WHS wrestlers dominate

JEREMIAH BARTZ/ Frontiersman sports editor

FAIRBANKS - Once again the Wasilla High School wrestling squad has won a tournament in dominating fashion.

The Warriors advanced 14 grapplers into the finals and won seven weight classes en route to capturing the team title of the West Valley Invitational, Saturday at West Valley High School in Fairbanks.

Alan Bartelli (112 pounds), Sam Miller (119), Danny Lyles (125), Ceasar Barrera (130), Patrick Cooley (135), Duane Carpenter (140) and Trevor Pempek (145) each won individual titles as the Warriors amassed 258 total points in the team standings.

Wasilla's total was well-ahead of second-place Lathrop. The Malemutes finished with 186 points.

Five matches in the championship finals featured an all-Warrior duel. Bartelli defeated teammate Ryan Hogan 13-3. Lyles edged Mike Chafin 8-7. Barrera beat Nick Perkins 6-2. Carpenter earned an 11-6 win over Jon Jensen. Pempek pinned fellow Warrior Levi Fox.

Four other Warriors actually faced a grappler not wearing a Wasilla uniform in the finals. Miller defeated Palmer's lone representative in the finals, Wesley Mills, 6-2. Palmer finished sixth in the team standings with 76.5 points.

Wasilla's Mike Trudeau (152) and Chuck Carpenter (160) fell to two of the toughest wrestlers the Interior has to offer. Defending state champion David Weise, of West Valley, scored beat Trudeau by technical fall. West Valley's Jeremy Fulk, the meet's outstanding wrestler, edged Chuck Carpenter 4-3 in the 160-pound final.

Knights win two duels

The Colony High School wrestling squads hammered a pair of Anchorage opponents in two duel meets on Friday.

The Knights defeated East Anchorage 59-12 and Service 61-12.

Colony scored six pins, four major decisions and two technical falls in the win over the Thunderbirds.