The Popeye Wrestling Club sent 12 wrestlers to Wasilla last Saturday to compete in the Arctic Warriors Ultimate Challenge. The grapplers brought home six medals including two first place finishes by Austin Shafford and Wayne Newman at Novice 80-84 pounds and 85-91 pounds respectively. 

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. 

For those of us who saw the northern lights electrify Homer’s sky early Sunday morning, those lights of emerald green and vivid violet could not come at a better time for the remaining 14 Homer Epic 100 athletes still on the 100K.

“For these racers, it was a long day and now it’s night. Every muscle in their body aches, their food reserves are running low, and they are trying to stay warm. Then the northern lights start dancing all around the sky. It was as if someone was smiling down on the race,” said Race Coordinator Kathy Sarns.

The Mariner Men started the Region tournament with a tough matchup against the top-ranked and eventual South Central Region 3A Champion ACS Lions March 7. The Lions, led by five first team all-regional players Augustus Simmers, Nate Simmers Jalen Terry, Calvin Hoffman and Colton Arnes defeated the Mariners 69-32 in a tale of two halves.