Wasilla senior finishes 3rd in Reno Tournament of Champions

RENO, NEV. — Nate McKimson has already proven himself to be one of the top wrestlers in Alaska. Now, McKimson is among the best of his weight class in the west.

McKimson, a Wasilla senior, placed third in the 152-pound bracket during the final day of the Reno Tournament of Champions in Reno, Nev.

McKimson won by forfeit in the third-place match. With his third-place finish McKimson posted the highest finish by an Alaska wrestler in the 2013 tournament, which is regarded as one of the top prep wrestling events west of the Mississippi River. More than 40 Alaska wrestlers competed in the tournament, including 14 from the Mat-Su Valley.

McKimson was one of four Valley athletes to finish undefeated during the first day of the tournament. After receiving a first-round bye, McKimson, the No. 3 seed in his weight class, scored a 20-8 major decision over Tyler Turco of Ponderosa High School (Colo.). He scored a win by decision in third round, and pinned an opponent in 58 seconds to reach the quarterfinals. In the quarters, McKimson earned another major decision, beating Reese Neville of Yerington, Nev., 16-2. In the semifinals, Spencer Heywood of Wasatch, Utah, the No. 2 seed in the bracket, edged McKimson 4-3.

Following his lone loss in the tournament, McKimson bounced back to record consecutive wins and third place. McKimson scored the highest finish by a Valley wrestler in the Reno Tournament of Champions since former Wasilla standout Jake Wade finished second at 189 in the 2005 RTOC.

Palmer’s Mason Cochran and Ben Button, and Colony’s Ian MacKenzie also finished 3-0 on the first day. Cochran and MacKenzie were both eliminated Saturday.

Button earned seventh place in the 220-pound bracket, capping his weekend with a 5-3 win over Liam Sorohan of Poway, Calif. Button finished 5-2 in the tournament. Button’s first loss came in the semifinals to the bracket’s top seed, Jeremy Sweany of Vacaville, Calif. His only the defeat was a 3-1 overtime loss that pushed him into the seventh-place match.

Button is the first Palmer grappler to place in the Reno Tournament of Champions since James Wade and Jon Bush each finished third in the 1997 tournament.

Led by Button, Palmer finished 31st out of 110 teams in the tournament with 67.5 total points. South Anchorage was the top team from Alaska, finishing 29th with 75.5 points. Eleven of the 14 Valley wrestlers at the tournament were from Palmer. More than half the Palmer wrestlers won at least two matches in the tournament. Button and Aaron Molesky (126 pounds) each won five matches in the tourney. Molesky was a match shy of placing in the top 8.

MacKenzie and Kamber Lucas represented Colony in the tourney. Both wrestlers finished with 3-2 records.

Reno Tournament of Champions

Valley wrestlers:

106 pounds:

Andrew Laliberte, Palmer: 0-2

Champ. Round 1- C. Smith (Wasatch) p. Laliberte 0:30; Conso. Round 1- J. Urquidez (Sunnyside) p. Laliberte 3:59.

126 pounds:

Jesse Sanders, Palmer: 2-2

Champ. Round 1- bye; Champ. Round 20 B. Cross (Cheyenne East) p. Sanders 3:40; Conso. Round 1- bye; Conso Round 2- Sanders m.d. F. Sanchez 14-0; Conso Round 3- Sanders p. T. Patchonka 3:29; Conso Round 4- M. Fikngas p. Sanders 1:44.

Aaron Molesky, Palmer: 5-2

Champ. Round 1- Molesky d. G. Bradley (Wasatch) 9-3; Champ. Round 2- Molesky p. J. Cole (Borah) 2:40; Champ. Round 3- A. Sabatino (Churchill) 6:00; Conso. Round 3- Molesky p. C. Heit (Reed) 2:14; Conso. Round 5- Molesky p. B. Bannon (Cook Country) 3:45; Conso. Round 6: Molesky p. J. Hill Lemoore) 2:00; Conso Round 7: M. Wittmack (La Costa Canyon) d. Molesky 4-0.

132 pounds:

Mason Cochran, Palmer: 3-2

Champ. round 1- Cochran p. R. White (Churchill) 1:18; Champ. round 2- Cochran p. M. Jordan (Temecula Valley) 4:30; Champ. Round 3- Cochran d. D. Harris (Redwood) 11-9; Champ. Round 4- Cochran d. D. Harris (Redwood) 11-9; Champ. Quarters- C. Yeager (Locust Grove) p. M. Cochran 2:58; Conso round 8- G. Munn (Cook County) won by inj def. Cochran.

