The Nikiski wrestling team finished second amongst Class 1-2-3A schools and Soldotna finished fourth amongst Class 4A schools on Friday and Saturday at the Lancer Smith Memorial tournament in Palmer.
All the schools wrestled together in one big tournament, then the teams were broken down in team scores according to school size. The tournament is special because it is the lone chance for small and big schools to match up in a nondual tournament.
Kotzebue, with three champs, scored the most points in the tournament, and in Class 1-2-3A, with 203. Nikiski was second with 97.5, while Homer tied for seventh and Voznesenka tied for 16th.
In Class 4A, South was narrowly the top school, scoring 195.5 to Colony’s 193.5. Soldotna was fourth at 128.5, while Kenai was seventh at 71.
Luke Johnson led the Bulldogs to second place with a convincing title at 220. Johnson notched pins in all four of his matches, including a fall in the championship against Chugiak’s Jesse Nelson at 2 minutes, 30 seconds.
Johnson was the lone Nikiski wrestler to make his way into the finals. Nathan Carstens (160) and TJ Cox (120) each earned third for the Bulldogs.
Cox won by 7-4 decision over Quest Lema of Service in the third-place match, while Carstens pinned Wasilla’s Andrew Shannon at 4:54 of the third-place match.
John McCormick was the final placer for the Bulldogs, taking sixth at 195.
Seth Hutchison led the Stars by taking the individual title at 120. Hutchison earned a 5-4 decision over Gage Hoffman of Bethel in the championship match.
Austin Craig (113) also made it to the championship round for the Stars, but he lost a 6-2 decision to Gavin Maslen of Kotzebue.
The Stars also had Ryan Winter (132) and Bailey Blumentritt (152) lose third-place matches.
Winter dropped an 11-2 major decision to JeJomar Briones of West in the third-place bout, while Blumentritt was edged 1-0 by Spencer Woods of Kotzebue in the battle for third.
The Stars also had placers in Sage Hill’s fifth-place showing at 195 and Dalton Best’s sixth-place showing at 285.
Ellery Steffensen led Kenai’s effort with a championship at 152. All five of Ellery’s victories came via pin, including the championship match against Zachary Ritchie of South. The title bout lasted just 1:47.
Kenai also received sixth-place finishes from Matt Vandermartin at 138 and Paul Steffensen at 145.
Homer picked up two placers at the tourney, with both Jared Brant (120) and Timmy Woo (138) placing fifth.
2014 Lancer Smith Memorial
Friday-Saturday, Palmer High School
Class 1-2-3A team scores: 1. Kotzebue 203, 2. Nikiski 97.5, 3. Bethel 90. 4. Houston 81, 5. Nome 75, 6. Dillingham 40.5, 7. ACS 36, 7. (tie) Homer 36, 9. Thorne Bay 33, 10. Glennallen 31, 11. Cordova 28, 12. Grace 27, 13. Holy Rosary 23.5, 14. Valdez 20, 15. Noatak 9, 16. Unalaska 6, 16. (tie) Voznesenka 6, 18. Quinhagak 2, 19. Susitna Valley 0.
Class 4A team scores: 1. South 195.5, 2. Colony 193.5, 3. Service 135, 4. Soldotna 128.5, 5. Wasilla 106.5, 6. West 79, 7. Kenai 71, 8. Chugiak 66.5, 9. Lathrop 62.5, 10. East 48.5, 11. Palmer 46, 12. West Valley 43, 13. North Pole 36, 14. Eagle River 33, 15. Bartlett 29.
Championship finals
98 pounds — M. Ee, Lat d. R. Zimmerman, Col 10-4; 106 — J. Virgin, Glen d. T. Evan, Bet 4-1; 113 — G. Maslen, Kot d. A. Craig, Sol 6-2; 120 — S. Hutchison, Sol d. G. Hoffman, Bet 5-4; 126 — A. Drake, Hou d. G. Shack, Sou 8-6 OT; 132 — G. Alvarado, Sou d. M. Lucas, HR 3-1; 138 — L. Erikson, Nome d. N. Ottum, South 10-4; 145 — E. Booshu, Nome d. R. Pellumbi, Sou 8-3; 152 — E. Steffensen, Ken p. Z. Ritchie, Sou 1:47; 160 — R. Haan, Col p. C. Weidner, West 2:47; 170 — Z. Haviland, Kot m.d. D. Morrow, Was 10-1; 182 — J. Roetman, Kot p. A. Correa-Medina, Sou 3:57; 195 — A. Gold, East d. D. Nanouk, Kot 8-5; 220 — L. Johnson, Nik p. J. Nelson, Chu 2:30; 285 — N. Stevens, Ser d. M. Daigle, Col 7-0.
Third-place matches
98 pounds — T. Dyment, Bet d. M. Hunter, Bet 11-9; 106 — M. Mathis, Was d. S. Sisco, Col 2-0; 113 — S. Harris, South m.d. J. McAnulty, Hou 10-0; 120 — J. Cox, Nik d. Q. Lema, Ser 1-0; 126 — C. Booth, Col d. E. Brockman, Gra 12-8; 132 — J. Briones, West m.d. R. Winter, Sol 11-2; 138 — W. McGann, Pal d. R. Stewman, South 1-0; 145 — G. Eakin, Kot p. M. Amico, ER 4:24; 152 — S. Woods, Kot d. B. Blumentritt, Sol 1-0; 160 — N. Carstens, Nik p. A. Shannon, Was 4:54; 170 — L. Jenson, TB d. G. Powell, Pal 6-0; 182 — C. Howard, Cor p. J. Waller, Chu 4:19; 195 — C. Nay, Dill d. S. Lang, Hou 5-2; 220 — Z. Doan, Col m.d. E. Wright, Sou 8-0; 285 — J. Love, WV p. T. Scott, ACS 3:57.
Fifth-place matches
98 — K. Blackwell, Ser won by fft V. Shuman, West; 106 — J. Spencer, Lat won by fft J. Bianchi, West; 113 — M. Lacy, Col won by fft D. Miller, Dill; 120 — J. Brant, Hom d. W. Bockert, Lat 1-0; 126 — B. Evans, Bet p. S. Hoffman, Ser 2:22; 132 — C. Greene, Val d. C. Sieh, Kot 3-2; 138 — T. Woo, Hom p. M. Vandermartin, Ken 2:58; 145 — D. Rogers, NP won by fft P. Steffensen, Ken; 152 — S. Adams, Col won by fft J. Fricilone, WV; 160 — K. Caldarera, Ser p. B. Phillips, Kot 4:58; 170 — J. Braudis, Bar d. G. McSharry, Sou 5-3; 182 — E. McLeod, Ser p. M. Bonar, WV 3:26; 195 — S. Hill, Sol p. J. McCormick, Nik 3:00; 220 — B. Johnston, Chu won by fft M. Vaaia, Ser; 285 — W. Bruso, Bar p. D. Best, Sol 2:48.
