There's plenty on the line when Cook Inlet Conference wrestlers take to the mats today at Chugiak High, but not nearly as much as there will be a week from now.

"You just need to place at regions, and it's anybody's ballgame at state," said Service coach Luke Duffy.

Taking home a conference championship is nothing to be ashamed of. Far from it. But coaches said the most important thing about this weekend's meet is staying healthy and getting as many wrestlers in the top six places as possible.

"It would be nice to win the team title," said South's Tom Ritchie, whose Wolverines are the defending CIC champions. "But we're just trying to qualify as many kids to state as we can."

With a deep, strong team led by state championship contenders Luke Shelley at 152 pounds and Kyle Kirn at 171, the Wolverines are expected to go toe-to-toe with Service for their fourth CIC title in five seasons. Shelley is a defending state and CIC champion who also won a CIC title his freshman year. The two teams dueled in the final meet of the regular season, with the Wolverines winning by a single point.

Ritchie said he'd give the advantage to Service, which will send the maximum 28 wrestlers into today's tournament.

"I think they're a little deeper than us," he said.

Service is strong in the heavier weights, with Akmat.org's top-ranked 189-pounder in Stephen Ellis and second-ranked Andy Enz at 215.

Duffy said he's expecting a close battle between the conference's top two teams.

"This year we can do it, but what I more expect is for my kids to wrestle hard," he said.

East won't have the largest team at the tournament, but the T-birds may end up with the most conference champs come Saturday. Led by a host of lightweights, East will enter the tournament with a trio of No. 1 wrestlers in junior Mat Malnoske (125), and seniors Skyler Moore (130) and Nathan Hoffer (140). Hoffer will be gunning for his fourth straight CIC and state titles, while Moore is a two-time conference champ and Malnoske is looking for his second consecutive CIC title.

For the first time, the top six wrestlers in each wight class from the CIC meet advance to the state tournament at Chugiak, as do the top six from the Northern Lights Conference meet today at Wasilla. The Mid Alaska Conference (Fairbanks) gets three berths and the Southeast Conference gets one.

In previous seasons, the top five CIC wrestlers earned a state berth, and Duffy said he thinks the change will help the conference better compete with the NLC, which has won the past six state titles. No CIC team has won state since Chugiak in the 2001-02 season.

"It levels the playing field there," he said.

Other top CIC wrestlers to watch this weekend include West's Budde Pressler, the state's No. 1 160-pounder and a defending CIC champion, and Chugiak's Sullivan brothers, Grant and Ben.

Grant, a senior 145-pounder, is a two-time conference champion, while Ben, a sophomore at 135 pounds, was a CIC champ last season.

"They're vital keys to what we do," said Chugiak coach Derek Glenn. "They're very good wrestlers."

The key to advancing to the state meet, most coaches agreed, will be for wrestlers to believe they're capable of wrestling their way onto the podium.

"I think it's 90 percent mental," Glenn said. "You have to be in great physical shape, but if you're not ready mentally it's probably not gonna turn out well for you."

Also being contested this weekend are the Class 1-2-3A conference championships, with Anchorage Christian hosting the Denali/Kachemak Conference meet, from which the top five wrestlers will advance to the state tournament next weekend at Bartlett.

Other 1-2-3A conference championships this weekend include the Northern in Nome (three berths), the Great Alaska in New Stuyahok (four berths) and the Southeast in Petersburg (four berths).

Find Matt Tunseth online at adn.com/contact/mtunseth or call 257-4335.

Akmat.org Alaska High School Wrestling Rankings

Class 4A

Team rankings -- 1) Colony; 2) North Pole; 3) South; 4) Lathrop; 5) Wasilla.

103 -- 1) Abe Fox, Wasilla; 2) Nathan Marquez, East; 3) Hope Steffenson, Kenai; 4) Eli Garvey, Homer; 5) Noah Roetman, Colony; 6) Nick Coffel, Lathrop.

112 -- 1) Dillon Achman, Lathrop; 2) Cody Decker, North Pole; 3) Johnny Hogenson, South; 4) Isaac Wilson, Colony; 5) Cole Miller, Wasilla; 6) Conrad Lacey, Service.

119 -- 1) Joe Hughes, Lathrop; 2) Charles Coisman, Colony; 3) Ross Sanford, Ketchikan; 4) Bryce Wilson, Skyview; 5) Tyler Adams, Wasilla; 6) Brent Amos, South.

125 -- 1) Mat Malnoske, East; 2) Eric Tupper, Lathrop; 3) Luke Falkner, Colony; 4) Jacob Russell, South; 5) Dominic Taus, Eagle River; 6) Cyle Ercolino, North Pole.

130 -- 1) Skyler Moore, East; 2) Sam Loggins, Colony; 3) Ian Fultz, Ketchikan; 4) Josh Brown, Wasilla; 5) Kyle Curry, Lathrop; 6) Jered Kemp, Palmer.

135 -- 1) Ben Sullivan, Chugiak; 2) Jake Rahlfs, North Pole; 3) Chad Lowery, Colony; 4) Taylor Osborne, Lathrop; 5) Cody Carroll, Soldotna; 6) Dominic Smith, North Pole.

140 -- 1) Nathan Hoffer, East; 2) Chase Montgomery, Colony; 3) Austin Tennis, Skyview; 4) Chris Frazier, North Pole; 5) Ken Banning, Service; 6) Derek Johnson, Wasilla.

