
On Dec. 20 and 21, 30 high school students from across Bristol Bay traveled to Anchorage for the Wrestling State Championship at the Alaska Airlines Center.
Dillingham High School’s boys’ team placed third — their best performance in over a decade — and athletes from schools across the region earned spots on the podium.
Kila Greene is a sophomore at Dillingham High School and one of the athletes who qualified for the tournament. He says competing in the Alaska Airlines Center, which seats up to 5,000 people, is a unique experience in itself.
“There’s so many bleachers and it’s usually packed. You have almost all eyes on you when you are wrestling. It’s really cool,” said Greene. “And the atmosphere, like the huge gym, it’s a whole different feeling than any other tournaments we have that season.”
Greene is one of 14 Dillingham wrestlers — 12 boys and two girls — who traveled to Anchorage for the state championship.
Eight of Dillingham’s wrestlers placed in the top five in their respective weight classes. The boy’s team placed 3rd in the state, their highest finish since 2011 when the team took runner-up.
This was Greene’s second trip to the state tournament, but his first time on the podium. He placed fifth in his weight class. He says competing this year felt different than his first year at states.
“My first time when I went, I was super nervous. I’d never been there and I was still learning and it was just crazy. But this year it was a little bit more laid back. I was pumped, I was excited to wrestle,” said Greene. “The nerve didn’t really set in until the day wrestling started. But then after my first match, I felt really good and I was ready to wrestle again.”
For Dillingham freshman Alora Wassily, the experience was brand-new. She was competing at states for the first time, and placed fourth in her weight class.
“It’s really nerve-racking, but once you start wrestling you feel that nerve go away,” said Wassily. “As soon as you step out on the mat and start wrestling it all goes away and you just remember your love for the sport and not the pressure for placing as high as you can.”
Wassily was one of two athletes on Dillingham’s girls’ team, which placed 24th overall. She says it was a small team, and though she would have liked more teammates, it was a good season nonetheless.
She’s wrestled since elementary school and says the sport is about more than what happens on the mat.
“It’s an individual sport but there is teamwork involved. And how close you can be with your team even if you’ve never talked to them before, they are still supporting you there,” said Wassily. “And just how much discipline. There’s so much discipline in wrestling. It just teaches you good life skills. And you keep them with you.”
Dillingham’s assistant coach Reed Tennyson says the team worked hard throughout the season to prepare for states.
Despite missing some tournaments due to weather, he says the team adapted.
“We worked really hard in the room on those weeks we were weathered out just to keep the kids ready for competition,” said Tennyson. “The kids did a great job of having a good attitude. They kept their head on their shoulders and had a positive outlook and controlled what they could control.”
This is Tennyson’s first year as the assistant coach, though he’s been involved in the program for years, starting when he wrestled for Dillingham as a student-athlete about a decade ago.
He says this year’s team was gunning for the title.
“We definitely would have liked to get one or two more kids on the podium. But we feel like it’s a great accomplishment to build off of going into next year,” said Tennyson.
Six other Bristol Bay Schools were represented at regionals.
New Stuyahok qualified six athletes for states and three placed in the top six.
One athlete represented the Bristol Bay Borough School District and placed 5th in her respective weight class.
Koliganek’s sole qualifier placed 3rd overall and King Cove also had one athlete qualify for the competition.
New Halen sent 5 athletes and two placed in the top 6.
Sandpoint sent two athletes to the state competition.