The Mariner girls were named regional champions at the Kachemak Conference Wrestling Championships on Saturday, securing their victory with 125 points. The Homer boys’ team finished fourth with 176.5 points. Homer High School will send 11 wrestlers to the state championships this weekend, held at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 19-20.
More than 130 athletes from eight schools came together for the tournament, hosted by Homer High School on Dec. 13.
The Seward girls’ team was the runner-up with 116 points. Kenai placed third with 105, Nikiski fourth with 48 and Ninilchik fifth with 14.
The Grace Christian boys’ team took first place with 194 points. Mountain City Christian Academy placed second with 183, Kenai third with 178, Homer fourth and Nikiski fifth with 158.5.
Homer’s Christabelle Minke, Saorise Cook, Phoebe Lang and Araya Andres were all top individual finishers, placing first in their respective weight classes. For the boys, Luca Fitzpatrick placed first; Lucien Faucher, Zayne Adams, Landyn Woods, Tristan Overholt and Justus Grimes placed second; and Foxwell Strobel placed third.
For Kenai Central High School, Leilani Boone took first place as a top individual finisher in her weight class. For the boys, Conner Cook, Daniel Steffensen and Thaddeus Lingenfelter placed first in their respective weight classes. David Deese and Cecil Newcomb-Hammer placed second. Dawson Yeoman, Brayden Abeyta and Gunnar Stanley placed third.
For Nikiski, Braylynn Young and Addison Perkins were both top individual finishers, taking first place in their respective weight classes. For the boys, Jaxson Young placed first. Andrew Fowler, Spencer Peterkin, Brody Nelson and Breaker Schmit placed third.
“Good Sport” awards were handed out to Nikiski’s Jon Broussard, Ninilchik’s John Jackson, Grace Christian’s Brady Crotts, MCCA’s Daniel Dahlstrom, Seward’s Cannon Unrein, Homer’s Linkin Cathers and Kenai’s Thaddeus Lingenfelter.
The award for Outstanding Female Wrestler of the Year went to Seward’s Sobina Clendaniel. Outstanding Male Wrestler of the Year went to Nikiski’s Jaxson Young. Grace Christian wrestling coach Ben DeVries was named Coach of the Year.
Coaches did not respond to requests for comment by press time.
Comprehensive tournament results are available online at usabracketing.com, under “Kachemak Conference.”
Automatic State Qualifiers
Girls
Name, school, weight class
Lyla DeCastro, Seward, 100
Hazel Dickinson, Seward, 107
Olive Jordan, Seward, 114
Christabell Minke, Homer, 120
Sobina Clendaniel, Seward, 126
Saorise Cook, Homer, 132
Alta Liljemark, Seward, 138
Braylynn Young, Nikiski, 145
Addison Perkins, Nikiski, 152
Leilani Boone, Kenai, 165
Phoebe Lang, Homer, 185
Araya Andres, Homer, 235
Boys
Weight class, name, school
103 — 1. Ryder Wright, Grace; 2. Mason Malon, Grace; 3. Elliot Ezell, MCCA.
112 — 1. Ross Dunfee, MCCA; 2. Lucien Faucer, Homer; 3. Foxwell Strobel, Homer.
119 — 1. Luca Fitzpatrick, Homer; 2. Diego Marquez, MCCA; 3. Dan Ashmore, Grace.
125 — 1. Emery Kirchner, Seward; 2. Benjamin Wright, Grace; 3. Andrew Fowler, Nikiski.
130 — 1. Ridge Conant, Seward; 2. Owen Crotts, Grace; 3. Gideon Slaugenhoup, MCCA.
135 — 1. Trestin Houck, MCCA; 2. Quinn Humbert, Seward; 3. Dawson Yeoman, Kenai.
140 — 1. Alejandro Sanchez, Seward; 2. Zayne Adams, Homer; 3. Brayden Abeyta, Kenai.
145 — 1. Conner Cook, Kenai; 2. Ryan Annett, Grace; 3. Spencer Peterkin, Nikiski.
152 — 1. Jaxson Young, Nikiski; 2. Justus Grimes, Homer; 3. Gunnar Stanley, Kenai.
160 — 1. Daniel Steffensen, Kenai; 2. Anthony Smith, Seward; 3. Brady Crotts, Grace.
171 — 1. Carson Crotts, Grace; 2. Landyn Woods, Homer; 3. Brandt Mill, Ninilchik.
189 — 1. Ryan Earhart, MCCA; 2. Tristan Overholt, Homer; 3. Brody Nelson, Nikiski.
215 — 1. Serge Duchatellier, MCCA; 2. Davis Deese, Kenai.
285 — 1. Thaddeus Lingenfelter, Kenai; 2. Cecil Newcomb-Hammer, Kenai; 3. Breaker Schmit, Nikiski.
A Nikiski wrestler goes to pin a Ninilchik athlete during the regional Kachemak Conference Wrestling Championships on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, at Homer High School in Homer, Alaska. (Delcenia Cosman/Homer News)
A Nikiski wrestler goes to pin a Ninilchik athlete during the regional Kachemak Conference Wrestling Championships on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, at Homer High School in Homer, Alaska. (Delcenia Cosman/Homer News)
