Year of the Valley

Editor’s note: The following is the first of a two-part series detailing the year 2007 in Mat-Su sports. Today’s story focuses on high school athletics. See Tuesday’s Frontiersman for the year in non-prep sports in the Valley.

MAT-SU — One team picked up two titles in the same sport in a single year. A single school hoisted two trophies in the same night. A hockey dynasty came to a triumphant end while one in wrestling ended — as another began just down the road. Strong rivalries heated up in the fire of championship competition and a couple underdogs showed just how far a little chemistry and grit will get you.

It wasn't just outstanding teams. Individuals in numerous sports were recognized as being the best Alaska has to offer, adding to the bountiful harvest of honors reaped by Valley-grown talent in 2007.

Here’s a recap of some of the top stories from the year 2007 in high school sports:

Wasilla hoopsters cut down

nets twice at Sullivan

Wasilla's boys and girls basketball teams treated fans to a rare double feature on a cold night in March, thrilling their crimson-clad supporters by winning state titles in the final two games of the Alaska prep hoops season at Sullivan Arena in Anchorage.

It was no surprise that either team reached the finals, as both spent long stretches at the top of the polls during the regular season. Neither had their trophies handed to them.

Led by a core of savvy veterans and a high-flying young star, the Wasilla girls held off a furious individual charge from the state's player of the year, Juneau's Talisa Rhea, to win the school's first girls basketball crown since 1982. With a special member of that Wasilla team looking on — current Alaska governor Sarah Palin — the Warriors got two late free throws from sophomore Jenna Johnson to ice a 51-48 win.

Four Warriors were named to the all-tourney team following the game, including Johnson, senior guards Hillarie Putnam and Ayla Brown, and senior forward Anne Wesser. The win gave Wasilla head coach Jeannie Hebert-Truax her first state title win in three tries.

The Wasilla boys, meanwhile, had to cope with the challenge of fending off an inspired Colony team that got more dangerous with each successive game during the team's unexpected run to the title game.

Behind the red-hot shooting of Doug Gray and a squad of scrappy role players, the Cinderella Knights reached the finals with wins over No. 2 Juneau-Douglas and No. 3 East Anchorage to set up the state’s first all-Valley boys state final. For their efforts Gray and Jaron Murphy — both juniors — were named to the all-tourney team for Colony.

But No. 1 Wasilla proved too tough in the championship, getting a balanced effort led by all-tourney selections Jeremiah Collins, Dexter Pearce and Jesse Bean, the state’s class 4A player of the year. The Warriors also got a boost in the final from junior forward Shane Green, who scored 10 points and was named the championship game’s most valuable player.

Less than a month after the March 24 final, Wasilla boys coach Jason Marvel stepped down as head coach, deciding to dedicate more time to his family. The Warriors didn’t have to go far to find a replacement, naming Colony assistant Ryan Engebretsen as the team’s new head coach.

Titles twice as nice

for the Knights

Because of a scheduling quirk, the Colony wrestling team won two state titles in a span of 11 months in 2007. Both times around, the Knights used superior depth and numbers to overwhelm the competition.

In February, six Knights reached the finals as Colony amassed an insurmountable lead over second-place Chugiak before the championship round had even begun. Colony got two individual champions in 112-pounder Kyle Wilson and 135-pounder Hollan Gravley, who was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler after pinning every wrestler who got in his way during the state tournament.

The win ended a three-year run of titles by the Wasilla Warriors, who placed fourth and got individual titles from Alan Bartelli at 119 pounds and Duane Carpenter at 140. Bartelli’s win capped a stellar career that saw the senior win three individual and three team titles in his four-year career.

Less than a year later, the Knights were at it again, this time qualifying an astounding 25 wrestlers for the state tournament in December.

They’d need them all after one key athlete got sick before the tournament, another was upset in the first round and a third was ejected from the tourney for throwing his headgear and ankle band following a close match. The Knights didn’t have a single individual champion, but advanced 13 athletes into the medal rounds to easily outdistance second-place Lathrop.

Hawks skate off in style

In its final game at the Class 3A level, Houston won its fourth consecutive state title with an easy 5-0 win over Glennallen. Junior Dillon Styers and senior Kaleb Westfall each had two goals and an assist in the championship, which was held at the Menard Memorial Ice Arena in Wasilla. The win gave the Hawks six state titles in the past seven years, capping one of the most dominant sports dynasties in Alaska high school history.

