Tommy Jarnig, Ridge Conant and Hunter Forshee-Kurtz picked up titles while Aidan Schilling finished second to lead the Seward Seahawks to a victorious showing at the ASAA Division 2 state wrestling tournament.
Seward had eight podium finishers in all as the Seahawks finished with 184 points to easily distance themselves from second-place Haines (137) and third-place Bethel (135) at the Alaska Airlines Center.
The Seahawks dominated the lightweight divisions with three champions, a runner-up and two third-place finishers between 103 to 140 pounds.
Jarnig beat Chevak’s Laiton Pingayak by a 16-0 technical fall at 103 and Conant pinned Hayden Jimenez of Haines at 112. Both Seward wrestlers picked up their 30th win of the season.
At 130, Forshee-Kurtz pinned Dillingham’s Tristan Tilden to finish the season 37-5.
Seward had just one podium finishers from 145 to 285, with heavyweight John Vanbuskirk placing fourth.
ASAA/First National Bank
D2 Boys Top 10 Teams
184 – Seward
137 – Haines
135 – Bethel
127 – Mt. Edgecumbe
91 – Kenai Central
88 – Nikiski
87 – Delta
82 – Dillingham
81 – Barrow
76 – Homer
The state tournament saw two wrestlers cap undefeated seasons in Bryant Holloway of Craig at 189 and Uatahouse Tuifua of Barrow at heavyweight.
Holloway beat Mckennan Mayer of Valdez by a 9-2 decision to finish the season 24-0.
Tuifua pinned Mayaac Schmit of Nikiski at the 1:30 mark of the first period to end his year 21-0.
The tournament was crazy competitive and featured one school (Seward) with multiple state champions.
The other 11 weight classes had winners from 11 different schools – Dillingham, Quinhagak, Bethel, Kenai Central, Redington, Wrangell, Haines, Mt. Edgecumbe, Craig, Sitka and Barrow.
The fifth-place and ninth-place teams were separated by just 10 points.
Individual Weight Classes
103
1st – Tommy Jarnig Seward
2nd – Laiton Pingayak Chevak
3rd – Paxton Lawhorne Delta
4th – Brendon Brown Quinhagak
5th – Caleb Gust New Stuyahok
6th – Luca Fitzpatrick Homer
112
1st – Ridge Conant Seward
2nd – Hayden Jimenez Haines
3rd – Emery Kirchner Seward
4th – Gusty Tunguing IV Koliganek
5th – Brandon Ayapan Bethel
6th – Young Erikson Nome
119
1st – Dylan Mccambly Dillingham
2nd – Aidan Schilling Seward
3rd – Jaxson Young Kenai Central
4th – Oran Brown Delta
5th – Evan Andrew Mt. Edgecumbe
6th – Ralph Steeves Aniak
125
1st – Daylon Brown Quinhagak
2nd – Sheldon Smith Bethel
3rd – Kyler Matteson Eielson
4th – Ben Houser Wrangell
5th – Hunter Gumlickpuk New Stuyahok
6th – Cache Henning Unalaska
130
1st – Hunter Forshee-Kurtz Seward
2nd – Tristan Tilden Dillingham
3rd – Aaron Mute Bethel
4th – Jackson Carney Wrangell
5th – Sean Mokiyuk Savoonga
6th – Eli Banks Houston
135
1st – Paul Dyment Bethel
2nd – Colton Merriner Grace Christian
3rd – Alejandro Sanchez Seward
4th – Justus Grimes Homer
5th – Colton Combs Haines
6th – Kai Davis Sitka
140
1st – Daniel Steffensen Kenai Central
2nd – Aidan Laselle Redington
3rd – Anthony Smith Seward
4th – Kennedy Elavgak Barrow
5th – Aidan Klein Delta
6th – Jackson Iverson Bethel
145
1st – Myles Campbell Redington
2nd – Nolan Wald Haines
3rd – Paul Minke Homer
4th – Torian Dull Mt. Edgecumbe
5th – Son Erikson Nome
6th – Delen Byrd Kenai Central
152
1st – Keegan Hanson Wrangell
2nd – Brayden Woods Homer
3rd – Keagan Stanley Kenai Central
4th – Frank St. Denis Nikiski
5th – Matthew Lawhorne Delta
6th – Carlos Sandoval Mt. Edgecumbe
160
1st – Dalton Henry Haines
2nd – Ellis Johnson Bethel
3rd – Romen Weber Valdez
4th – Samson Smith Mt. Edgecumbe
5th – William Douglas Delta
6th – Gabe Mannan Hutchison
171
1st – Richard Didrickson Mt. Edgecumbe
2nd – Leo Wald Haines
3rd – Graelin Chaney Dillingham
4th – Wyatt Milnes Redington
5th – Zach Bergford Cordova
6th – Corbin Owen Grace Christian
189
1st – Bryant Holloway Craig
2nd – Mckennan Mayer Valdez
3rd – Landon Burke Bethel
4th – Ryder Magneson Nome
5th – James Stickler Haines
6th – Vincent Nothstine Cordova
215
1st – Aiden Ojala Sitka
2nd – Truit Mccaughey Nikiski
3rd – Jackson Long Haines
4th – Silas Ferguson Sitka
5th – Sioeli Tuifua Barrow
6th – Jonathan Patterson Eielson
285
1st – Uatahouse Tuifua Barrow
2nd – Mayaac Schmit Nikiski
3rd – Donovan Standifer Mt. Edgecumbe
4th – John Vanbuskirk Seward
5th – Norman Lilomaiava Barrow
6th – Rex Wittmer Nikiski