The Soldotna and Nikiski wrestling teams faced off during the Battle for the Bird at Soldotna High School last Wednesday, Nov. 26. The Stars and Bulldogs both had an extra incentive to win — the winners of each weight class took home frozen chickens for Thanksgiving dinner, courtesy of the All American Training Center and Dusty Bottoms Ranch.
Unlike recent tournaments such as the Lancer Smith invitational — which is largely recognized as the toughest in the state — the Battle for the Bird highlighted camaraderie, with SoHi coaches giving Nikiski coaches Kaden Sprugeon, Sean Sullivan and Jake Savely each a frozen turkey. After a halftime show by the Kenai Peninsula Athletics Sapphire dance team, SoHi raffled off a frozen turkey. Braylynn Young, who wrestles at 145 pounds for Nikiski, was pronounced the winner.
“Everyone stepped up for the event,” SoHi wrestling coach Pete Dickinson said in a text to the Clarion. “We had a great crowd and wrestled under the spotlight. For every win, the wrestler got to throw t-shirts into the stands — two of them, if the wrestler won by a fall.”
SoHi claimed 22 of the 27 chickens, securing victory over Nikiski. SoHi boys beat Nikiski 63-15, and the SoHi girls team won 48-6.
Dickinson said one of the most exciting matches pitted SoHi’s Jace Gilliam against Nikiski’s Jaxon Young, a returning state champ. Despite stepping up to the challenge and scoring several times against Young, Gilliam lost 12-5.
The team will compete in one more tournament before regionals and state. This weekend, the Stars will travel to Oregon for the Perry Burlison invitational, where they’ll face some of what Dickinson calls “the best competition in the state.”
“There is always room for improvement,” he wrote in a text to the Clarion. “We focus on getting better everyday. For many of the kids, they are training to beat the best kids in the country — not just in the state.”
SoHi’s junior varsity team is the tournament’s returning champion, and varsity holds the runner-up title.
“We are looking to improve that and focus on dominating all positions in every match,” Dickinson said.
After this weekend’s tournament, the team will travel to Wasilla for regionals on Dec. 13. The state tournament will be held in the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage over the weekend of Dec. 19-20.
To view the entire wrestling team’s schedule, visit SoHi’s athletics page.