A trio of Houston players — Westfall and forwards Chad Lipse and Dusty Spidal — finished their careers with four state titles for the Hawks, which got a shutout in net from freshman goaltender Will Rauchenstein in the final.

In other state tournament action at the Menard, South Anchorage held off rival Dimond in a classic match-up, with South goalie Nathan Corey standing up to a furious Lynx rally to preserve the Wolverines’ 2-1 win — the school’s third consecutive 4A title. As 2007 came to a close, Corey was again plying his trade at the Menard, this time as a first-year member of the Alaska Avalanche.

Later in the year, the Alaska Schools Activities Association announced the Menard Arena will continue to host the state championship event for the next three seasons.

Putnam does it all for Warriors

At the end of May, Wasilla senior Hillarie Putnam put on quite a show at the state track and field championships in Fairbanks by winning the long and triple jump, placing second in the high jump and taking third in the 100-meter hurdles.

Her 34 total team points were good enough for fourth place among teams entered in the event.

For her efforts, Putnam was named the meet’s Most Outstanding Athlete, but she wasn’t the only Mat-Su competitor to have a big day. Colony’s Ardrienna Everett also had a big day, finishing second to Putnam in the long and triple jump and fourth in the 300-meter hurdles.

Wasilla wins Potato Bowl, but Moose get last laugh

In one of the most dramatic high school football games in Valley history, the Wasilla Warriors pulled out an improbable Potato Bowl comeback, getting the game-winning touchdown on running back Chris Crane’s fifth touchdown of the afternoon less than a minute after Palmer pulled in front on an eight-yard pass from quarterback Conrad Smith to receiver Mitch Swetzof. Crane scored three times in the fourth quarter as the Warriors fought back from a 29-15 deficit after the third. The win gave Wasilla its first win over Palmer since 2001, and put the Warriors in the state playoffs for the first time since 2002.

But Palmer also reached the playoffs, and in the first round the Moose returned to Veterans Memorial Field for an October rematch. This time it was the Moose who pulled off the comeback. Palmer recovered from a 12-point half-time deficit to win 29-19 just one week after the Potato Bowl loss, getting two rushing touchdowns from senior back Shannon Sawyer and holding the Warriors to just 23 rushing yards in the second half.

The following week, Palmer found the end zone three times in the first quarter to upset Service, 28-14, and reach the state championship game against Juneau-Douglas. With most of the team sporting special Mohawk haircuts for the game, the Moose gave the No. 1 Crimson Bears everything they could handle before falling 23-13.

Other highlights from ‘07

Volleyball — In November, the Colony Knights used a dramatic 5-game win over Dimond in the semifinals to earn a trip to the state championship match against South Anchorage, which won its third consecutive title. Mat-Su teams dominated NLC competition in volleyball, with the Palmer Moose winning the conference championship game over Colony before placing fourth in state, while Wasilla earned the conference’s final state berth by finishing third in the NLC before dropping two matches at state.

Cross country skiing — Colony senior Ryan Van Gorder was eighth overall at the state meet in February, while Susitna Valley junior Galen Johnston placed 10th.

Cross country running — Palmer senior Jake Parisien placed second at the Northern Lights Conference championships and third in state, while the Colony boys got top-10 finishes from Jeff Ford and Mason Wick to place second overall. The Wasilla girls, meanwhile, earned the team’s second consecutive NLC crown before finishing fourth in the state.

Swimming — The Wasilla boys placed second in the NLC and sixth at state, getting a Valley-best third-place finish from junior Charles Frey in the 100-yard backstroke. Wasilla sophomore diver Rachel Kennedy placed fourth in the 1-meter event to lead Mat-Su girls at the state meet.

Soccer — The Wasilla boys got a school-record 21 goals from striker Jordan Ingalls during the regular season, losing just once en route to the NLC title. The Warriors went on to place fourth in state.

Softball — Wasilla senior pitcher Anne Wesser struck out 169 batters during the regular season to lead Wasilla into the state playoffs, where they then picked up the school’s first-ever state tournament win over East Anchorage before dropping close games to North Pole and Bartlett.

Contact Frontiersman sports reporter Matt Tunseth at 352-2265 or matt.tunseth@

frontiersman.com