Despite numerous accomplishments during a storied four-year career, Bobby Dunbar can pin down his favorite wrestling memory as quickly as he can pin an opponent.
Without a doubt it came last season when Dunbar's 215-pound state title -- his second straight individual crown -- gave Anchorage Christian School the points needed to win the small-school wrestling championship.
"We worked very hard last year to get that," he said.
Now a senior at Bartlett High after transferring from ACS last year, Dunbar has created new memories wrestling for a different school and against different opponents. The final chapter is being written today at the Class 4A state wrestling championships, which began Friday at Chugiak High.
If all goes as planned, it should have a storybook ending.
Though another team title is out of reach, Dunbar, ranked No. 1 in the state at 215 all season, is the favorite to win his third straight individual championship tonight. He would become just the 27th Alaska wrestler to win three, and the second three-peater to do it with two different schools. Gabe McMahan was the other, winning two titles with Glennallen and one with Palmer in the 1990s.
On Friday, Dunbar took some big steps toward joining that elite list by cruising through his first three matches. He pinned every one of his opponents and set up a championship showdown with Jake Ritter of Juneau.
As for the team race, defending champion Wasilla took an early lead with 141 points through the semifinals, but South was right on the Warriors' heels with 138. West Valley with 79 was a distant third.
Wasilla placed five wrestlers and South placed six into today's championship round. Each team also has a number of wrestlers in the consolation rounds, so today's duel for the crown should be a good one.
Meanwhile, as Dunbar wraps up his brilliant career, which spans Alaska's two classifications for the sport, he's proven that wrestlers groomed at the small-school level are just as talented as their large-school counterparts.
"It seems the same to me," said Dunbar, who wrestled at ACS from middle school through his junior high school season. "I didn't see any difference in the competition."
His numbers back that up. Dunbar has lost only once in the past two seasons, and most of his wins have come by pin. As a junior at ACS, Dunbar went 45-1 with 35 pins. His only loss, in fact, was a 7-4 decision to Wasilla's Jed Wade, one of three wrestlers in Alaska history to win four state titles.
And Dunbar is 32-0 this season with one match to go. He has posted 24 pins, three technical falls and one major decision. He also has won five matches by forfeit, often the result of an opposing coach refusing to allow his 215-pounder to wrestle Dunbar.
Sometimes an athlete would purposefully gain or drop weight to move into another class -- the "Dunbar Dodge," as one wrestler has called it.
"They want to go to a weight where they have a chance," said Bartlett coach Brian Foss.
Dunbar understands this, even if he doesn't always like it.
"I kind of got used to the forfeits," he said. "But I want to wrestle and not sit on the side."
Dunbar is very much at center stage this weekend. He has already set an Alaska career pins record with 102. And though he long ago missed his chance of winning four state titles when he dropped a close championship match his freshman season at ACS, Dunbar is still focused on taking care of two attainable goals as his senior season comes to an end.
"I decided I'll get three and go undefeated," he said.
While Dunbar's story is one of many being scripted at this year's state tournament, perhaps the biggest on Friday was written by 103-pound Skyview freshman Michaela Hutchison.
Fueled by a partisan crowd rooting her on, Hutchison beat Dante Santos of Juneau in the semifinals. She posted a thrilling 9-4 decision to send her into tonight's finals against top-ranked Alan Bartelli of Wasilla.
And since she can now place no lower than second, Hutchison has already guaranteed herself the highest finish by a girl at an Alaska state tournament. Her older sister, Melina, took third in 2000 at the 4A championships and Homer Olympian Tela O'Donnell took sixth that same year.
They were the first-ever female place winners in this state, and while Hutchison has already etched her name alongside those pioneers, she now has a chance of doing something no girl in Alaska has ever done -- win a state title.
Daily News reporter Eric Smith can be reached at esmith@adn.com or 257-4335.
ASAA/First National Bank Alaska
Class 4A State Wrestling Championships
At Chugiak High
Friday's Results
Team Scores (through semifinals) -- 1) Wasilla 141 points; 2) South 138; 3) West Valley 79; 4) Colony 75; 5) Juneau 72; 6) Skyview 70; 7) Chugiak 66; 8) Bartlett 59; 9) West 56.5; 10) Lathrop 42.5; 11) Soldotna 39; 12) Kodiak 33.5; 13) Ketchikan 33; 14) Sitka 30; 15) Homer 16.5; 16) North Pole 15; 17) Dimond 13; 18) Palmer 10; 19) East 5; 20) Service 1.
Semifinals
103 pounds -- Alan Bartelli, Was, d. Jimmy Eggemeyer, Kod, 7-0; Michaela Hutchison, Sky, d. Dante Santos, Jun, 9-4.
112 -- Theron Apodaca, Bar, d. Gerry Carrillo, Jun, 17-10; Sungie Mussara, Jun, d. Sam Miller, Was, 7-6.
119 -- Dustin Killian, Col, d. Jim Jurczak, Sit, 4-0; Clayton Schmidling, Was, d. Jordan Saceda, Jun, 10-4.
125 -- Hollan Gravley, Col, m.d. Sam Carlson, Chu, 12-0; Matt Blakeslee, South, d. Ted Nelvis, West, 6-5.
130 -- Duane Carpenter, Was, d. George Wathen, Sit, 9-7; Ira Carson, West, d. Clifton Ivanoff, Kod, 7-5.
