Anchorage Daily News

Daniel Brandon's face told a different story than the one that played out on the mat. A scrape under his right eye was bright red, cotton filled a nostril in his swollen nose and little drops of dried blood freckled his upper lip.

For all its carnage, his was the face of a winner -- one of the biggest winners of the day Friday as the Class 1-2-3A state wrestling championships began at Bartlett High.

Brandon, a junior at Anchorage Christian, knocked off top-seeded Cody Miller of Dillingham in the first round of competition at 130 pounds, a weight class that turned into a land mine for top-seeded wrestlers.

Four of the six seeded wrestlers at 130 lost in the first round, three of them in overtime. Other casualties included third-seeded Zachary Bourdon of Nome, pinned by Metlakatla's Darren McKeehan 30 seconds into overtime, fourth-seeded Brooks Sutter of Grace Christian, edged 5-4 in overtime by Bethel's Nicholas Sharp; and sixth-seeded Matt Downing of Valdez, beaten 11-8 by Seward's Shane Douglas.

But the biggest upset belonged to Brandon, who battled from behind after Miller grabbed an early 4-0 lead. It wasn't until he scored a takedown with about 20 seconds left in the third and final period that he caught up, tying the score 11-11 and sending the match into sudden-death overtime. There, about 30 seconds in, Brandon ended things with a single-leg takedown.

"It was awesome," Brandon said.

Brandon, 17, missed last year's region and state tournaments with a broken collarbone and he went all of this season without facing Miller, who at last year's state championships lost in the semifinal round at 125 pounds.

"I'd never wrestled him, but some of my friends have wrestled him, so I knew how good he was," Brandon said.

There's lot of good wrestlers at 130 pounds, Daniels said, which might explain all those first-round upsets. "We're all really even," he said.

Brandon pulled off another upset in Friday's semifinals, beating Petersburg's fifth-seed James Valentine 9-6 to advance to tonight's finals.

No other No. 1 seeds lost in Friday's first round, which produced only four other upsets that sent seeded wrestlers into the consolation bracket -- third-seeded Matthew Rogers of Mt. Edgecumbe at 103 (pinned by Dillingham's Craig Schlosser in 3:56); sixth-seeded Paul Johnston of Grace Christian at 125 (an 8-0 loser to Hoonah's Cory Hill); fourth-seeded Conan Ferguson of Chevak (a 5-4 loser to Sitka's Max Hanson) and fifth-seeded Cameron Lynch of Unalakleet (a 14-11 loser to Metlakatla's Michael Berkeley).

HEARTBREAK KID

For Matt Birky of Grace Christian, this season will be remembered as the one that had a beginning and an end, but no middle.

Birky hobbled out of the Bartlett gym Friday wearing a walking boot on his right foot -- the foot that betrayed him twice this season, once at the beginning and again at the very end.

"I got through the first week of practice and went to the first matches," Birky said.

It was the second week of practice that doomed him.

With just 45 minutes left in the final practice before his team's second meet, Birky fell while grappling with a teammate and severely strained ligaments in his right ankle.

"My foot went sideways and it busted apart," he said. "I was out six weeks. There was just enough time to get back in time for regions."

Birky returned to competition last weekend and placed third at 215 pounds at the region tournament to qualify for this week's state championships. He faced Derek Weller of Nome in Friday's first round and didn't even make it through the first period before his ankle gave way again.

"He went in for the takedown and I got tangled up," Birky said. "It felt the same way as it did the first time."

And so ended Birky's season, which consisted of seven matches -- four at a season-opening tournament in Houston, two at regions and one at state. He finished with a 4-3 record.

Birky doesn't think he rushed his return to competition by competing at the region meet, but even if he did, he doesn't regret it.

"It was wrestle then, or never," he said.

Birky's mood was remarkably upbeat as he leaned against a wall while waiting for his dad to pick him up at the school entrance so they could go see a doctor. Whether it's because he's a junior who still has one more shot at the state championships or because his entire season has been a challenge, he took his latest setback in stride, emphasizing the good things that happened in his abbreviated season.

"It was great to come back at regions and get third," Birky said. "I pinned a guy and it was like, yes!"

Birky said he swam and lifted weights to keep fit during the six weeks he was sidelined, but he admitted it was rough coming to practice every day -- especially since he didn't know if the ankle would heal in time for the region meet.

"Oh man, that's hard," he said.

So what kept him coming back to the wrestling room, even though his ankle wouldn't let him wrestle?

"Hope," Birky said. "I prayed a lot. I asked God to give me the strength for it."

