WASILLA — The Lancer Smith Memorial is billed as the toughest wrestling tournament in the state. Saturday, the event, once again, lived up to its reputation.
Seven wrestlers, including four defending state champions, suffered their first loss of the season during the Lancer Smith Memorial final round at the Menard Arena in Wasilla.
“It’s tougher than state,” Colony senior Rush Fannon said.
Fannon was part of a pair of matches during the final round that featured a pair of defending state champions. Fannon, a two-time state champ who won it all at 126 pounds last year, pinned Lathrop sophomore Kobe Ames in the first round of the 140-pound final. Ames, the champion at 132 last year, entered the match 16-0.
North Pole senior Bradley Antesberger, the defending champion at 195 pounds, edged Glennallen senior Caden Gerlach 3-1 in the 189 pound final. Gerlach, the Division II state champion at 195 last year, entered the finals Saturday 31-0 with 31 first-round pins.
A pair of undefeated Peninsula defending state champions also fell Saturday night.
Soldotna senior Gideon Hutchison, the state champ at 120 pounds last year, suffered a loss to South Anchorage senior Jacob Shack in the 130-pound finals. Hutchison was 27-0 before the loss.
Homer senior Seth Inama, another Division II defending state champion, was edged by South’s Niko Mayo in the finals. Inama was 24-0.
Lathrop’s Jeremy Bockert (103) and Robert Poras (112), and South’s Henry Saafi (285) also suffered the first losses of their seasons in the Lancer Smith finals.
Soldotna’s Aaron Faletoi led Peninsula wrestlers, earning the title at 215 pounds. Faletoi pinned Unalaska’s Seth Henning at the four-minute mark.
South, led by seven individual champions, earned the team title with 268 total points. Colony finished as the runner-up.
Team scores:
1. South Anchorage 268; 2. Colony 219.5; 3. Lathrop 183; 4. Wasilla 139; 5. Bethel 97.5; 6. Palmer 83; 7. Soldotna 80; 8. Ketchikan 76; 9. Unalaska 66.5; 10. North Pole 63.5; 11. West, 57; 12. Dillingham, 56; 13. Grace, 54; 14. Kodiak, 53.5; 15. West Valley, 50.5; 16. Glennallen, 45; 17. Homer, 42.5; 18. East, 40.5; 19. Chugiak, 39; 20. Thunder Mountain, 37; 21. Voznesenka, 35; 22. Kotzebue, 32.5; 23. Service, 32; 24. Nikiski, 21; 25 (tie). Dimond, Gambell, 19.
27. Eielson, 18; 28. Barrow, 16; 29. Eagle River, 14; 30. Bartlett, 11; 31. Valdez, 10; 32 (tie). Galena, Redington, 8; 34. Bristol Bay, 7; 35 (tie). Houston, Su Valley, 6; 37 (tie). ACS, Glacier View, 3.
Championship finals:
103 pounds — Ad. Concepcion, Sou m.d. J. Bockert, Lat 11-3; 112 — Ae. Concepcion, Sou m.d. L. Porras, Lat 14-1; 119 — A. Ehmann, Col d. A. Logsdon, Was 11-4; 125 —N. Mayo, Sou d. S. Inama, Hom 5-3; 130 — J. Shack, Sou m.d. G. Hutchison, Sol 16-6; 135 — R. Harris, Sou d. V. Cramer, Col 10-5; 140 — R. Fannon, Col p. K. Ames, Lat 1:29; 145 — S. Uhlenhake, Was d. I. Coon, WV 5-1; 152 — C. Hudson, Sou p. A. Barnes, Pal 1:25; 160 — H. Lieb, Bet d. S. Martin, Sou 4-2 SV; 171 — J. Anderson, Sou d. L. Hopkins, Col 5-2; 189 — B. Antesberger, NP d. C. Gerlanch, Glen 3-1; 215 — A. Faletoi, Sol p. S. Henning, Una 4:00; 285 — P. Vaafuit, West d. H. Saafi, Sou 5-4.
Third-place matches:
103 — L. Smith, Bet p. B. Pope, East 4:27; 112 — C. Silva, Col d. C. Parduhn, Lat 5-4 TB; 119 — M. Kusnetzov, Voz d. P. Rauwolf, Ket 8-6; 125 — J. Hopkins, Col p. B. Stevens, Kod 2:44; 130 — H. Hayes, Was m.d. W. Poland, Lat 9-1; 135 — I. Rodman, Was d. C. Williams, Dil 7-5; 140 — D. Ruckman, Una d. J. Noden, Dill 9-3; 145 — A. Mueller, Lat p. S. Cuellar, Ser 0:26; 152 — R. Randolph-Oxholm, Dim d. D. Chaney, Dill 6-5 UTB; 152 — A. Shepersky, Lat d. G. Martin, Gra 3-1; 171 — J. Nummer, Kod d. E. Mernier, Gra 8-0; 189 — D. Niebles, Chu p. E. Roetman, Kot 4:35; 215 — K. Mock, West d. J. Toston, Col 7-5; 285 — J. Fitzpatrick, East d. S. Talaiasi, Bar 2:10.
