Bethel claimed its third straight Class 1-2-3A state wrestling title Saturday at Nikiski High, outscoring runner-up Kotzebue by nearly 50 points.
Senior Trevour Chavez was Bethel's only individual champion, winning the 160-pound weight class for the second straight season. Chavez won by 5-1 decision over Homer's Mark McGregor.
Bethel, which has finished no worse than second at the state tournament for the past five seasons, dominated the tournament from the start and led by more than 50 points coming into Saturday's action.
Grace Christian junior Anthony Walsh was named the tournament's most outstanding wrestler after his victory at 126 pounds. Walsh used a dramatic come-from-behind victory in a Friday semifinal match, scoring a takedown in the final 10 seconds to earn a 7-6 decision and a spot in Saturday's final against Bethel's Josh Mendenhall.
Walsh had lost to Mendenhall in two previous matches this season, but managed to win by a 7-3 decision Saturday to become just the second Grace wrestler to win a state title.
Valdez, which finished fifth overall, recorded the most individual state titles with three. Isaac Deaton earned one at 152 pounds to pair with last season's title at 138. Austin Rake picked up his first state title at 152 Saturday and Dave Towne (120) also won his first title.
Kotzebue and Sitka can each boast two individual winners, Kotzebue's Brettlyn Reich (113) and Scott Hansen (138) emerging victorious along with Sitka's Darin Davis (106) and Mitchell Boord (170).
Davis, who also won at 106 last season, shared the successful weekend with his girlfriend Deirdre Creed of Mt. Edgecumbe. The junior placed fifth at 98 pounds to match her twin brother Trevor Creed's fifth-place finish at 113 pounds.
ASAA/FIRST NATIONAL BANK
1-2-3A State wrestling
Team scores
1) Bethel, 187.0; 2) Kotzebue, 139.5; 3) Nikiski, 130.5; 4) Dillingham, 129.5; 5) Valdez, 124.5; 6) Mt. Edgecumbe, 103.5; 7) Sitka, 95.5; 8) Nome, 91.5; 9) Skyview, 91.5; 10) Houston, 72.0; 11) Eielson, 59.0; 12) Homer, 56.0; 13) Wrangell, 54.0; 14) Cordova, 50.0; 15) Unalaska, 46.0; 16) New Stuyahok, 43.0; 17) Craig, 40.0; 18) Seward, 40.0; 19) Anchorage Christian, 39.0; 20) Grace Christian, 30.0; 21) Glennallen, 26.5; 22) Aniak, 25.0; 23) Haines, 24.0; 24) Metlakatla, 23.0; 25) Unalakleet, 23.0; 26) Petersburg, 17.0; 27) Barrow, 15.0; 28) Hutchison, 14.0; 29) Kake, 13.0; 30) Thorne Bay, 13.0; 31) Hoonah, 12.0; 32) Napaskiak, 11.0; 33) King Cove, 9.0; 34) Newhalen, 9.0; 35) Voznesenka, 8.0; 36) Akiachak, 6.0; 37) Quinhagak, 6.0; 38) Galena, 5.0; 39) Klawock, 4.0; 40) Pelican, 3.0.
Championship matches
98 -- Seth Hutchison (Skyview) m.d. Gavin Maslen (Glennallen), 10-1. 106 -- Darin Davis (Sitka) p. Gage Hoffman (Bethel), 0:46. 113 -- Brettlyn Reich (Kotzebue) d. Leif Erickson (Nome), 6-0. 120 -- Dave Towne (Valdez) d. Wesley Gilroy (ACS), 4-3. 126 -- Anthony Walsh (Grace) d. Josh Mendenhall (Bethel), 7-3. 132 -- Emery Booshu (Nome) d. Sam Janorschke (Skyview), 6-4. 138 -- Scott Hansen (Kotzebue) d. Jaren Sumauang (Sitka), 9-4. 145 -- Austin Rake (Valdez) d. Cade Schlagel (Dillingham), 7-0. 152 -- Isaac Deaton (Valdez) d. Brayton Lieb (Bethel), 4-1. 160 -- Trevour Chavez (Bethel) d. Mark McGregor (Homer), 5-1. 170 -- Mitchell Boord (Sitka) d. Morgan Sauve (Nikiski), 6-4. 182 -- Michael Matthew (Mt. Edgecumbe) d. Shyler Johnson (Unalakleet), 11-7. 195 -- Lincoln Johnson (Nikiski) d. Luke Johnson (Nikiski), 3-0. 220 -- Luke Wagner (Houston) d. Paul Johanson (Mt. Edgecumbe), 6-5. 285 -- Thomas Hoseth (Dillingham) p. Marty Vera (Metlakatla), 1:22.
