Redington wrestlers sweep Kachemak Conference titles

Redington’s boys stopped Homer’s five-year run atop the Kachemak Conference wrestling tournament Friday and Saturday at Nikiski High School.

The Huskies took the team title with 120 points, while Grace Christian was runner-up with 110. Homer was third, Nikiski was fourth, Kenai Central was fifth, Anchorage Christian Schools was sixth, Houston was seventh and Seward was eighth.

The most outstanding wrestlers for the meet were Redington’s Charlie Severance for the boys and Homer’s Sadie Blake for the girls. Redington’s Abe Salmon is the coach of the year.

The top three boys in the tournament qualify for state, plus the Alaska School Activities Association will announce at-large berths.

Homer received its lone title from Austin Cline at 130 pounds. Cline notched a 15-4 major decision of Kenai’s Owen Whicker in the final.

Also for the Mariners, Zach Knott at 119, Russell Nyvall at 140, Nestor Kalugin at 160 and Josh Bradshaw at 171 were second. Charles Van Meter was third at 285.

Nikiski had three finalists, but no champions. Caileb Payne at 189, Tim Goodnight at 215 and Mayaac Schmit at 285 were second. Placing third for Nikiski were Jaryn Zoda at 140, Sam Yerkes at 152, Koleman McCaughey at 171, Truit McCaughey at 189 and Robert Isabel at 215.

Kenai’s lone title came from Tucker Vann, who won by injury default over Payne in the final. Owen Hart at 112, Talon Whicker at 125, Owen Whicker at 130 and Andrew Gaethle at 145 all finished second.

Seward gets a state berth from Nathan Hankins, who was second at 103.

Redington also won the girls conference title, scoring 102 points. Homer was second with 40, while Kenai Central had 30.

Blake took the title for Homer at 103 pounds, while Aileen Lester won for the Mariners at 130.

For the Kardinals, Grace Asi won at 125, while Kenzie Keller was second at 119.

Northern Lights Conference

The Soldotna boys finished third and had four champions in Friday’s Northern Lights Conference tournament at Wasilla.

Colony won the team title with 398, while Palmer was second with 279, SoHi was third with 253, Wasilla was fourth with 187 and Kodiak was fifth with 21 points.

The Stars boys received championships from Ezekiel Miller at 130, Isaac Chavarria at 140, Sean Babitt at 189 and Liam Babitt at 215.

Miller pinned Colony’s Evan Holmes in the final, while Chavarria pinned Wasilla’s Fred Elvsaas in the final, Sean Babitt notched a 6-0 decision over Wasilla’s Colton Lindquist in the final and Liam Babitt won by decision 9-4 over Zac Loutzenhiser of Colony in the final.

Also earning state berths by finishing in the top five for Soldotna were Hunter Secor in second at 119, Hunter Richardson in second at 171, Logan Katzenberger in second at 285, Wayne Mellon in third at 160, Cassius Miller in fourth at 135, Saiyan Baker in fourth at 152, Dennis Taylor in fourth at 160, Noah Land in fourth at 285, Golden Musgrave in fifth at 125, Grayden Musgrave in fifth at 130, Collin Peck in fifth at 145 and Edgar Land in fifth at 152.

In the girls tournament, Colony won with 93, while Palmer had 65, Kodiak had 28, Wasilla had 26 and Soldotna had 22.

Soldotna got all its 22 points from Trinity Donovan, who won at 145. Donovan pinned Palmer’s Ally Hrncir in the final.