WHS wins Bob Bailey

CHUGIAK — Shawn Hayes has known Derek Johnson has the potential to see success. But the Wasilla head coach has been waiting to see the junior grappler healthy.

But on Saturday, finally healthy, Johnson showed that potential.

The Wasilla junior upset the top two wrestlers in his class en route to claiming an individual title at 140 pounds, and helped the Warriors finish first in the team standings at the Bob Bailey Invitational at Chugiak High School.

“Derek Johnson is a really tough kid, he was just injured his freshman and sophomore years,” Hayes said. “We knew he had it in him, but we had to get him healthy.”

Johnson, one of three Warriors to claim individual crowns at the 18-team tournament, posted wins over the first- and second-seeded wrestlers during his final two matches of the event.

Johnson edged top-seeded Matt Downing, of Valdez, 4-3 in the semifinals, and pinned second-seeded Ken Banning, of Service, early in the third period of the championship match.

“He’s a hard worker, but he’s barely had any matches in two years,” Hayes said of Johnson, who scored his first career tournament title at the Bailey.

Sophomores Abe Fox and Caleb Pempek also won their respective weight classes for the Warriors, who finished with 216 points in the tourney.

Fox, the state runner-up at 103 last season, pinned East Anchorage’s Nat Marquez to win at 103 on Saturday.

Pempek edged defending state champion Grant Sullivan, of Chugiak, 4-3 to win the 152-pound class.

“Caleb’s worked really hard,” Hayes said. “He got Outside to wrestling camps, he’s been lifting hard. It’s really nice to see someone who does the right thing have it pay off.”

Pempek also beat second-seeded Trent Lemons, of Lathrop, 6-4 in the semifinals.

Sullivan won a state title at 145 last season.

Senior Josh Brown and junior Jake Johnson also reached the Bob Bailey finals, and finished second.

Brown was second at 130, while Johnson finished as the runner-up at 215.

Cole Miller (112), Jeremy White (189) and Ryan Pomrenke (275) placed third for WHS.

LJ Lepanen led the Palmer Moose with a third-place finish at 125.

Bob Bailey Invitational

Friday-Saturday, Chugiak

Team scores:

1. Wasilla 216, 2. South Anchorage 179.5, 3. Service 135.5, 4. Skyview 122, 5. Lathrop 108, 6. Cordova 85, 7. East Anchorage 81.5, 8. Valdez 81, 9. Chugiak 76, 10. Anchorage Christian 39, 11. Houston 33, 12. Dimond 28, 13. Palmer 26, 14. Soldotna 24, 15. Eagle River 21, 16. New Halen 19, 17. Hutchison 13, 18. Bartlett 5.

Championship finals:

103 — A. Fox, Was p. N. Marquez, East 2:24; 112 — D. Achman, Lat d. J. Hogenson, South 6-4; 119 — B. Wilson, Sky d. J. Hughes, Lat 6-5; 125 — M. Malanoske, East t.f. T. Mockta, Ser 3:54; 130 — J. Russell, South d. L. Charters, ACS 5-2; 135 — B. Sullivan, Chug d. J. Brown, Was 9-4; 140 — D. Johnson, Was p. K. Banning, Ser 4:41; 145 — L. Shelley, South p. K. Mundy, Cor 0:53; 152 — C. Pempek, Was d. G. Sullivan, Chu 5-4; 160 — J. Allen, Val p. F. Pollard, Sky 4:16; 171 — K. Kirn, South p. J. Deaton, Val 4:47; 189 — D. Wilson, East m.d. R. Moorehouse, South 11-0; 215 — S. Ellis, Ser p. J. Johnson, Was 1:17; 275 — D. Short, South p. J. Jeffords, Ser 3:19;

Consolation finals:

103 — K. Groenveld, Val d. H. Hutchison, Sky 8-1; C. Miller, Was d. S. Janorschke, Sky 10-4; 119 — C. Lacey, Ser d. B. Serna, Was 6-0; 125 — L. Lepanen, Pal p. T. Gillen, Lat 1:17; 130 — K. Currey, Lat p. D. Scerbek, Hut 2:04; 135 — S. Moore, East d. D. Brandon, ACS 10-4; 140 — M. Downing, Val m.d. M. Kinber, Cor 13-3; 145 — M. Miranda, Dim d. N. Gordon, Ser 6-5; 152 — B. Platt, Cor m.d. T. Anelon, NH 13-5; 160 — J. Thomas, Sky d. J. Marshall, Was 8-2; 171 — S. Lawson, Sky p. A. Mederos, Chu 1:57; 189 — J. White, Was p. B. Corrillo, Cor 2:49; 215 — N. Archuleta, South d. N. Vanbruggen, Sky 4-2; 275 — R. Pomrenke, Was p. T. Velasco, Cor 1:15.

Knights win

Peninsula Duals

NIKISKI — Chad Lowery and Kyle Boss each won by major decision to help the Colony Knights post a 59-14 victory over Kotzebue during the championship round of the Peninsula Duals at Nikiski High School on Saturday.

Colony, the three-time defending state champions, opend the 16-team duals tournament with a 75-6 win over West Valley. The Knights continued with a 60-9 win over Kodiak in the second round and a 44-22 victory over Bethel in the semifinals.

Peninsula Duals

Saturday, Nikiski

Championship Dual: Colony 1 59, Kotzebue 14

103 — Noah Roetman, Col, p. Gabe Shaffer, 2:29. 112 — Doug O’Hara, Kot, dec. Warren Mielke, 5-3, OT. 119 — Gabe Loggins, Col, p. Landon Eck, 5:37. 125 — Charles Coisman, Col, dec. Aydin Erlich, 4-3. 130 — Matt Rae, Kot, p. Rachel Shannon, 1:47. 135 — Chad Lowery, Col, m.d. Marvin McCall, 12-2. 140 — Kyle Boss, Col, m.d. Tim Smith, 11-2. 145 — Nate Wolfe, Col, p. Chad Nanouk, 5:34. 152 — Skye Rench, Col, p. Colton Jessup, 0:58. 160 — Joe Fujimoto, Col, p. Andrew West, 3:57. 171 — Jared Miller, Kot, p. Gordon Kruger, 0:44. 189 — Logan Elliott, Col, p. Trevor Ahrens, 0:39. 215 — Eric Fan, Col, won by forfeit. 285 — Renn Wright, Col, won by forfeit.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.