region III tournament advance to the 4A state tournament. Wasilla will have 19 grapplers in the state meet. Palmer placed nine and Colony slipped five into the final event of the season.

The 4A tourney is slated to begin 9 a.m. Friday at Chugiak High School. Finals are scheduled for Saturday at 5 p.m.