Thunder Mountain High School senior Hunter Boyer won the 152-pound championship of the Colony Invitational on Saturday and Juneau-Douglas junior Cody Weldon placed second in the 195-pound weight bracket.
“This is a tough tournament and affords guys on our team the chance to test themselves against different opponents than they see in Southeast all season,” JDHS coach John Joeright said. “It gives them some idea of who they will face at state in December.”
Boyer decisioned Kenai’s Keyshawn Mcenerny 8-6 for first place.
Weldon resumed his rivalry against Southeast opponent Nate Fousel of Ketchikan and fell by a 7-2 decision. Fousel was one of two Kings wrestlers to win titles. Kayhi teammate Seth Hutchison pinned Wasilla’s Isaiah Elvaas at 5:09 for the 126-pound bracket championship.
Weldon earned the finals berth by defeating Colony’s Isaiah Christy, one of the state’s top 4A wrestlers, 13-5.
“Christy tried to go upper body with Cody, not realizing how dangerous it is to try throws against him,”
Weldon is a nationally medaled judo competitor.
According to Joeright, Crimson Bears wrestlers Tucker Joeright (138) and Festus LaChester (132) also had wins over the weekend but did not place in the tournament. Senior Taylor Sutak suffered a possible broken arm in a semifinal match against Colony’s Dawson Nash and was taken to a hospital in the Matsu area. Joeright was with Sutak for x-rays and the results were not available by press time.
The Falcons’ Connor Norman had two pins and a major decision at 98 pounds; Caleb Deer lost in the third place match at 113; Deven Mason lost in the consolation bracket at 138; Sam Nolan placed fifth at 145; Alex Ocana lost in the consolation bracket at 152; Tyler Cole placed fifth at 170; Josh Quinto fell in the consolation rounds at 182; Carl Tupou fell in the consolation bracket at 220.
The Crimson Bears’ Seth Machakos fell in the consolation rounds at 170 pounds.
COLONY INVITATIONAL TEAM RESULTS
1) Colony 258.5 2) Palmer 166, 3) Wasilla 145.5, 4) Ketchikan 141.5, 5) Kodiak 131, 6) Soldotna 123, 7) Dimond 121, 8) Service 115, 9) Bartlett 84, 10) Kenai Central 77, 11) Thunder Mountain 73.5, 12) Eagle River 60, 13) Juneau 28.
CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS
98 – Rush Fannon (Colony) t.f. Matthew Rodriguez (Ketchikan), 21-6.
106 – Gideon Hutchison (Soldotna) d. Trace Severson (Colony High School), 2-0.
113 – Joey Fetko (Dimond) p. Brandon Yang (Bartlett), 2:32.
120 – Sean Tavares (Ketchikan) d. Russel Delacruz (Kodiak), 5-4.
126 – Seth Hutchison (Soldotna) p. Isaiah Elvsaas (Wasilla), 5:09.
132 – Berit Sturgeon (Wasilla) p. Hayden Steiner (Wasilla), 1:20.
138 – Caleb Hopkins (Colony) d. Samuel Wolff (Wasilla), 5-1
145 – Chace Booth (Colony) p. Levi Farris (Palmer), 3:58
152 – Hunter Boyer (Thunder Mountain) d. Keyshawn Mcenerny (Kenai Central), 8-6
160 – Chase Fannon (Colony) d. Cooper Bailey-Parsons (Service), 7-2
170 – Robert Haan (Colony) p. Christian Kurka (Palmer), 0:42.
182 – Dawson Nash (Colony) p. Mario Herrera (Service), 5:02.
195 – Nate Fousel (Ketchikan) d. Cody Weldon (Juneau), 7-2.
220 – Cole Phelps (Service) d. Hunter Bigley (Kodiak), 9-4.
285 – Brandon Pili (Dimond) p. Dalton Best (Soldotna, 4:30.
In dual meets on Friday Kodiak defeated Thunder Mountain 45-34. The Falcons’ had wins from Deven Mason (138 pounds), Sam Nolan (145), Boyer (152), Alex Ocana (160) and Connor Norman (98, forfeit). Kodiak also topped JDHS 63-12. Crimson Bears’ wins came from Sutak (182) and Weldon (195).
Colony defeated TMHS 79-3 with Boyer getting the Falcons only win, 6-5, over Chace Booth. Colony also topped Ketchikan 58-19. Kings’ wins came from Vince Tenebro (113), Kadin Hodges (126), Ben Kacenas (132), Brian McClennan (285) and exhibition wins by Payton Stewart, Patrick Rauwolf, and Troy Harris.
