Soldotna girls defend state wrestling title

The Soldotna girls wrestling team defended its team title Saturday at the state wrestling meet at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage to punctuate another big day for the Kenai Peninsula.

The peninsula had a combined 20 wrestlers in the finals across the girls, Division I and Division II tournaments, coming home with 11 state titles.

That’s after taking 13 of 21 in 2023 and 14 of 16 in 2022. In the five state tournaments before that, the most state titles for the peninsula was seven, and the largest number of finalists was 11.

Pete and Tanya Dickinson opened the All American Training Center just outside of Soldonta in the summer of 2020 with the goal of lifting the level of wrestling on the peninsula.

Though not all of the wrestlers having success train there, the level has been lifted by the 15,000-foot facility, which is run by Soldotna assistant coach Sage Castillo.

“We’re here to build wrestling in Alaska,” said Pete Dickinson, the Soldotna head coach. “I invite every single kid on the peninsula to come train with us and then go back to their school and build them up.”

Sophomore Mia Hannevold led the Stars to their team title with her first championship, while Homer junior Saorise Cook won her third state title and completed a 31-0 season.

At Division I, SoHi senior Jacob Strausbaugh finished 44-0 and won his third state title, while junior Michael Dickinson finished 43-0 and won his first state title. SoHi senior Hunter Bras went out with his first state title.

At Division II, three Seward wrestlers all won for a second straight year — seniors Tommy Jarnig and Hunter Forshee-Kurtz, and sophomore Ridge Conant. Forshee-Kurtz is the first Seward wrestler to win three state titles.

Junior Daniel Steffensen won state for the second straight season for Kenai. For Homer, seniors Brayden Woods and Paul Minke went out with their first state titles.

Girls

On the 10th anniversary of the girls state tournament beginning in Alaska, the Stars scored 169.5 points to top the 136 of Colony and notched their second state title overall.

Also from the peninsula, Homer was ninth, Nikiski tied for 27th, Kenai tied for 29th and Seward was 43rd.

The only major tournament SoHi had won all season before state was in Oregon.

“We knew we’d be right there,” said Dickinson, who was named girls coach of the year along with assistant Max LeClair. “We had to get a couple upsets and we had to wrestle above our seeds, which I knew we could, and we did.

“That’s what was the difference.”

The SoHi girls had a dream state tournament last season, going 5 for 5 in the finals. Four of those state champs returned, and the Stars were able to take state again without any of those wrestlers winning state again.

The lone title went to Hannevold, who finished 38-1 with a tech fall of Nevaeh George of Mt. Edgecumbe in the final at 114 pounds.

Hannevold started wrestling in second grade, but broke her arm in middle school, then broke her arm again as a freshman.

“I just want to say thank you to all my coaches and my family, and everyone who has supported me through my surgeries and everything I had to accomplish to get here,” she said.

Hannevold stormed through the season, winning the Most Outstanding Wrestler at the Northern Lights Conference tournament.

Her lone loss came when she moved up a weight class to face Palmer’s Lillie Vansiegman, who won the state title at 120 pounds.

After watching her squad win the state title from the sideline last season, Hannevold said getting to participate this season was great.

“I’ve proud of everyone,” she said. “We’ve all been working super hard. To me, it just means that we are all winners.”

Valarie McAnelly, at 107, and Rowan Peck, at 126, both made the finals but came up short of another state title.

Dickinson said Peck, who was seeded fifth, was one of the big reasons SoHi was able to win. Bella Byrd also placed fourth at 152 after not drawing a seed.

At 100, Jessica LeClair won a state title last season but was injured all season and still finished fourth at state to get crucial points for the team. Dickinson said Naomi Keller’s fifth at 100 also was important.

At 165, Infinity-Ann Asiata-Haga scored big points for the Stars by matching her seed and losing in the finals.

The final returning state winner, Daisy Hannevold, was third at 145.

Cook pinned Ketchikan’s Summer Boling at 132 to keep her hopes alive for four state titles.

The dream is to match sister, McKenzie, with four state titles. Also from the Cook family, Roane has two state titles and Tristen has one.

“I’ve always wanted four,” said Saoirse, who finished undefeated for the first time. “I’m working my butt off.”

Cook said Boling was a tough wrestler to solve, but strong head snaps from the neutral position helped.

“She’s a really good wrestler and I really enjoyed wrestling her,” Cook said. “There were not a lot of weak spots.”

Christabelle Minke also finished fifth for Homer at 114.

