The Homer Middle School Huskies hosted the 2013 Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Wrestling Championships last Saturday.
Six middle school teams, ranging from Seward down the peninsula, met at the end of the road where Homer walked away with five Borough Champions, the most of the tournament.
For the Husky eighth graders, Jaime Rios, Jared Brant and Andrew Doughty all took home titles. Rios, who wrestled at 105 pounds, came back from a 0-7 point discrepancy to beat Kenai’s Ryan Comers via a power half-Nelson roll into a pin.
Brant, at 100 pounds, was able to knock off his competition with an early arm bar pin, and Doughty, 145 pounds, won by pinfall after the even match escalated to an even 10-10 on the score sheet.
Seventh-graders Teddy Croft, 105 pounds, and Tristan Cook also won championships for the Homer Huskies. Croft won by defeating Tom Skiba of Soldotna 11-3 in the finals, which was Skiba’s only loss of the tournament. Croft was able to focus on the legs to gain an early advantage that he used to secure the win.
Cook had arguably the day’s biggest upset with his win over Nikiski’s Ian Johnson, who had previously pinned him twice by cradle earlier in the tournament. Cook focused on staying clear of Johnson’s holds and picked up a 7-3 victory in the process.
Other Huskies that placed include Timmy Woo, who took third for Homer, wrestling at 125 after losing to Chapman’s Tyler Johnson. Johnson then took on Caleb Strieff in the finals where he was pinned late in the third period in what would have been a tie on the score card. Chapman’s Kyle Wells placed second at 120 pounds, defeating Austin Hinton from Seward in the semifinals. Martin Welty, 85 pounds, and Owen Fell, 120 pounds, placed third and fourth respectively.
Some of the finalists will compete in the upcoming State Tournament in Tanana while others begin training for the Popeye Wrestling Club, which will meet Monday, Wednesday and Friday at HMS and Monday through Thursday at Anchor Point’s Chapman School from 5-6:30 p.m. Popeye practices for ages 5-9 will be held at West Homer Elementary School on Mondays and Wednesdays from 3:15-5 p.m.
Head Coach Chris Perk said he is looking forward to a big turnout and another successful spring season.