Warriors win team title at Houston Invite

HOUSTON — Wasilla was on the warpath Saturday, wrapping up a convincing team win at the 23rd annual Houston Invitational wrestling tournament at Houston High School.

The Warriors piled up 346 points to outdistance second-place Colony (216), while host Houston came close to triple digits with 98 points and a sixth-place finish.

For Wasilla, depth seemed to be a strong point, with several key matches featuring two Warriors on the mat.

At 112 pounds, Abe Fox scored a 4-2 decision over teammate Nathan Marquez to take his weight class. It was the same for Wasilla’s Bryce Serno at 119 pounds, beating Cole Milley 7-2. The Warriors also crowned champions at 135 pounds (Josh Brown) and 152 pounds (Caleb Pempek).

For the Colony Knights, Luke Faulkner pinned Wasilla’s Christian Lowe in 1:25 to win at 130 pounds and heavyweight Renn Wright had the rights stuff, pinning his way to the title, a 2:12 fall over Ryan Pomerenke of Wasilla.

Also having a notable tournament was Colony’s Rachel Shannon, who fought back from an opening 5-0 loss to Darin Gilman of Cordova to face Gilman again in the third-place match at 135 pounds. She pinned teammate Austin Rench in 3:12, then stuck Houston’s Danielle Barney in 2:20. In her rematch with Gilman, the Colony grappler fell short in a close 2-1 decision.

Houston Invitational

Saturday, Houston High School

Team scores:

1. Wasilla 346; 2. Colony 216; 3. Valdez 157; 4. East 150; 5. Cordova 146; 6. Houston 98; 7. Chugiak 55; 8. Hutchison 50.5; 9. Grace Christian 46.5; 10. Glennallen 34.5; 11. Newhalen 14; 12. Tok 12.

Championship final:

103 pounds — K. Groenveld, Val p. G. Gagnon, Chu 0:23; 112 — A. Vox, Was d. N. Marquez, E 4-2; 119 — B. Serna, Was. d. C. Miller, Was 7-2; 125 — M. Malnoske, E p G. Loggins, Col. 5:55; 130 — L. Faulkner p. C. Lowe, Was. 1:25; 135 — J. Brown, Was. d. M. Ace, V 3-0; 140 — A. Richardson, H. dq. M. Downing, V; 145 — K. Mundy, Cor. d. N. Brockman, GA 5-1; 152 — C. Pempek, W p. J. Keuber, V :55; 160 — B. Platt, Cor. d. J. Allen, V 12-6; 171 — J. Hamilton, E p. G. Kruger, Col. no time given; 189 — D. Wilson, E p. J. White, W 5:38; 215 — M. Trumblee, Cor. p. M. Birky, GCS 2:26; 275 — R. Wright, Col. p R. Pomrenke, Was. 1:17.

Consolation final:

103 — R. Bremmer, Col p. L. Crosslin, Hou 0:22; 112 — B. Aga, Col. m.d. N. Roetman, Col. 15-2; 119 — T. Wintersteen, Chu. p. B. Hursh, V 4:48; 125 — D. Scerbak, H p. T. Adams :43; 130 — D. Alleman, T wbf; 135 — D. Gilman, Cor. d. R. Shannon, Col. 2-1; 140 — B. Sutter, GCS t.f. R. Martinez, H 17-2; 145 — D. Johnson, W d. J. Wiggins, E 6-0; 152 — A. Reese, H w.b.f. J. Fujimoto, Col.; 160 — J. Marshall, W p Logan Elliot, Col. 3:40; 171 — M. Dobbs, W p. H. Cain, Cor. 3:32; 189 — T. Barron, H d. B. Corrillo, Cor. 10-4; 215 — J. Johnson, Was. p. D. Yeager, Was. 2:47; 275 — L Peralta, E p. D. Green, Was. :50.