Alaska’s high school state wrestling championships, the 2019 ASAA First National State Wrestling Championships, will contest three divisions of wrestling at the same venue with the state tournaments running Friday and Saturday, December 20-21 at the Alaska Airlines Center on the campus of UAA in Anchorage.
Division I, Division II and Girls Division (combined D-I and D-II) state qualifiers are determined by conference tournaments (see previous wrestling stories).
Division I: Soldotna High School
The Soldotna Stars boys compete in the Northern Lights Conference in Division I wrestling and qualify 12 wrestlers including (with NLC rank): Sean Michael, 1st at 125 pounds; Sean Babitt, 1st at 171 pounds; Zach Burns, junior, 2nd at 140 pounds; Dennis Taylor, junior, 2nd at 152 pounds; Salvatore MacMaster, 4th at 103-pounds; Hunter Secor, 3rd at 112 pounds; Simon Secor, 4th at 112 pounds; Ezekiel Miller, 3rd at 119 pounds; Rollin Madden , 5th at 119 pounds; Isaac Chavarria, 3rd at 130 pounds; Jakob Brown, 4th at 130 pounds; Hunter Richardson, 4th at 140 pounds; Aiden Willets, 5th at 160 pounds and Max Rogers, 5th at 285 pounds.
The top six wrestlers in each weight class are seeded into the tournament bracket (to separate the strength of the field).
Seeded athletes for SoHi include: Sean Michael, #5 seed at 125 lbs; Zach Burns, #4 seed at 140 lbs.; Dennis Taylor, #2 seed at 152 lbs.; Sean Babitt, #3 seed at 171 lbs.
Division II: Kenai Central High School
The Kenai Kardinals received four at-large berths and four automatic qualifiers from the Kachemak Conference tournament, including (with Kachemak rank): Tucker Vann, 1st at 171 pounds; Rocky Sherbahn, 1st at 215 pounds; Talon Whicker, 2nd at 112 pounds, Owen Whicker, 3rd at 112 pounds; Zach Rodman, at-large at 103 pounds; Rey Perez, at-large at 119 pounds; Andrew Gaethie, at-large at 130 pounds; and Branch Keller, at-large at 285 pounds.
The top six wrestlers in each weight class are seeded into the tournament bracket (to separate the strength of the field).
Seeded athletes for Kenai include: Talon Wicker, #5 seed at 112 lbs.; Tucker Vann, #5 seed at 171 lbs.; Rocky Sherbahn, #3 seed at 215 lbs.
Division II: Nikiski High School
The Nikiski Bulldogs qualify five wrestlers to the Division II championships based on results from the Kachemak Conference tournament, including (with Kachemak rank): Ayden Fleming, 2nd at 125 lbs.; Jaryn Zoda, 2nd at 130 lbs.; Koleman McCoughey, 2nd at 171 lbs.; Simon Grenier, at-large at 160 lbs. and Ayden Flemming, at-large at 125 lbs.
The top six wrestlers in each weight class are seeded into the tournament bracket (to separate the strength of the field).
Seeded athletes for Nikiski include: Jaryn Zoda, #4 seed at 130 lbs. and Koleman McCoughey, #6 seed at 171 lbs.
Girls Division: Soldotna High School
The state championship for girls wrestling in a combined Division I and Division II tournament with the top two wrestlers in each weight class from the Northern Lights Conference tournament joined with conference qualifiers from throughout the state for a single, state tournament.
Representing Soldotna High School: Vydell Baker, 1st in NLC in the 125-pound division; Trinity Donovan, 1st in NLC in the 145-pound division and Amanda Wylie, 1st in NLC in the 160-pound weight class. Donovan is seeded #6 in the 145 lbs. bracket and Wylie is the #1 seed in the 160 lbs. division.
Link to ASAA State Wrestling website (brackets, seeding, tournament info): Click Here!
2019 ASAA First National Alaska State Wrestling Championships
Friday and Saturday, December 20-21
Alaska Airlines Center at UAA
