Despite being ranked No. 1 in Class 4A at 145 pounds, Chugiak wrestler Grant Sullivan knew he wasn't going to have an easy time against South's Luke Shelley in Saturday's finals of the Glenn Vandergaw Dimond Classic.

"I've wrestled him three times this year, and all of them have been very tough," Sullivan, the defending 145-pound state champion, said following his third victory of the season over Shelley.

In one of the most hotly anticipated matches of the tournament, Sullivan's escape in the second period earned him the only two points of the match against Shelley, last year's state champion at 130 pounds.

Sullivan and Shelley have been rivals since their freshman year, when Sullivan beat Shelley for third place at 119 pounds at state. Now, the two seniors are among a large group of top-flight wrestlers in the middle weights.

Included in that group is East's Nathan Hoffer at 140 pounds, Sullivan's brother, Ben, at 135 pounds and Wasilla's Josh Brown at 130 pounds. All wrestled Saturday, and all took home first-place medals.

"This year the middle weights are just stacked," Grant Sullivan said.

He said the high level of competition among the wrestlers ranging from 130 to 152 pounds improves everyone's game.

"It makes you work harder, and it just makes you want to be a better wrestler all around," he said.

Brown's win over East's Skylar Moore was one of the more impressive displays of the tournament. Brown had never beaten Moore, who finished second in the state last season at 119 pounds and is ranked No. 1 in Class 4A at 130. With the match tied in the finals seconds, Brown managed an escape to earn a 7-6 win.

"I was just giving it everything I've got out there," Brown said. "I knew if I could just get away, I win."

The Vandergaw tournament attracted 18 teams looking for top-notch competition in the final large tournament before conference and state meets. The defending three-time state champion Colony Knights got individual wins from Charles Coisman (119), Eric Fan (215) and Renn Wright (275) to take the team title, while second-place Service got a quick pin from Stephen Ellis over Skyview's Nick Vanbruggen at 189 to lead a second-place finish for the Cougars.

At 125 pounds, Class 3A Nome's Lonny Booshu got two third-period takedowns to pull away from East's Mat Malnoske, who entered the match as the top-ranked Class 4A wrestler in that division. For his efforts, Booshu took home the meet's Outstanding Wrestler award.

Glenn Vandergaw Dimond Classic

Saturday

At Dimond High

Team scores -- 1) Colony, 205.5; 2) Service, 162; 3) East, 156; 4) Wasilla, 152; 5) Skyview, 146; 6) South, 108.5; 7) Chugiak, 97.5; 8) Dimond, 87; 9) Homer, 80; 10) Kenai Central, 62; 11) West, 44; 12) Anchorage Christian, 41.5; 13) Nome, 40; 14) Wasilla JV, 15) Soldotna, 32; 16) Bartlett, 30; 17) Eagle River, 27; 18) Houston, 23; 19) Service JV, 20) Grace Christian, 9; 21) Houston JV, 7; 22) East JV, 6; 23) Chugiak JV, 4; 24) (tie) Eagle River JV and Skyview JV, 3.

Championship matches

103 -- Abe Fox, Wasilla, maj. dec. Nathan Marquez, East, 10-1. 112 -- Johnny Hogenson, South, dec. Isaac Wilson, Colony, 9-8. 119 -- Charles Coisman, Colony, p. Bryce Wilson, Skyview, 5:19. 125 -- Lonny Booshu, Nome, dec. Mat Malnoske, East, 13-8. 130 -- Josh Brown, Wasilla, dec. Skylar Moore, East, 7-6. 135 -- Ben Sullivan, Chugiak, maj. dec. Sam Loggins, Colony, 16-8. 140 -- Nathan Hoffer, East, maj. dec. Auston Tennis, Skyview, 21-7. 145 -- Grant Sullivan, Chugiak, dec. Luke Shelley, South, 2-0. 152 -- Mitch Wyatt, Homer, dec. Jared Thomas, Skyview, 7-0. 160 -- Budde Pressler, West, p. Fred Pollard, Skyview, 3:38. 171 -- Kyle Krin, South, p. Steve Lawson, Skyview, 1:26. 189 -- Stephen Ellis, Service, p. Nick Vanbruggen, Skyview, 1:47. 215 -- Eric Fan, Colony, p. Andy Enz, Service, :41. 275 -- Renn Wright, Colony, dec. Ryan Pomrenke, Wasilla, 7-1.

Outstanding Wrestler -- Lonny Booshu, Nome (125).

Placewinners (Top 6)

103 -- 3) Hope Steffensen, Kenai; 4) Eli Garvey, Homer; 5) Gabe Larson, Service; 6) Noah Roetman, Colony. 112 -- 3) Gabe Cabrera, Nome; 4) Conrad Lacey, Service; 5) Talon Sturgill, Bartlett; 6) Jam Janorschke, Skyview. 119 -- 3) Tyler Adams, Wasilla; 4) Jacob Wenzel, Chugiak; 5) Tyler Mocta, Service; 6) Bryce Serna, Wasilla JV. 125 -- 3) Jacob Russell, South; 4) Dominic Taus, Eagle River; 5) John Pounds, Service; 6) Gabe Loggins, Colony. 130 -- 3) Luke Faulkner, Colony; 4) Luke Charters, Anchorage Christian; 5) Devon Carter, Kenai; 6) Chris Franklin, Homer. 135 -- 3) Daniel Brandon, Anchorage Christian; 4) Adam Agosti, Kenai; 5) Brandon Markson, South; 6) Jentry Dederich, Wasilla. 140 -- 3) Ken Banning, Service; 4) Chad Lowery, Colony; 5) Derek Johnson, Wasilla; 6) Brooks Sutter, Grace. 145 -- 3) Drake McGraw, Dimond; 4) Derrick Burlison, Soldotna; 5) Kyle Boss, Colony; 6) Pedro Sosa, East. 152 -- 3) Mike Miranda, Dimond; 4) Aaron Reese, Houston; 5) Ben Nix, Dimond; 6) Rilen Skieens, Service. 160 -- 3) Jake Marshall, Wasilla; 4) Nathan Such, Chugiak; 5) Tyler Mallory, Dimond; 6) Chris Tilling, East. 171 -- 3) Ryan Knutson, Colony; 4) Jesse Hamilton, East; 5) Kyle Lefew, Service; 6) Tanner Link, Soldotna. 189 -- 3) Dan Wilson, East; 4) Larry Croft, Homer; 5) Jeremy White, Wasilla; 6) Garrett Morisson, Chugiak. 215 -- 3) Donny Dormady, Kenai; 4) Leo Parsley, Dimond; 5) Mike Eyre, Skyveiw; 6) Drew Yeager, Wasilla. 275 -- 3) Jason Jeffords, Service; 4) Ben Harville, Homer; 5) Leandro Peralta, East; 6) Caleb Green, Bartlett.

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