GRAPPLING GREATS

Five men who helped shape Alaska wrestling will be honored at a ceremony today at 2 p.m. at Chugiak High, where the Class 4A state tournament is being held.

The five are being given Lifetime Service awards from the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. They are referee Bruce Merritt of Fairbanks, coaches John Lee Johnson of Dillingham, Tom Ritchie Sr. of West Valley and Steve Gillaspie of Barrow and the late Lancer Smith of Palmer, who helped establish freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling in Alaska before his 2002 death from brain cancer.

A total of 14 Alaskans have received the honor.

Of the group, maybe no one has seen more Alaska wrestling than Gillaspie. Not because he's been around the longest -- Gillaspie started his Alaska coaching career in 1991, while Ritchie has been with West Valley since starting the program in 1982 and Merritt has been a referee since 1978 -- but because he's traveled around the most.

Gillaspie, 50, has hit just about every corner of the state: Kotzebue (1991-94), Nikiski (1995-2001), Sitka (2002-2007) and Barrow, where he's in his first season with the Whalers. He has coached cross country, football and track as well as wrestling and has helped produce plenty of state and region champs along the way.

"We just do what we do," he said. "I don't know what the secret is."

Here's one possibility: He uses the word "we" even when he means "I" -- making him the perfect team guy.

"I've never been an 'I' guy," he said.

But he's the kind of guy a kid can go to as a father-figure. When Sam Hill -- a five-sport start who was one of the great Class 3A athletes of all-time -- transferred from Kotzebue to Nikiski back in the mid 1990s, he lived for awhile with the Gillaspie family, which includes Steve, wife Bev and three daughters.

"People say, 'You should have a son.' They don't get it. I've got sons all over the place," Gillaspie said.

Find Beth Bragg online at adn.com/contact/bbragg or call 257-4309.

ASAA/First National Bank

Class 1-2-3A State Wrestling Championships

Friday's Results at Bartlett High

103 -- Jared Miller, Dillingham, t.f. Doug O'Hara, Kotzebue, 19-4. Gabe Cabrera, Nome, m.d. Zach Pleasant, Bethel, 18-8.

112 -- Corbin Lepore, Bethel, d. Aydin Erlich, Kotzebue, 9-2. Jesse Rogers, Mt. Edgecumbe d. Chris Jerry, Bethel, 6-5.

119 -- Randy Hanson, Bethel, m.d. Matt Parker, Nikiski, 9-0.

125 -- Rolland Wimberley, Wrangell, p. Matthew Johnson, Dillingham, 5:05. Lonny Booshu, Nome, m.d. Luke Charters, ACS, 19-8.

130 -- Daniel Brandon, ACS, d. James Valentine, Petersburg, 9-6. Ryan Chavez, Bethel, m.d. Shane Douglas, Seward, 13-4.

135 -- Brandon Reich, Kotzebue, d. Matt Baker, ACS, 6-1. Bret Lopez, Petersburg, d. Terry Rogers, Mt. Edgecumbe, 5-3.

140 -- Tim Erickson, Petersburg, p. Joe Martushev, Voz, 3:59. Reed Tennyson, Dillingham, d. Will Riley, Mt. Edgecumbe, 4-1.

145 -- Kyle Mundy, Cordova, d. Max Peeler, Petersburg, 3-2. Steven Roberts, Klw, d. Mike Smith, Kotzebue, 6-4 OT.

152 -- Alberto Cabrera, Nome, d. Ryhan Groshong, Wrangell, 8-5. J.J. Larson, Dillingham, d. Charles Smeaton, Dillingham, 7-6.

160 -- Ryder Torgeson, Sitka, d. Karl Buccholz, Nik, 6-5. Tim Field, Noorvik, p. Dylan Beck, Seward, 2:59.

171 -- Jared Miller, Kotzebue, p. Tyler Thain, Craig, 1:16. Kaddy Egen, Petersburg, d. Davey Brown, Wrangell, 6-0.

189 -- Nick Wasierski, Bethel, d. Thomas Alley, Grace, 9-1. Aaron Phillips, Kotzebue, p. Corbin Quigley, Craig, 4:59.

215 -- Geagel, Seldovia, p. Weiler, Nome, 5:25. Ethan Pempek, Wrangell, p. Patrick Quigley, Craig, 3:02.

HWT -- Zhenya Kisarauskas, Sitka, p. Darrell Tilden, Dillingham, 5:14. Billy Craig, Petersburg, d. Keifer Kanayaruk, Barrow, 10-0.

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