The Colony Knights waged a war on the Wasilla Warriors and won Saturday at the Northern Lights Conference wrestling championships at Wasilla High School.
Colony won its third straight region crown with 387 points, topping Wasilla by a slim 13.5 points. Palmer finished third with 323 points.
A staggering 12 of the 15 championship matches were decided between the three Valley schools — Colony, Wasilla and Palmer.
Sitting a distant fourth in the team standings was Soldotna with 195.5 points, while Kenai Central finished sixth among the six teams with 83.
Leading the Stars was the brother duo of Seth and Gideon Hutchison, who both claimed NLC crowns. Seth, a senior, won the 126-pound final over Isaiah Elvsaas of Wasilla in a narrow 5-4 victory to win his fourth straight region title. Gideon, on the other hand, won his first region title as a freshman in the 106-pound final, pinning Wasilla’s Kayden Wall with 56 seconds left in the second round.
SoHi’s only other finalist, senior Dalton Best, came face to face with Kenai senior Zach Koziczkowski, who represented Kenai’s lone title hope among boys. The two seniors clashed for a fourth time this season, with Koziczkowski getting the better of Best with a pin 2:07 into the 285-pound championship bout. The win left Koziczkowski with a 3-1 record against Best in 2015.
In the girls tournament, Kenai senior Natalie Chavez claimed the title at 106 pounds with a pin on Wasilla’s Heidi Warner with 51 seconds left in the match.
Samuel Wolff of Wasilla took home Outstanding Wrestler honors. Wolff claimed the 138-pound championship with a 4-2 overtime win over Colony’s Caleb Hopkins, an opponent that Wolff had previously never beaten. Palmer coaches Dan Graham and Don Malone were jointly presented Coach of the Year honors.
Northern Lights Conference Championships
Friday-Saturday, Wasilla High School
Team scores: 1. Colony 387; 2. Wasilla 373.5; 3. Palmer 323; 4. Soldotna 195.5; 5. Kodiak 125; 6. Kenai 83.
Championship finals
98 pounds — R. Fannon, Col d. O. Andersen, Pal 10-8 SV; 106 — G. Hutchison, Sol p. K. Wall, Was 3:04; 113 — M. Mathis, Was t.f. L. Schumacher, Was 24-9; 120 — L. Hopkins, Col d. R. Delacruz, Kod 7-5; 126 — S. Hutchison, Sol d. I. Elvsaas, Was 5-4; 132 — B. Sturgeon, Was p. E. Christy, Col 1:20; 138 — S. Wolff, Was d. C. Hopkins, Col 4-2 SV; 145 — C. Booth, Col m.d. L. Farris, Pal 12-0; 152 — A. Shepersky, Was p. J. Glynn, Pal 4:33; 160 — C. Kurka, Pal won by inj. def. C. Fannon, Col 3:13; 170 — R. Haan, Col won by med. fft J. Nero, Col; 182 — C. Wilson, Was won by med fft K. Peratrovich-Brown, Pal; 195 — A. Farris, Pal p. J. Inch, Was 1:31; 220 — C. Minnick, Was m.d. I. Christy, Col 14-6; 285 — Z. Koziczkowski, Ken p. D. Best, Sol 2:07.
Third-place matches
98 — L. Craig, Sol p. A. Edwards, Col 4:30; 106 — T. Severson, Col d. B. Gonzalez, Kod 5-0; 113 — K. Torres, Col d. G. Whisman, Col 5-2; 120 — K. Torres, Col d. Wa. McGann, pal 5-4; 126 — D. Simpson, Was d. S. Walton, Kod 9-6; 132 — H. Steiner, Was d. J. Nummer, Kod 6-2; 138 — W. McGann, Pal d. T. Newland, Was 10-4; 145 — B. Metcalf, Sol d. H. Bleakney, Pal 3-1; 152 — K. McEnerny, Ken d. A. VanHout, Sol 11-5; 160 — E. VanHout, Sol d. B. Dyer, Pal 9-7; 170 — A. Schrader, Sol d. N. Gross, Was 1:55; 182 — D. Nash, Col m.d. C. Eby, Col 10-1; 195 — P. Wilcox, Sol won by med fft T. Wheeler, Pal; 220 — L. Santana, Pal d. H. Bigley, Kod 14-10; 285 — K. Doyle, Col won by inj def K. Andersen, Pal 4:39.
Fifth-place matches
98 — L. Sullivan, Sol bye; 106 — S. Fonov, Col bye; 120 — I. Hansen, Was p. D. Parker, Kod 0:42; 126 — J. Anderson, Ken p. W. Brewer, Kod 0:42; 132 — N. Reeves, Pal d. A. Miley, Col 10-3; 138 — S. Larionoff, Kod d. J. Watkins, Pal 7-2; 145 — A. Newland, Was m.d. J. Lautrup, Col 13-5; 152 — G. Nummer, Kod d. A. Barnes, Pal 7-2; 160 — B. Dunham, Ken d. S. Ganchenko, Col 11-5; 170 — J. Davis, Pal m.d. B. Furlong, Sol 9-1; 182 — M. Dorsey, Was p. S. Kruse, Ken 2:42; 220 — R. Carrington, Pal p. T. Riopelle, Col 1:00; 285 — A. Kollander, Pal p. J. Smith, Kod 0:42.
Girls Championship finals
106 — N. Chavez, Ken p. H. Warner, Was 5:09; 113 — K. Fabricante, Kod bye; 120 — A. Garcia, Col bye; 145 — D. Stolter, Col bye.
Soldotna High senior Seth Hutchison tries to roll Wasilla sophomore Isaiah Elvsaas during the 126-pound match of the championship finals of the Northern Lights Conference Championships Dec. 12 at Wasilla High School. Hutchison edged Elvsaas 5-4 in the match to win his fourth career region title.
