Soldotna, Kenai Central, Nikiski, Voznesenka and Seward took on all comers at the King of the Mountain wrestling tournament Friday and Saturday in Seward.
The Outstanding Wrestler of the Meet award went to Max Kuznetsov of Voznesenka at 113 pounds, who shined brightest out of almost 600 individual matches that took place on Seward’s floor.
Championship results were not available Saturday night. The Clarion will print them when they become available.
The weekend began with dual rounds between the teams, which were organized into pools. Soldotna placed third in Pool A with a 3-2 showing, defeating Anchorage Christian 48-33, Grace Christian 51-27 and Barrow 42-40, while losing to Houston 42-39 and Kotzebue 40-39.
Kenai Central took second in Pool C with a 4-1 result. The Kards defeated Nikiski 54-12, Glennallen 40-25, Voznesenka 48-18 and took a forfeit win, while dropping their only dual to Unalaska 45-21.
Nikiski took fifth in Pool C with a 1-3-1 record, winning a forfeit, tying with Voznesenka 30-30, and losing to Kenai 54-12, Unalaska 48-15 and Glennallen 30-18.
In Pool B, Seward ended up third with a 3-2 record, beating Valdez 53-18, Houston 54-18 and taking a forfeit win, and losing to Redington 46-34 and Wasilla 52-18.
Homer places 5th at Monster Bash
The Homer wrestling team finished fifth at the Halloween Monster Bash Duals at South Anchorage on Saturday.
The Mariners finished 4-4 in dual competition, prevailing over Palmer 42-33, Kodiak 57-30, Bethel 45-36 and Eagle River 45-30, and losing to Colony 54-19, Lathrop 42-32, Wasilla 44-25 and South 38-27.
Luciano Fasulo, Levi King and Kyle Wells led Homer with perfect records, each going 8-0 over the weekend. Fasulo went undefeated at 132 pounds, King was perfect at 195 and Wells at 220. Seth Inama at 120 and Tristen Cook at 182 both went 7-1 over the tournament.
King of Mountain Champions
98 — Chandler Jasper, Wasilla; 106 — Caleb O’Hara, ACS; 113 — Maxim Kusnetsov, Voznesenka; 120 — John Esnardo, Unalaska;126 — Gideon Hutchison, Soldotna; 132 — Sean Dorsey, Glennallen; 138 — Sterling Uhlenhake, Wasilla; 145 — Aengus Bancroft,Glennallen; 152 — Bechler Metcalf, Soldotna; 160 — Michael Lucas, Holy Rosary; 170 — Elliot Merriner, Grace Christian; 182 —Caden Gerlach, Glennallen; 195 — Byron Dunham, Kenai; 220 — Ben Heather, Barrow; 285 — Dylan Jackson, Houston.
Female champions
106 — n/a; 120 — Lexi Gridley, Soldotna; 152 — Rebekah Christenson, Seward; 170 — n/a.
Outstanding wrestler — Maxim Kusnetsov, Voznesenka.
