Homer places second in wrestling tourney

The Homer High School Mariners wrestling team had a stellar weekend at the Lancer Smith Memorial Tourney held at the Wasilla Sports Complex. The tourney featured a Varsity, JV and Girls division. The Varsity team placed second overall, besting 45 other teams with 211 points; only Colony scored more with 256. Homer beat Bethel handily this weekend, lead by Champions Luciano Fasulo at 126 and Timmy Woo at 160. Fasulo had a standout tournament, beating many state ranked wrestlers. His win over Carl Charlie in the semifinals was electrifying. He put Charlie on his back a couple of times and won 14-7 after needing overtime two weeks ago. In the finals, Fasulo was able to ride Sam Sisco, a former state champion from Colony, in a leg ride most of the match.

Timmy Woo scored another solid double leg against Colony’s Caleb Hopkins to win his title 3-1. Wayne Newman, 106, pinned his way to the finals before he had to battle Thomas Dyment from Bethel. Dyment took the lead early and ended up pinning Newman. Tristen Cook, 170, also qualified for the finals, losing 5-1 to Dawson Budke from Chugiak. McKenzie Cook, 145, and Heather Harrington, 220, both earned Girls titles. Cook beat two-times state champion Hailey O’Brien from Bethel. Harrington was beating O’Brien 7-0 before she pinned her in the second period. Harrington scored multiple double legs, a new move for her, and pinned all four of her opponents. Alex Moseley placed third and Mina Cavasos sixth.

Seth Inama, 113, pulled off the biggest upset of the tournament, beating Blunka Blunka from New Stuyohak. Inama had to score a spin behind in overtime. Blunka is a defending state champion and was ranked number one in small schools. This is two weeks in a row Inama has scored himself a quality win. Inama went on to place fourth. Levi King, 182, had participated in his first weekend of competition, placing fourth. He scored a couple of valuable pins throughout the weekend. Kyle Wells, 195, Jared Brant, 138, and Jadin Mann, 285, all placed third.

The strong finishes by these wrestlers propelled the Mariners over big school Wasilla. Brant suffered his first loss of the season to Wes Bockert of Lathrop. It was 7-7 when Brant went for a lateral drop that was defended by Bockert. Tomas Babitt, a first year wrestler, placed third in the JV tourney at 182 pounds.

The team will not compete over the holiday weekend and prepare for a trip to Kodiak the following weekend.