135 -- Eli Hutchison, Sky, p. Nathan Williamson, South, 1:42; Max Rosefigura, West, d. Camron Hagen, Hom, 9-6.
140 -- Shane Manuel, Bar, d. Cayle Byers, Chu, 5-3; Brandy Goracke, Sol, d. Brandon Stoner, Lat, 4-0.
145 -- Kaylen Baxter, WV, d. Clark Buffington, Sky, 8-7; Jordan Dubuisson, South, p. Mike Trudeau, Was, 3:49.
152 -- Trevor Pempek, Was, d. Dylan Bergman, Sit, 8-1; Dustin Baxter, WV, d. Eddie Buffington, Sky, 6-3.
160 -- David Wiese, WV, m.d. James Geffe, Chu, 17-5; Wade Wilson, South, m.d. Iain Brown, Ket, 9-0.
171 -- Jake Wade, Was, p. Chris Pannone, Chu, 4:32; Marcus Lopez, South, d. Josh Carlon, Sky, 5-3.
189 -- Steve Willburn, Chu, p. Jake LaDuke, Sit, 3:07; Scott Lucas, South, d. Donald Morris, WV, 5-3.
215 -- Bobby Dunbar, Bar, p. Dominick Bellotte, Col, 2:56; Jake Ritter, Jun, d. Josiah Bush, NP, 9-2.
HWT -- Jon Hamilton, Ket, p. James Savage, Col, 3:15; Mike Petrovich, South, d. Sean Whitmore, Sol, 7-3.
Quarterfinals
103 -- Bartelli p. Aaron Boss, Col, 1:08; Eggemeyer d. Andrew Van Asdoll, Col, 6-5; Hutchison m.d. Ross Edelen, South, 15-2; Santos p. Sabastian Sandoval, Was, 3:15.
112 -- Carrillo m.d. Zach Beauchamp, Col, 13-0; Apodaca d. Simeon Daigle, Hom, 10-5; Miller d. Lucas Fried, Kod, 7-2; Mussara p. Bobby Hicks, Lat, 1:34.
119 -- Killian p. Jake Cuifo, Sol, 1:10; Jurczak d. Steven Guana, Kod, 4-3; Saceda p. Gary Hawkins, Lat, 5:11; Schmidling p. Richard Hamilton, NP, 1:55.
125 -- Gravley p. Tom Eller, Pal, 3:36; Carlson d. Cody Wolf, Jun, 6-2; Nelvis d. Lucas Chambers, Sit, 4-0; Blakeslee p. John Bouman, Hom, 3:16.
130 -- Carpenter p. Marlon Branson, Kod, 1:31; Wathen d. Daniel Tol, Chu, 7-5; Carson d. Louden Grenier, Hom 9-3; Ivanoff d. Dennis Achman, Lat, 4-0.
135 -- Hutchison p. Kenneth Hockmuth, Kod, 1:31; Williamson d. Brian Hunsicker, Chu, 11-6; Hagen d. Ceasar Barrera, Was, 18-13; Rosefigura m.d. Jon Jensen, Was, 12-1.
140 -- Manuel p. Clinton Clark, Jun, 5:35; Byers d. Scott Foster, Sol, 11-4; Stoner d. Matt Barry, Jun, 11-8; Goracke p. Corbin Smith, South, 3:53.
145 -- Baxter t.f. Spencer Ashcraft, WW, 19-3; Buffington p. Jason Koelling, Sit, :38; Trudeau d. Scott Curry, Lat, 8-6; Dubuisson d. Mike Hunsicker, Chu, 6-3.
152 -- Pempek m.d. Ken Davis, Ket, 11-2; Bergman p. Brad Jorgensen, Chu, 1:11; Baxter d. Jeremy Fulk, WV, 2-0; Buffington d. Ammon Pettijohn, Was, 13-8.
160 -- Wiese p. Mike Knutson, Was, 5:54; Geffe d. Chuck Carpenter, Was, 15-8; Wilson m.d. Ben Breakfield, Sol, 10-1; Brown d. Andrew Brown, Lat, 11-9.
171 -- Wade p. Jeris Lewis, Lat, 1:50; Pannone d. Tyler Wehrli, Sky, 7-2; Lopez d. Steve O'Brien, Kod, 5-3; Carlon d. Jon Kuterbach, Jun, 6-4.
189 -- Willburn p. Kyle Holthaus, Lat, 4:59; LaDuke d. Dan Neetz, WV, 8-2; Morris d. Justin Zellweger, West, 6-4; Lucas t.f. Chris Walsh, Col, 17-1.
215 -- Dunbar p. Jordan Macrander, South, 2:26; Bellotte p. Bo Dinstel, WV, 1:20; Ritter p. Ed Kinegak, Dim, 1:56; Bush p. Nathan Graetz, Lat, 1:35.
HWT -- Hamilton p. Donnie Salmon, Was, 1:48; Savage d. Jaryd Anderson, South, 3-2; Whitmore p. Tyler Holmlund, Sit, 1:10; Petrovich p. Steven McDonald, West, 5:56.
TODAY'S CONSOLATION MATCHES start at 9 a.m. Championship matches are scheduled to start at 5 p.m. All matches are at Chugiak High School.
