Kenai Peninsula wrestling teams warmed up for upcoming conference tournaments by getting in tournament action this weekend.
The Soldotna girls are the defending Division I state champions and Northern Lights Conference champions.
The Stars will be at the Northern Lights Conference tournament in Palmer on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 13 and 14.
Each weight class will have two berths to state. There also will be three at-large berths to the girls state tournament.
Friday, Dec. 6, the Soldotna girls traveled to Salem, Oregon, and won the Battle for the Capital tournament.
The Stars came out on top of the 19-team field with 241 points. McKay was next at 213.
Winning championships for the Stars were Naomi Keller at 100 pounds, Valarie McAnelly at 110, Mia Hannevold at 115, Daisy Hannevold at 145 and Infinity-Ann Asiata-Haga at 170.
Also for SoHi, Chevelle Lamb was third at 110, Riley Epling was fifth at 120, Rowan Peck was fourth at 125, Carrisa Heitstuman was second at 145 and Bella Byrd was third at 155.
The Soldotna boys also were in Oregon to prep for the Northern Lights Conference tournament. At the boys tourney, there will be five state berths up for grabs. There also is an at-large berth for the Division I state tournament.
The Stars were at the Perry Burlison Invitational in Turner, Oregon. Heading into the tournament, SoHi head coach Pete Dickinson said Soldotna would be seeing the top three teams in Oregon.
Sohi finished second at the tourney to Crook County. Crook County had 238.5 points, while the Stars were at 217.5.
Michael Dickinson had a huge tournament for Soldotna, winning the title at 150 pounds to keep his undefeated season alive. Dickinson also was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler.
At 138, Jacob Strausbaugh also kept an undefeated season alive by winning the championship.
Trevor Michael, at 165, won the third title for the Stars.
A couple Soldotna wrestlers had undefeated seasons end. At 106, Sam Henry is 26-1 after finishing second. At 126, Titus Watts is 26-1 after finishing third.
Also for the Stars, Ryan Buchanan was second at 120, Carson Cobb was sixth at 132, Eli Richards was sixth at 144, Hunter Bras was second at 157 and Rodney McNeel was fifth at 190.
Homer, Kenai Central, Nikiski, Ninilchik and Seward will be in Seward for the Kachemak Conference tournament on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 13 and 14.
The Redington girls have won four straight team titles, while the Kenai Central boys took the team title last season.
The boys tournament has three Division II state berths available at each weight class. There also are four at-large state berths.
The girls tournament has one state berth available in each weight class. There also are three at-large berths available to the girls state tournament.
Homer, Kenai, Ninilchik and Seward were at the Grace Grizzly Shakedown in Anchorage on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 6 and 7, to get ready for the conference tournament.
Nikiski elected to take the weekend off to be as healthy as possible for the conference tourney.
South Anchorage won the boys tournament at the Grizzly Shakedown with 334 points, while Colony was second with 174.5
Kenai, the top Division II school, was third with 107.5, Homer was fourth with 101.5, Seward was seventh with 92.5 and Ninilchik was 26th with 7.
For the Kenai boys, Kaiser DesOrmeaux was fourth at 125, Gunnar Stanley was third at 140, Daniel Steffensen was third at 152 and Keagan Stanley was third at 160.
For the Homer boys, Luca Fitzpatrick was third at 112, Paul Minke was second at 145, Justus Grimes was third at 145 and Brayden Woods was second at 152.
The Seward boys got a title from Tommy Jarnig at 103. Also for the Seahawks, Ridge Conant was second at 119 and Hunter Forshee-Kurtz was second at 135.
Ninilchik did not have a wrestler place at the tourney.
Colony won the girls title with 184 points, while South was second at 128.5.
Homer was fifth with 52, Seward was 13th with 25 and Kenai was 19th with 12.
Saoirse Cook led the Mariners by taking the title at 132. Also for Homer, Storey Cook was fourth at 114 and Christabelle Minke was third at 114.
Olive Jordan finished third at 107 to lead Seward.
The Kenai girls did not have a wrestler place at the tournament.