138 pounds:

Wyatt McGann, Palmer: 1-2

Champ. Round 1- bye; Champ. Round 2- J. Cortez (Temecula Valley) m.d. McGann; Conso Round 1- bye; Conso Round 2- McGann d. B. Hockett (Wasatch) 4-2; Conso Round 3- R. Heywood (Columbia) d. McGann 6-4.

Nathan Pempek, Palmer: 2-2

Champ Round 1- bye; Champ Round 2- A. Wokasch (Queen Creek) d. Pempek 4-1; Conso Round 1- bye; Conso Round 2- Pempek p. C. Clark 3:40; Conso Round 3: Pempek t.f. T. Spezia-Shaw (Hood River) 16-0; Conso Round 4- T. Norland (Temecula Valley) d. Pempek 9-2.

145 pounds

Eli Fouch, Palmer: 1-2

Champ Round 1- M. Provost (Wasatch) p. Fouch 4:35; Conso Round 1- Fouch p. D. DeMayda (Columbia) 5:00; Conso Round 2- A. Marsh (Bingham) d. Fouch 6-5.

152 pounds:

Kamber Lucas, Colony: 3-2

Champ Round 1- bye; Champ Round 2- Lucas d. A. DeHart (Hood River) 10-3; Champ Round 3- Lucas d. A. Jepperson (Wasatch) 9-5; Champ Round 4- D. Reece (Chandler) m.d. Lucas 12-4; Conso Round 6- Lucas d. R. Huffer (Chugiak) 4-3; Conso round 7- C. Doyle (Poway) d. Lucas 6-1.

Nate McKimson, Wasilla: 5-1

Champ Round 1- bye; Champ Round 2- McKimson m.d. T. Turco (Ponderosa) 20-8; Champ Round 3- McKimson d. A. Ingram (Sutter Union) 8-3; Champ Round 4- McKimson p. J. Brewer (Green Valley) 0:59; Champ quarters- McKimson m.d. R. Neville (Yerington) 16-2; Champ semis- S. Heywood (Wasatch) d. McKimson 4-3; Conso round 10- McKimson d. Z. Colangelo (West) 4-1; Third-place- McKimson won by fft.

160 pounds:

Hunter Moleskey, Palmer: 2-2

Champ Round 1: bye; Champ Round 2- Molesky d. D. Lopez (Lenmore) 11-10; Champ Round 3- Molesky p. T. Bailey (Damonte Ranch) 3:54; Champ Round 4- J. Chavez (Centennial) won by inj def Molesky 4:40; Cons round 6- C. Doyle (Poway) won by inj def Molesky.

Austin Farris, Palmer: 0-2

Champ Round 1- bye; Champ Round 2- J. Funes (Bingham) p. Farris 3:54; Conso Round 1- bye; Conso Round 2- J. Johnson (Vacaville) p. Farris 2:13.

195 pounds:

Caleb Deemer, Palmer: 2-2

Champ Round 1- Deemer p. P. Charron (Lenmore) 1:25; Champ Round 2- Deemer won by fft; Champ Round 3- H. DiLulo (Meridian) d. Deemer 6-2; Conso Round 5: K. Powers (Kodiak) m.d. Deemer 10-1.

220 pounds:

Ben Button, Palmer: 5-2

Champ Round 1- Button p. L. Parks (Yukon) 5:38; Champ Round 2- Button m.d. D. Chavez (Pomona) 3:34; Champ Round 3- Button d. A. Hernandez (Meridian) 5-4; Champ quarters- J. Sweany (Vacaville) m.d. Button 11-0; Conso round 6- Button p. D. Remer (Locust Grove) 1:39; Conso round 7- T. Alcaro (Emmaus) d. Button 3-1 OT; Seventh-place- Button d. L. Sorahan (Poway) 5-3.

Ian MacKenzie, Colony: 3-2

Champ Round 1- MacKenzie p. J. Germaine (Queen Cook) 5:04; Champ Round 2- MacKenzie p. N. Sosa (Lehi) 4:29; Champ Round 3- MacKenzie d. T. Rasmussen (Cook County) 2-1 OT; Champ quarters- V. Raigoza (Orland) p. MacKenzie 2:25; Conso round 6- E. Thrift (Borah) p. MacKenzie 1:31.