Nikiski’s Braylynn Young finished fourth at 132, while Kenai Central’s Jenna Yeoman overcame a season of injury to take fifth at 165.

Division I

The Soldotna boys finished third with 231.5 points, with Student Wrestling Development Program taking its first state title with 357.5. SoHi has been in the top three the last three seasons.

With a tech fall of Brian Grabner of the SWDP at 135, Strausbaugh finished undefeated for the first time with a successful return to a defining scene of his wrestling career, where he lost in the state finals as a freshman.

“At one moment, I was just over there crying on the floor thinking how sad it was I didn’t get that one,” he said. “But I didn’t realize I was going to do as good as a did, with three straight.”

The Strausbaugh family is one of the more famous families in area wrestling. Jacob now has more state titles than any of them, passing the two of his uncle, Neil Strausbaugh.

Dickinson said Strausbaugh is defined by his work ethic.

“I wish a lot more kids would watch Jacob and do the stuff he does, because he’s a special one,” the coach said. “For sure, he’s going to go on and do great things.”

Strausbaugh said he didn’t put too much pressure on himself.

“I knew at the end of the day, the result didn’t matter as long as I had as much fun as I can,” he said. “Wrestling is supposed to be fun.”

Michael Dickinson finished off his dominant season with a major decision over Colony’s Tristen Meyer at 152. The season included a Most Outstanding Wrestler award — the first of his career — at a prestigious prep tourney in Oregon.

Dickinson was third in the state as a freshman and lost in the finals as a sophomore.

“I knew it was now time to get on a mission,” he said. “I had to strive to get first and just dominate.

“One of my main goals this year was to dominate everybody, and I feel like I accomplished that goal.”

Dickinson said he was involved all summer with an elite training group of about 20 at the All American Training Center.

Like Strausbaugh, Dickinson said he was motivated by his losses. When SoHi’s Titus Watts lost in the final at 125, Dickinson knew what to say.

“As soon as Titus got off the mat, I told him, ‘Hey, man. It’s just fuel. It’s just fuel for the next one next year. I’m going to keep telling you this. It’s going to make you that much tougher,’” Dickinson said.

Bras won at 160 with a 6-5 decision over teammate Trevor Michael.

The match was a tough one for two accomplished wrestlers, with Michael finishing at 30-2 and Bras 38-4. Bras said the two have been training partners in the mat room since freshman year.

“He is my teammate, so all respect to him,” Bras said. “But I’m here to win, and I’m sure he was too. He worked his butt off just as hard as I did.”

Michael won a state title last year with a last-second pin that was so dramatic, the move also got him Most Outstanding Wrestler at the tournament.

In the waning seconds, that was running through Bras’ mind as Michael tried to catch Bras in a head-and-arm.

“I was scared,” Bras said. “I’ll admit he had me on my tippy toes for a second.”

Dickinson said the unfortunate thing about the match is the Lower 48 has gone to different weight classes. If Alaska had adopted that for this season, Bras and Michael could have wrestled in different weight classes, as they did in the tournament in Oregon.

Like Watts, Sam Henry, at 100 pounds, took his second loss of the season — and first in Alaska — in the finals. Dickinson said Watts sustained a knee injury in the semifinals that impacted his wrestling in the finals.

Also placing for the Stars were Jaden Yeager in sixth at 119, Ryan Buchanan in third at 119, Carson Cobb in sixth at 130, Ryatt Weed in sixth at 152 and Rodney McNeel in fifth at 189.

Division II

The Mt. Edgecumbe boys scored 212 points to win the first team title in school history, while Homer was the runner-up at 148.5.

The peninsula had six champions, putting nine in the finals. The only peninsula losses in the finals were to other peninsula wrestlers.

Seward, the defending state champ, was sixth, Kenai Central was seventh and Nikiski was 12th.

Paul Minke and Brayden Woods led the Mariners by winning titles.

At 160, Woods won his first title by notching a 7-0 decision over Dalen Beck of Valdez.

Saoirse Cook said watching Woods win the title was special for her because she’d seen all the work he had done.

Woods made the finals last year for the first time and lost.

“All the hard work I’ve put in — it was all proven on the mat,” he said. “I’ve been going to Soldotna for two years since my sophomore year, training over the summer and competing nationally.”

Woods said he plans to wrestle in college, but he will definitely miss wrestling for the Mariners. Homer head coach Bubba Wells has said all season he has so much young talent, he expects to compete for all the big team titles for the next three years.

