Trestin Houck, Shane Ostermiller and Jacob Morris took different paths but reached the same destination in the end.
All three Anchorage wrestlers won Greco Roman titles at Junior Nationals in Fargo, N.D., after Houck pulled off a stunning comeback at 126 pounds, Ostermiller blew away the competition at 144 and Morris held off a Big Ten signee at 157.
Uncommitted going into the tournament, Morris no doubt turned some heads with college coaches after going 6-2 in freestyle and 7-0 in Greco Roman, a Herculean effort capped by his 5-4 decision over Wyatt Medlin, a three-time state champion from Illinois who will join the Fighting Illini this fall.
Morris is a two-time state champion at South who has won 124 of 127 matches in high school. He will carry an 82-match winning streak against in-state competition into his senior season.
After placing third at 150 in Greco Roman last year in Fargo, Morris bulked up and took down the competition, winning 13 of 15 matches and walking away with his first national title.
He won his first four matches by a combined score of 41-0. In the semifinals, Morris won a 4-1 decision over defending national champion Gregory Torosian, a Harvard commit who is coached at the World team Training Center in Van Nuys, Calif.
South had two other guys make the finals in rising sophomores Ostermiller and Manny Novelli, who went 5-1 after losing in the title match to Evan Cies of Pennsylvania.
Ostermiller was outstanding, winning all seven matches and allowing only one point during the entire tournament. He pinned the only opponent to score on him, so this was a masterclass in technique and toughness.
In the final, he beat Jeremiah Hayes, of Illinois, who hadn’t allowed a point in the tournament before facing Ostermiller.
But when it comes to guys from The Last Frontier, Houck stole the show with his stunning comeback.
Houck pinned Flynn Arnestad of Pennsylvania to cap a fabulous finish that saw him battle back from a 7-0 deficit.
The rising sophomore out of Mountain City had outscored opponents 54-4 en route to the title match. Going down seven points must have been a shock, but the Alaskan shook it off and orchestrated a comeback for the ages on the big stage to finish 7-0.
Alaska put two more wrestlers on the podium after Charlie Powers finished fourth at 215 and Hayden Reuter placed sixth at 150.
The girls freestyle tournament kicked off Thursday and will wrap up this weekend. Alaska has a number of entrants.