Third-place matches
98 -- Alex Gray (Nome) m.d. Tecumseh Hensley (Bethel), 12-4. 106 -- Aaron Drake (Houston) d. Alec Magalong (Unalaska), 12-7. 113 -- Dakota Garner (Eielson) d. Austin Craig (Skyview), 10-8. 120 -- Shawn Gardiner (Dillingham) d. Avery Chiklak (Bethel), 2-0. 126 -- Tanner Thain (Craig) p. Cisco Davila (Houston), 2:20. 132 -- Avery Coplin (Bethel) d. Joe Kohler (New Stuyahok), 5-4 (OT). 138 -- Keefe McIntosh (Valdez) d. Kurt Dingwall (Wrangell Wolves), 6-4. 145 -- Noah Roetman (Kotzebue) t.f. Tanner Thomassen (Wrangell), 18-2. 152 -- Josh Brown (Nikiski) p. Jimmy Thomsen (Haines), 1:45. 160 -- Joshua Roetman (Kotzebue) d. Brandon Hursh (Valdez), 9-7. 170 -- Devon Phillips (Kotzebue) p. Dylan Magnusen (Unalaska), 2:46. 182 -- Sonny Flensburg (Dillingham) p. Jeffrey Rooney Jr. (Wrangell), 4:07. 195 -- Elliott Anderson (Sitka) d. Mason Kimber (Cordova), 3-2. 220 -- Austin Sjong (Aniak) p. Connor McConnell (Unalaska), 2:51. 285 -- J. Bruce Crow (Bethel) d. Spencer Walcott (New Stuyahok), 1-0.
Fifth-place matches
98 -- Deirdre Creed (Mt. Edgecumbe) d. Jonathan Kingsland (Seward), 7-4. 106 -- Calvin Johnson (Homer) t.f. T. J. Cox (Nikiski), 18-2. 113 -- Trevor Creed (Mt. Edgecumbe) m.d. Gavril Kalugin (Voznesenka), 9-0. 120 -- Kalib Dunlap (Eielson) d. Grant Valiquette (Skyview), 5-3 (OT). 126 -- Jerome Williams (Napaskiak) d. Kris Thorsteinson (Petersburg), 9-6. 132 -- Tylor Handley (Nikiski) d. Matthew Anelon (Newhalen), 6-4. 138 -- Adam Downing (Valdez) d. Nicholas Christopher (New Stuyahok), 5-2. 145 -- Tyler Phillips (Eielson) d. Michael Stangel (Nikiski), 9-4. 152 -- Zach Haviland (Kotzebue) d. Junyor Erickson (Nome), 9-8. 160 -- Nick Hughes (Hoonah) won by forfeit over Anthony Minnillo (Thorne Bay). 170 -- Sam Rininger (Seward) d. Wyatt Dunlap (Eielson), 10-3. 182 -- Cody Howard (Cordova) p. Isaac Peacock (Kotzebue), 2:56. 195 -- Scott Carpenter (Bethel) won by forfeit over Paul Hamilton (King Cove). 220 -- Ben Voss (Barrow) d. Josh Stearns (Haines), 2-1. 285 -- Tyler Scott (ACS) won by forfeit over Gusty Akelkok (Mt. Edgecumbe).