“It will be hard,” Woods said. “I’m going to miss being out there. It was amazing. It was fun to just be with all of them.”

At 145, Minke scored a 12-4 major decision over teammate Justus Grimes for his first state title.

The dynamic was a little different than Bras and Michael, because Minke and Grimes are not workout partners in the mat room. Also, Grimes is a sophomore.

“Me and him, we’ve been dreaming about this all season,” said Minke, who defeated Grimes three times this season. “Like, it’d be awesome it we both go to wrestle in the finals.

“It’s a stressful situation, because it’s your teammate, but I like wrestling my teammates. It couldn’t make me happier.”

After a best finish of third at state last season, Minke had the perfect ending to his career.

“We’re going to be a great, great team coming up,” Minke said. “I’m really happy we’ve gotten this far. I look at all the other teams that win state, and it’s almost a reality for us.”

Landyn Woods made the finals at 152, but lost to Steffensen.

Also for Homer, Luca Fitzpatrick was fifth at 112, Isaiah Mann was sixth at 189 and Shea Yatchmeneff was sixth at 285.

Last season, Seward took its second state title, and first since 1999, with just eight wrestlers at the meet.

The Seahawks couldn’t turn that trick again, but still had historic success.

When Jarnig, Conant and Forshee-Kurtz won last season, it was the first time the Seahawks had three state champs. Saturday, the trio did it again.

Forshee-Kurtz, a senior, scored an 8-5 decision over Nikiski junior Jaxson-Young, who won state as a freshman.

Forshee-Kurtz is the first Seward wrestler with three state titles.

“It definitely means a lot,” Forshee-Kurtz said. “To be in the town I’m in, sometimes it’s not always the most fortunate things.

“We don’t have coaches that can have practices with us year-round, so whenever we’re given a chance to wrestle, we go out and take it.”

Forshee-Kurtz said he wrestled Young four times this season. He said Young put his best foot forward in the finals.

“Wrestling him has definitely made me better,” said Forshee-Kurtz, who plans to wrestle in college.

Though the Seahawks didn’t defend the team title, Forshee-Kurtz is still proud of what the team did.

“I just love my wrestling team,” he said. “They’re my family. I’ve been with them since I was 5 years old. I wouldn’t change it for the world. I love them to death.”

Forshee-Kurtz said he has been friends with Jarnig since third grade. At 103, Jarnig went out on top with a 13-7 decision over Bethel’s Cole Iverson.

It took Jarnig until his junior year to grow to 103 pounds, but once he did, it made all the difference.

“It means a lot to me,” he said. “I didn’t think I was ever going to two-time, so it’s a pretty big deal.”

At 119, Conant notched a technical fall over Evan Andrew of Mt. Edgecumbe. At the end of the match, Conant scored rapid takedown after rapid takedown to stay on track to be the first four-time state champ from Seward.

After the match, as is his custom, he ran laps in the hallway to sharpen his fitness. Conant said wrestling against Jarnig, Emery Kirchner and Quinn Humbert each day makes him better.

“I was thinking this one was going to be hard,” he said. “I was scared for it. But then I got my head in the right place and went hard.”

Also for Seward, Kirchner was fifth at 125 and Anthony Smith was fifth at 145.

Steffensen notched a 14-0 major decision over Landyn Woods for the title at 152. With his second state title, Steffensen joins his brothers, Paul and Ellery. Steffensen’s sister, Hope, also won a state title wrestling against boys.

Kenai assistant coach, and Daniel’s father, Stan Steffensen is always quick to point out that he had three state titles in high school.

“He’s the leader of the pack,” Daniel said of his father.

Steffensen did not lose to a Division II wrestler all season and said he wrestled Woods at least five times.

“It’s definitely tough, because they get accustomed to different moves,” he said of wrestling somebody so many times. “When you wrestle him in the finals, all the coaches are going to be locked in on what he does good and try to beat you.”

Steffensen said this title was special because he broke his wrist diving for a ball in high school baseball practice last spring. The injury meant he couldn’t play for the American Legion Post 20 Twins in the summer. He said the wrist wasn’t 100% until the start of wrestling season.

“It was a tough road back, not being able to play baseball this summer, but being able to come here in the fall and win another state title,” he said.

Also for the Kardinals, Gunnar Stanley was third at 140, Conner Cook was third at 145, Keagan Stanley was fourth at 160 and Lochlyn Roney was fifth at 285.

In addition to the runner-up from Young, Nikiski got a third from Rex Wittmer at 215.