Last Saturday, the Popeye Wrestling Club hosted its annual Freestyle Tournament in the Alice Witte Gymnasium at Homer High School. Sixteen teams from as far north as Houston made the sunny commute for the one-day tournament. Homer’s grapplers took fifth place among the 16 teams competing and won 32 medals.
At 36 pounds, 5-year-old Saoirse Cook took first place, pinning her four opponents in less than a minute each in what Coach Chris Perk described as one of the best performances of the tourney.
Popeye’s Carter Woodhead also took home a first place medal wrestling in the 44-46-pound weight class. This second year wrestler showed an unstoppable double leg takedown and dominated his Pre-Bantam weight class. Allison Wells received second-place honors in the novice division after fighting through two come-from-behind wins.
Wayne Newman, who wrestled in the 80-pound weight class picked up three pin falls, but lost to Alaska Avalanche’s Spencer Martin to claim second place in his novice division.
In the schoolboy-schoolgirl 90-pound division, Luka Fasulo earned three pins in quick fashion while taking first place with ease. Weighing in at 120 pounds, Homer’s Tyler Johnson also had three pin falls and claimed first place in his schoolboy-schoolgirl division.
Homer High Senior Mark McGregor competed in the Junior 160 class with style, coming back after falling behind on the scorecard early in his first match and eventually pinning his next two opponents to be dubbed champion.
Popeye Wrestling Club FS Tournament Results
Pre-Bantam 36-39
Saoirse Cook 1st place
Parker Overson 3rd place
Pre-Bantam 44-46 Carter Woodhead 1st place
Pre-Bantam 47-48 Sidney Phipps 3rd place
Bantam 44-47 Hayden Albarado 3rd place
Bantam 51-51 Malachi Raymond 3rd place
Intermediate 62-63 Payton Albarado 3rd place
Intermediate 63-64 Tyson Overson 3rd place
Intermediate 95-99 Cayleb Diaz 2nd place
Intermediate 106-110 Angus Isaac 3rd place
Novice 80-81 Austin Shafford 3rd place
Novice 81-87 Allison Wells 2nd place
Novice 83-87 Wayne Newman 2nd place
Novice 98-108 Anthony Kalugin 3rd place
Novice 108-115 Josiah Raymond 2nd place
Novice 108-115 Kaitlin Rios 3rd place
Novice 112-122 Hunter Harrington 3rd place
Novice 134-148 Faith Jackson 3rd place
Novice 168-180 Jadin Mann 2nd place
Schoolboy/girl 86-91 Luciano Fasulo 1st place
Schoolboy/girl 107-110 Jamie Rios 3rd place
Schoolboy/girl 113-123 Tyler Johnson 1st place
Schoolboy/girl 119-128 Tristen Cook 3rd place
Schoolboy/girl 128-132 Timothy Woo 2nd place
Schoolboy/girl 128-132 Wyatt Lewis 3rd place
Schoolboy/girl 141-149 Wyatt Alborn 3rd place
Cadet 121-132 Austin McGregor 2nd place
Cadet 134-139 Gavril Kalugin 2nd place
Cadet 177-190 Daniel Rios 2nd place
Cadet 215-219 Heather Harrington 2nd place
Junior 158-167 Mark McGregor 2nd place
