While Homer senior Simeon Daigle will spend today and Saturday at the state wrestling tournament at Chugiak High School trying to avoid an upset, the rest of the Kenai Peninsula’s wrestlers will be trying to cause upsets.
Daigle, a defending state champion, is the only area wrestler ranked No. 1 by akmat.org heading into the tournament.
Neldon Gardner, the veteran Skyview coach who has led the Panthers to four state titles, knows that doesn’t automatically mean a state title for Daigle. It also doesn’t mean the rest of the peninsula will be shut out.
Gardner said he has had a couple of wrestlers not make the finals of a tournament all year, then make the finals at state.
“All it takes is a good match or two good matches,” Gardner said. “If you have a kid that is usually fourth of fifth, one good match in the semifinals and he makes the finals.”
One thing that is more certain is that a peninsula team will not win the state team title. That will most likely come down to a battle between Colony, Chugiak and South.
Daigle, who will wrestle in the 130-pound bracket, is 41-3 this season. All of his losses have come at 135.
Saturday, Daigle won the Northern Lights Conference title by defeating Palmer junior Wes Mills 3-2. Mills is ranked No. 2 at 130.
“Sim usually wrestles close the first time he wrestles a guy,” Homer coach Chris Perk said. “He comes back, gets a game plan, and it’s a different story.
“I think Mills is dangerous, in a sense, because he’s pretty explosive. Sim tends to have trouble with guys with speed.”
Daigle finished third at state as a freshman and fourth as a sophomore before winning last year.
“He definitely wants to win his final match,” Perk said.
Simeon’s brother, Ben Daigle, is ranked No. 3 at 112. It will the sophomore’s first state tournament because he broke his wrist the week before the conference tournament last year.
The 112-pound bracket, which also includes Skyview junior Michaela Hutchison ranked at No. 5, promises to be interesting because all the wrestlers are so close.
“Whoever thinks they are going to win it is probably going to be the champ,” Perk said.
Hutchison will be looking to follow up her thrilling run to the state title at 103 last year. She became the first girl in the country to win a state tournament contested against boys.
“There are four kids ahead of her, but she has been within a point of three of the four,” Skyview coach Neldon Gardner said. “If she has a good state tournament, she’ll be in the finals and possibly win it all. If she has a bad state tournament, she’ll be fifth or sixth.”
Hutchison’s situation sums up the deal for a bunch of area wrestlers. Kenai Central senior Michael Dormady is ranked No. 4 at 189, while Soldotna junior Ethan Waters comes in at No. 5 in that weight class.
Dormady suffered a midseason shoulder injury that actually may have helped him.
“He had to take a couple of weeks off,” Kenai coach David Boyle said. “He substituted running for wrestling and he sort of accidentally got himself in great shape.
“He came back and his conditioning allowed him to relax. He could wrestle consistently from the first whistle to the last.”
Soldotna co-coach Sarge Truesdell said Waters also is peaking, as shown by his 5-3 loss to Dormady in the conference finals.
Boyle said Dormady has only lost twice this season at 189, both times to No. 1-ranked Cayle Byers of Chugiak.
Ranked No. 5 from the peninsula are Soldotna senior Erick Morris at 152, Soldotna junior Matthew Strieby at 215 and Kenai Central senior Mitchell Canavan at 285.
Truesdell said that of his seven qualifiers, Morris has the best shot at a state title.
“His weight class is full of studs,” Truesdell said of Morris. “At the same time, he’s the type of kid that can beat anybody on any given day.”
Strieby also faces a stacked group at 215.
“He really would have to have a great tournament to win,” Truesdell said of Strieby. “I’ve seen those things happen a lot in my nine years of coaching.”
At heavyweight, Canavan and Soldotna junior Les Baker, ranked No. 6, also face a tough bracket.
“The heavyweight division has a reputation for being a weak spot,” Boyle said. “There will be a good wrestler or two, but then it really falls away.
“You could have made that case a little last year, but this year it’s one of the more solid weight classes in the state.”
The final ranked wrestler from the peninsula is Homer sophomore Robbie Brymer, who is No. 6 at 125. Brymer qualified for state last year, but then broke his leg in a dirt bike accident in the offseason.
He didn’t starting wrestling until December, but has worked his way into a position to be a state placer.
“He’s one of the biggest highlights of the year,” Perk said.
Soldotna’s seven wrestlers are the most a team qualified from the peninsula. Those qualifying that are not ranked are junior Steven Burlison at 140, junior David Japhet at 171 and freshman Nathan Strieby at 285.
“I think the whole group — all seven kids — are peaking at the right time,” Truesdell said. “They’re all in great shape. They’ve made the necessary adjustment throughout the year.”
Both Kenai and Homer had six wrestlers qualify. Unranked wrestlers qualifying for the Kardinals are Freddie John at 130, Cody Booth at 140, Jaron Dambacher at 160 and Kevin Krause at 171.
Booth and Dambacher made it to state last year but lost both matches. Boyle would like to see that change this year. Krause, a senior, came out of nowhere to claim a state berth after breaking his foot early in the season. Like Krause, John will make his first trip to state.
Unranked wrestlers qualifying for Homer are Alex Hediger at 119, Tris Brymer at 145 and Eric Weinfurter at 152.
Hediger is a freshman and Perks wants to see him get a state win under his belt. Brymer, a junior, has 27 wins and a lot of close losses to the state’s top wrestlers. Weinfurter, a sophomore, qualified when teammate Brandon Weaver could not wrestle at state due to a shoulder injury.
Skyview’s unranked state qualifiers are Alex Janorschke at 119, Luke Morse at 135, Alex Rodgers at 152 and Russ Bacon at 215.
“We had our struggles all year individually as a team,” Gardner said. “These five are all at the top of their matches. I’m not saying every one of them can win, but they can place if they have the best weekend they’ve had all year.”
Gardner said it is nice that seniors Morse, Rodgers and Bacon were able to close their careers with a trip to state.
High School Sports