Kards get chance to mix it up on the mat

The Kenai Central High School wrestling team played host to Ninilchik and Soldotna Thursday, giving grapplers from all three schools valuable mat time as they prepare for this weekend's King of the Mountain tournament in Seward as well as the area tournaments down the road.

"This was a good chance to get guys warmed up for Seward, and get some experience on the mat before the tournament," said Kenai coach Craig Schwartz. "For the most part, it was a good meet. A couple of guys really stepped it up from what they had been doing in practice."

Schwartz said he was excited to see Carlito O'Dell win his match with a pin in the second period and that Sonny Nelson came out and wrestled well in his first match of the season, notching a pin in the first period.

Jacob Madrid won two matches for the Kardinals, one by injury default and one by major decision, Kenny Butler went 1-1 and Jacob La Shot won with a third-period pin.

"I made some things up, but you've gotta try new things too," La Shot said of his tactics for the match. "There's a lot of improvement to do. We've gotta work on the basics, and our conditioning isn't where it should be."

Ninilchik coach Kevin Zimmerman was pleased with the results the Wolverines posted. John Matson won two matches, one by decision and one by major decision, and Steven Miller won both of his matches by pin.

"It's nice when you can match up like this," Zimmerman said. "We're getting some mat time -- most of the time, we're going to full-blown tournaments. Here's there's a little less pressure.

"At this point in the game, we're not trying out too many new moves. It's mostly conditioning."

Melissa Deiman also posted a win for the Wolverines, taking her match with a pin. Salty Bock went 1-1 for Ninilchik.

The Stars sent some of their younger wrestlers to the meet to gain some experience.

"There's a lot to build off of. It's all warmups until region come around," said Soldotna coach Jesse Legner. "I thought we wrestled real well. Half the battle is just keeping the kids aggressive. As a team, we wrestled real aggressively and fought hard. We got to see some new faces to beat up on."

Scott Foster notched two pins for the Stars, Shane Tachik went 1-1, Sean Whitmore won by major decision and Ricky Simpson posted a win by decision for Soldotna.

Ninilchik, Soldotna at Kenai

113 -- Scott Foster, Sol, p. Elliott Hampton, Ken, 2:42

119 -- Jacob Madrid, Ken, by inj. def. Vincent Kruzick, Nin

125 -- Shane Tachik, Sol, dec. Lucas Loggins, Nin, 10-8

152 -- Kenny Butler, Ken, p. Brian Chase, Sol, 1:00

152 -- John Matson, Nin, dec. Nick Warton, Sol, 11-4

160 -- Sean Whitmore, Sol, maj. dec. Salty Bock, Nin, 11-3

171 -- Ricky Simpson, Sol, dec. Bobby Merchant, Ken, 11-6

119 -- Melissa Deiman, Nin, p. Allen Cummings, Sol, 1:54

130 -- Steven Miller, Nin, p. T.J. Olick, Ken, 3:13

135 -- Jacob La Shot, Ken, p. Jeremy Kuffman, Sol, 4:56

140 -- Carlito O'Dell, Ken, p. Tony Naukju, Nin, 2:37

189 -- Sonny Nelson, Ken, p. Matt Hicks, Sol, 0:51

112 -- Scott Foster, Sol, p. Amber Brown, Ken, 2:19

119 -- Jacob Madrid, Ken, maj. dec. Shane Tachik, Sol, 12-4

152 -- John Matson, Nin, maj. dec. Kenny Butler, Ken, 12-4

152 -- Brian Chase, Sol, p. Terrance Carlson, Sol, 5:03

160 -- Salty Bock, Nin, p. Cody Honrud, Sol, 4:51

130 -- Steven Miller, Nin, p. Jeremy Kuffman, Sol, 1:31