The Eagle River wrestling team won the Top Dog Invite on Friday and Saturday at Nikiski Middle-High School.
The Wolves scored 279.5 points, while Soldotna was second with 278, Nikiski was third with 220.5, Homer was fifth with 194.5, Kenai Central was seventh with 178 and Seward was eighth with 175.
Dylan Hooper, an athletic director and assistant wrestling coach for Nikiski, said the tournament format keeps drawing more and more teams.
Hooper said the brackets wrestle down to 16th place. He said at most tournaments, a lot of wrestlers go two and out. By wrestling to 16th place, inexperienced wrestlers get more matches to develop. He said many wrestlers got their first win wrestling for, say, 13th place.
“The format is really special,” Hooper said. “It draws a lot of teams and they keep coming back.”
This year, 27 teams were listed on the team scores and Hooper said about 350 wrestlers competed. He also said the tournament went from 44 girls last year to 68 girls this year. Hooper said the tournament will add a girls team award next season.
The athletic director said about 800 matches were wrestled Friday and Saturday, with four mats running for most of the time.
“It’s one of the biggest tournaments in the state,” Hooper said. “It’s pretty awesome a small community can put it on, but we have a really strong wrestling community.”
Hooper also was excited about Nikiski’s finish, which he said is the best the Bulldogs have finished at the tournament. The assistant coach said Nikiski has 40 in the room this year, which is about double from last year.
Winning titles for the Stars were Jessica LeClair at girls 107 pounds, Angelina Chavarria at girls 114 and Daisy Hannevold at girls 138.
Also for SoHi, Sam Henry was third at 103, Grady Abrams was 15th at 112, Jaden Carlyle was eighth at 112, Zackary Kemp was sixth at 119, Jace Gilliam was fourth at 119, Braze Cassidy was fifth at 140, Nicholas Rackley was second at 145, Anthony Payne was sixth at 152, Hardy Faircloth was 12th at 152, Ryatt Weed was seventh at 152, Liam Peck was fifth at 160, Gage Trent was 12th at 171, Valerie McAnelly was second at girls 107, Megan Whittom was eighth at girls 107, Taylor Whittom was fifth at girls 114, Lucy Uhlir was fourth at girls 120, Rowan Peck was second at girls 126, Kaytlin McAnelly was second at girls 132, Bella Byrd was third at girls 185 and Infinity-Ann Asiata-Higa was second at girls 185.
Mayaac Schmit, at 285, had the lone title for Nikiski.
Also for the Bulldogs, Aiden Quiner was 12th at 103, Noah Playle was 16th at 119, Zander Stroh was 11th at 125, Thayne Quiner was seventh at 130, Wyatt Maguire was second at 135, Kaiden Parrish was 10th at 140, Trigger McCaughey was 12th at 140, Connor Ley was 15th at 152, Jakeup Martin was seventh at 160, Sam Yerkes was sixth at 160, Jackson Wittmer was third at 171, Robert Isabel was 13th at 189, Seth Payne was fourth at 189, Michael Bennett was 16th at 215, Breaker Schmit was fifth at 215, Truit McCaughey was third at 215, Rex Wittmer was second at 285, Paisley Maxwell was ninth at girls 107, Jade Hemphill was 12th at girls 132, Jorja Peppinger was fourth at girls 165, Elliana Isabell was fourth at girls 185 and Destiny Langston was second at girls 235.
Winning titles for the Mariners were Brayden Woods at 152, Saoirse Cook at girls 132 and Roane Cook at girls 185.
Also for Homer, Luca Fitzpatrick was sixth at 103, Jadon Weisser was 14th at 119, Landyn Woods was 11th at 130, Maxwell Herndon was sixth at 135, Justus Grimes was third at 135, Zayne Adams was eighth at 140, Paul Minke was second at 140, Heather Shae was fourth at girls 107, Ryan Alcorta was fourth at girls 145 and Bryce Glidden was third at girls 165.
Daniel Steffensen, at 140, had the lone title for Kenai Central.
Also for the Kardinals, Jaxson Young was third at 125, Abednego Larson was ninth at 135, Rusty Holmes was 16th at 140, Tony Perez was sixth at 140, Keagan Stanley was fourth at 152, Leighton Wilshusen was 12th at 160, David Deese was 15th at 171, Nathan Teates was sixth at 189, Thaddeus Lingenfelter was 12th at 189, Brandon Blake was sixth at 215, William Roberts was ninth at 215, Cecil Newcomb-Hammer was seventh at 285, Luke Cole was eighth at 285, Justice Stockman was 16th at girls 107, Alicia Perez was fourth at girls 114, Isabella Asi was fifth at girls 138, Edith Watts was third at girls 145 and Jenna Yeoman was second at girls 165.
Winning titles for Seward were Tommy Jarnig at 103, Aidan Schilling at 119 and Hunter Forshee-Kurtz at 130.
Also for the Seahawks, Ridge Conant was third at 112, Emery Kirchner was fourth at 112, Amos Ballard was 14th at 130, Anthony Smith was fourth at 140, Mesha Bidnyy was 16th at 152, John Van Buskirk was third at 285 and Chloe Lastimosa was third at girls 126.
SoHi boys take 2nd at Halloween Monster Bash Duals
The Soldotna boys wrestling team took second at the Halloween Monster Bash Duals at South in Anchorage.
The Stars finished 5-1 in dual meets, with the only loss coming to champion South by a score of 54-13.
Also, the Stars defeated Wasilla 54-24, defeated Thunder Mountain 59-18, defeated Redington 70-12, defeated Colony 62-15 and defeated Palmer 65-12.
Finishing undefeated for the Stars on the day were Jacob Strausbaugh at 130 and 135 pounds and Michael Dickinson at 140.
