Nikiski, Kenai Central have short evening

Illness and ineligibility combined to limit a meeting of the Kenai Central and Nikiski wrestling teams to just five matches Tuesday at Nikiski Middle-Senior High School.

For Kardinals coach Tony Prior, now is as good of a time as any to deal with sickness. Kenai Central does not have regions until late January.

For Bulldogs coach Abe Porter, though, the illness comes at a tough time. The Bulldogs, a small-schools team, have their regions Dec. 5 and 6.

"We'll be OK," Porter said Tuesday in a hoarse voice that indicated he too was feeling a bit under the weather. "We're starting to pull through the sickness."

Porter said the highlight for his squad Tuesday came when Nikiski's Justin Tumbaga defeated Kenai's Billy Loosli 10-2.

"It was a good, tough match," Porter said. "(Tumbaga's) been wrestling really well. Last week at the North/South Tournament, he took third. As a sophomore, that's very good."

Other Nikiski wins Tuesday came from Ben Kellie, John Schwenke and Travis McCaughey. Kellie pinned Tyler Smith in 2:33, Schwenke pinned Kyle Walters in 2:57 and McCaughey notched a decision over Loosli by a score of 5-1.

Kenai's lone win came from heavyweight Mitchell Canavan, who pinned Reece Parrish in 2:33.

Canavan is just a freshman, but he has been improving quickly and last week took second place at a junior varsity tournament in Palmer.

"He's ready to start wrestling with the big boys," Prior said.

Canavan also is part of a youth movement at Kenai. Prior said he's trying to get freshmen like Smith, Walters and Canavan a lot of matches early in the season so they quickly become seasoned wrestlers.

"It's nice to see what they're doing at Kenai," Porter said. "They've got a good coaching staff and they'll definitely be getting a lot better in the next couple of years.

"It should be interesting to see what happens in the future when Nikiski and Kenai wrestle."

For now, Prior and Porter plan to get together for a few practices in the next week in order to help the Bulldogs get ready for regions.

Skyview tops Homer

The Skyview Panthers picked up a 40-24 dual meet victory over Homer Tuesday in Homer. Ninilchik also was at the meet and participated in exhibition matches.

Skyview 40, Homer 24

Tuesday at Homer High School

145 Tommy Jones, Hom, p. Sebation Spicher, 4:38.

152 Brandon Cleveland, Sky, p. Jude Murphy, 3:05.

160 Tyler Wehrli, Sky, won by forfeit.

171 Adam Hediger, Hom, dec. Hick Hann, 11-4.

189 Antonio Silva, Sky, p. Steve Kohout, 2:17.

215 Jessie Grant, Sky, p. Dan Turner, 0:30.

275 Zach Rohr, Sky, p. Jared Weaver, 3:06.

103 Double forfeit.

112 Luke Morse, Sky, won by forfeit.

119 Jedi Martinez, Hom, won by forfeit.

125 Eli Hutchison, Sky, maj. dec. Camron Hagen, 22-8

130 Louden Greiner, Hom, p. Elliott Gauthier, 5:22

135 Double forfeit.

140 Monte Garroutte, Hom, dec. Clark Buffington, 5-3

Exhibition matches

145 Eric Rodgers, Sky, dec. Tony Nakjua, Nin, 11-3.

152 Josh Nelson, Nin, p. Eric Nelson, Sky, 4:30.

171 Tyler Wehrli, Sky, p. Josh Klapak, Nin, 1:51.

119 Luke Morse, Sky, tech. fall Jedi Martinez, Hom, 16-1.

152 Josh Nelson, Nin, p. Jude Murphy, 1:55.

171 Adam Hediger, Hom, p. Josh Klapak, Nin, 1:46.

189 Jessie Grant, Sky, p. Steve Kohout, Hom, 1:26.

215 Antonio Silva, Sky, p. Dan Turner, Hom, 1:51.

119 Jedi Martinez, Hom, dec. Sasha Anderson, Sky, 14-10.

125 Camron Hagen, Hom, p. Archie Thompson, Sky, 1:13.

130 Louden Greiner, Hom, p. Todd Ritter, Sky, 1:28.

130 Monte Garroutte, Hom, dec. Vincent Kruzick, Nin, 12-5.