SoHi’s girls and boys wrestling teams both captured the Region III championship title during the Northern Lights Conference in Wasilla last weekend. The Stars will send 31 athletes to compete at the state tournament in Anchorage this weekend, Dec. 19-20.
SoHi sent 33 boys and 11 girls to regionals. Twenty-two boys and nine girls will compete in the state tournament at the Alaska Airlines Center.
Michael Dickinson, a senior who wrestles at 152 pounds, was named the Region III Wrestler of the Year. His father and Stars head coach Pete Dickinson was named Coach of the Year.
“It’s a great honor for a kid to be voted as such from competing coaches,” Pete Dickinson said of his son’s achievement. “A lot of times coaches take into account how a kid conducts himself on and off the mat when voting, and that means more than his accomplishments as a wrestler, in my opinion. I couldn’t be more proud of the wrestler he has become, but I’m even more proud of the man he’s become.”
Phil Leck, assistant coach and SoHi science teacher, said wrestling is one of SoHi’s dominant programs. The girls team is undefeated this year, winning every tournament they’ve entered all season. This weekend, they’re hoping to add a third state title to the two they’ve won back-to-back since 2023. Although the boys team hasn’t won a state title yet, Dickinson told the Clarion in November that he hopes to change that this season.
“It’s been fun to work with them,” Leck said. “We’ve got a lot of kids in there in the off season — they wrestle throughout the year. They definitely work on getting better, and they’ve shown a lot of improvement from October until now. They’re ready to go.”
The team will head to Anchorage Thursday at 3 p.m. Dickinson said SoHi will send the team off with a celebration, and police cars and firetrucks will follow the wrestlers out of town with lights on and sirens blaring. According to a Facebook post from SoHi Stars Wrestling, the team will leave from the All American Training Center. The team is inviting community members to park at the Walgreens or Starbucks on the Sterling Highway to participate in the send-off.
“Bring the energy: Bells, signs, honk your horns, flash your lights,” the post says. “Let’s send them off RIGHT.”
Dickinson said the girls and boys teams are looking good during practices, and the kids are “hungry” for state titles.
Michael Dickinson, a SoHi senior who wrestles at 152 pounds, is named the Region III Wrestler of the Year during the Northern Lights Conference in Wasilla, Alaska, on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. His father and Stars head coach Pete Dickinson was named Coach of the Year. Photo courtesy of Soldotna High School Athletics
The Soldotna High School wrestling team is photographed after the Northern Lights regional conference in Wasilla, Alaska, on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. SoHi sent 33 boys and 11 girls to regionals. 22 boys and nine girls will compete in the Division I state tournament at the Alaska Airlines Center this weekend in Anchorage. Photo courtesy of Soldotna High School Athletics