145 -- 1) Grant Sullivan, Chugiak; 2) Luke Shelley, South; 3) Drake McGraw, Dimond; 4) Derrick Burlison, South; 5) Larry Swanson, Lathrop; 6) Kevin Jutila, North Pole.

152 -- 1) Caleb Pempek, Wasilla; 2) Trent Lemons, Lathrop; 3) Mitch Wyatt, Homer; 4) Jared Thomas, Skyview; 5) Mike Miranda, Dimond; 6) Ben Nix, Dimond.

160 -- 1) Budde Pressler, West; 2) Fred Pollard, Skyview; 3) Ryan Knutson, Colony; 4) Jacob Marshall, Wasilla; 5) Brandon Wiese, Lathrop; 6) Nathan Such, Chugiak.

171 -- 1) Kenny Boykin, Colony; 2) Kyle Kirn, South; 3) Trent Shepersky, North Pole; 4) Steve Lawson, Skyview; 5) Tanner Link, Soldotna; 6) Kyle Lefew, Service.

189 -- 1) Stephen Ellis, Service; 2) Dan Wilson, East; 3) Ross Morehouse, South; 4) Nick Van Bruggen, Skyview; 5) Jeremy White, Wasilla; 6) Garrett Morrison, Chugiak.

215 -- 1) Eric Fan, Colony; 2) Andy Enz, Service; 3) Nick Archuleta, South; 4) Donny Dormady, Kenai; 5) Leo Parsley, Dimond; 6) Mike Eyre, Skyview.

285 -- 1) Nate Strieby, Soldotna; 2) Caleb Green, Bartlett; 3) Anthony Antonio, Kodiak; 4) Renn Wright, Colony; 5) Dylon Short, South; 6) Jason Jeffords, Service.

Class 1-2-3A

Team rankings -- 1) Dillingham; 2) Bethel; 3) Kotzebue; 4) Nikiski; 5) Petersburg

103 -- 1) Zach Pleasant, Bethel; 2) Mike Wasilly, Dillingham; 3) Dhanmark Angeles, Barrow; 4) Tanner Thain, Craig; 5) Keifer Groenveld, Valdez; 6) Gabe Schaefer, Kotzebue.

112 -- 1) Jarred Miller, Dillingham; 2) Mario Kuqo, Bethel; 3) Cabe Cabrera, Nome; 4) marcus Seifert, Barrow; 5) Darrin Davis, Sitka; 6) Dillon Gilroy, ACS.

119 -- Corbin Lepore, Bethel; 2) Jesse Rogers, Dillingham; 3) Dennis Wilson, Dillingham; 4) Landon Eck, Kotzebue; 5) Nathan Stangel, Nikiski; 6) Tom Schwartz, Petersburg.

125 -- 1) Randy Hanson, Bethel; 2) Lonny Booshu, Nome; 3) Matt Parker, Nikiski; 4) tim Coutlee, Hoonah; 5) Will Patrick, Sitka; 6) Aydin Erlich, Kotzebue.

130 -- 1) Luke Charters, ACS; 2) Seth O'Brien, Bethel; 3) Ryan Baxter, Craig; 4) Josh Brown, Nikiski; 5) VJ Carlos, Sitka; 6) David Scerbak, Hutchison.

135 -- 1) Daniel Brandon, ACS; 2) Matt Seifert, Barrow; 3) Matt Downing, Valdez; 4) Matthew Rogers, Dillingham; 5) James Valentine, Petersburg; 6) David Stickel, Nome.

140 -- 1) Kyle Mundy, Cordova; 2) Ryan Chavez, Bethel; 3) Brooks Sutter, Grace; 4) Brandon Bahnke, ACS; 5) Max Hanson, Sitka; 6) Carlito Benito, Metlakatla.

145 -- 1) Reed Tennyson, Dillingham; 2) Terry Rogers, Mt. Edgecumbe; 3) Nick Brockman, Glennallen; 4) Seth Balint, Cordova; 5) Shane Douglas, Seward; 6) Zach Ivanoff, Mt. Edgecumbe.

152 -- 1) Blake Platt, Cordova; 2) JJ Larson, Dillingham; 3) Kaden Spurgeon, Nikiski; 4) Eric Odden, Nome; 5) Jesse Piper, Haines; 6) Frank Ferguson, Kotzebue.

160 -- 1) Justin Allen, Valdez; 2) Kole Skaflestad, Hoonah; 3) Andrew West, Kotzebue; 4) Karl Buchholz, Nikiski; 5) Dylan Castle, Craig; 6) Zenon Martushev, Voznesenka.

171 -- 1) Jarred Miller, Kotzebue; 2) Kyle Armour, Eielson; 3) Jerry Hulsing, Dillingham; 4) Joe Nyholm, Seward; 5) Steven Weingurth, Mt. Edgecumbe; 6) Michael Vera, Metlakatla.

189 -- 1) Tyler Thain, Craig; 2) Tony Craig, Petersburg; 3) John Kavairlook, Galena; 4) Billy Markowitz, Seward; 5) Matt Birky, Grace; 6) McKyer Trumblee, Cordova.

215 -- 1) Quentin Backford, Dillingham; 2) Pat Quigley, Craig; 3) Jaylin Prince, Mt. Edgecumbe; 4) Kyle Kain, Seward; 5) Cameron Lynch, Unalaska; 6) Derek Weiler, Nome.

285 -- 1) Michael Berkeley, Metlakatla; 2) Leo Polushkin, Voznesenka; 3) Jacob Craig, Petersburg; 4) Ryan Fowler, Unalaska; 5) Darrell Tilden, Dillingham; 6) Henry Eide, Nikiski.

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