Warriors rule the mat at duals

The Wasilla Warriors stormed through the Palmer Duals Wrestling Tournament Saturday, soundly defeating each team they faced to win the tournament over five other schools.

The duals tournament format pitted school against school, wrestling in each weight division. Valley teams from Palmer, Colony and Wasilla each completed three matches against teams from Service, Dimond and West Anchorage. At the completion of the three matches, the Valley team with the best record faced the Anchorage team with the best record to determine the tournament winner.

Wrestlers earned team points by winning matches in their weight division. Wrestlers earned six points for their team if they pinned their opponent or if the other team forfeited the match. Wrestlers earned three points by outscoring their opponents for a win.

After sweeping through the three Anchorage teams, Wasilla was to meet Service in the tournament championship, but Service conceded the title to the Warriors.

Wasilla sophomore Jed Wade, a defending state champion now wrestling in the 189-pound class, garnered three wins on the day. Wade pinned two of the three opponents he faced during the meet.

Ben Olson narrowly won his first match of the day with a score of 4-3 against West in the 152-pound division, but went on to destroy Dimond and Service opponents 11-0 and 14-5 to win all three of his matches.

"I didn't know I would be wrestling the first match," Olson said. "So I wasn't warmed up and ready."

Matches did not start with the lowest weight division, as normally happens. Instead, weight divisions were drawn to see which weight class would start, then followed in sequential order.

Cory Crane had one pin in his three wins Saturday. Crane wrestled in the 160-pound division.

Ryan Olivera won both matches he wrestled Saturday, pinning opponents from Dimond and Service.

Sophomore Ron Burgett, wrestling in the 215-pound division, pinned a West Anchorage wrestler in the second round to win his first-ever match.

"I had no game plan for the match, I was too nervous," Burgett said. "I just tried to overpower him and not get pinned."

With the wrestling season just under way, Saturday's tournament provided many wrestlers a first opportunity to compete and others a chance to get many matches under their belt in one day.

Palmer finished second among the Valley schools.

Palmer coach Brian Hooks saw the tournament as an opportunity to get experience for some of his younger wrestlers.

"I wanted to get some match time for the kids," Hooks said. "Some of my kids haven't wrestled at all before this."

Hooks admits that Palmer is in a rebuilding year with only a few seniors on the team, but looks to get stronger in the years to come.

"We have a good middle school program," Hooks said. "They are pushing good kids up to us that are ready to wrestle."

Palmer sophomore Zach Tomco, who wrestles in the 119-pound weight division, set goals for the tournament to learn from his mistakes and get more aggressive in the beginning of matches.

"I have a tendency to get taken down first," Tomco said. "I need to work on my sprawl and see the move coming."

Tomco picked up two wins Saturday. Heavyweight Jon Hillman also picked up two wins for the Moose, gaining both victories with pins.

Senior Daniel Graham, a 145-pound wrestler for Colony, saw the tournament as an opportunity to get some mat time and work on some moves.

"I wanted to work on my shots and try get smoother," Graham said.

Graham likes the duals format because wrestlers compete as a team, something he believes helps to bring team unity.

Graham won both of his matches Saturday.

Palmer, Colony and Wasilla are gearing up for the North/South Tournament, which starts today at Wasilla High School.

The tournament is one of the biggest meets of the year and will include wrestlers from all over the state.