Fifth-place matches:
103 — D. Linne, Ket, p. A. Killian-Dalrymple, Lat, 3:54; 112 — TJ Clapp, Col, won by injury default over J. Smith, Bet; 119 — G. Bourne, Lat, won by forfeit over A. Buck, Gle; 125 — M. Rodriguez, Ket, dec. P. Portney, Pal, 2-1; 130 — B. Henning, Una, dec. R. Gallagher, Col, 7-2; 135 — M. Sanchez, Lat, p. T. Cha, Sou, 0:36; 140 — A. Collins, Ket, won by forfeit over W. Newman, Hom; 145 — T. Severson, Col, p. C. Blydenburgh, Pal, 0:39; 152 — I. Sherwood, Lat, won by forfeit over J. Opp, Lat; 160 — J. Goodman, Kod, dec. M. Chaput, Sou, 7-5; 171 — C. Lindquist, Was, won by injury default over L. Farris, Pal, :00; 189 — N. Tidwell, Eie, dec. A. Hamilton, ER, 15-8; 215 — E. Roehl-Paredes, Wes, dec. D. Mason, TM, 10-3; 285 — R. Smith, Bet, p. M. Lloyd, Sol, 2:22.
Girls first-place matches:
103 — J. Lucas, Eie, p. Z. Baldwin, Kot, 5:59; 112 — S. Erikson, Nom, dec. A. Poland, Lat, 5-0; 119 — E. Schumaker, NP, won by injury default over T. Green, Eas; 125 — K. Gerasimyuk, Was, p. D. Darby, NP, 1:00; 130 — S. Ottum, Sou, p. R. Samuelson, Bet, 2:40; 135 — B. Charlie, MtE, m.d. D. Johnson, Lat, 10-1; 145 — M. Cook, Hom, p. N. Bealer, Eie, 2:28; 160 — A. Wylie, Sol, p. O. Holt, Val, 1:17; 189 — J. Sekona, Sou, dec. D. Bealer, Eie, 5-2; 235 — T. Thomas, Kot, p. Tryston Macar, MtE.
Girls third-place matches
103 — J. Krause, Dil, p. A. Boucher, Was, 1:44; 112 — M. Kobernuss, NP, p. H. Simpson, Was, 2:55; 119 — H. Warner, Was, p. C. Gomez, Dil, 2:38; 125 — K. Rice, Hut, UTB Z. Covington, Col, 9-8; 130 — J. Dykes, NP, dec. J. Merrick, Hou, 9-4; 135 — K. Ashbury, Hut, p. K. Edwards, Hut, 4:19; 145 — A. Pingayak, MtE, p. E. Negovanna, Bar, 4:09; 160 — H. Savage, Una, p. M. Grimes, Hom, 0:31; 189 — A. Pete, MtE, p. C. Demientieff, Gal, 2:33; 235 — A. Tisenga, Wes, p. J. Allen, Val, 2:03.
Girls fifth-place matches
103 — G. Unterberger, Chu, won by forfeit over A. Griepentrog, Amb; 112 — K. Bockert, Lat, p. N. Ifflander, Sew, 2:43; 119 — S. Blake, Hom, dec. C. Adams, Wes, 7-3; 125 — J. Mute, Bet, t.f. A. Odden, Ket, 16-0; 130 — O. Troxell, Kod, p. M. Brown, MtE, 3:38; 135 — H. Gilson, Ket, p. S. Sampson, Sel, 1:45; 145 — J. Starks, Bar, dec. G. Ustaszewski, Nom, 6-5; 160 — H. Savage, Una, p. M. Grimes, Hom, 0:31; 189 — N. Merlino, MtE, forfeit over L. Ivanoff, Una; 235 — S. Santos, Lat, p. J. DeMers, ER, 2:35.
Homer’s Seth Inama tries to break the grip of South’s Niko Mayo during the 132-pound final of the Lancer Smith Memorial Saturday in Wasilla. Mayo edged Inama 5-3, handing the senior his first loss of the season. (Photo by Jeremiah Bartz/Frontiersman)
