Mt. Edgecumbe High School won both the Girls and Division II team titles at the 2023 ASAA Region V Wrestling Championships on Saturday at Thunder Mountain High School.
Wrangell 114-pound junior Della Churchill was selected the Girls Outstanding Wrestler and Haines 171-pound senior Leo Wald the DII Outstanding Wrestler. Haines also won the team Sportsmanship
The Lady Braves tallied 104 points to escape a solid push from Ketchikan with 103, Wrangell had 82, Metlakatla 53, Hoonah 28, Petersburg 23, Hydaburg 22, Craig 20, Southeast Island School District 0 and the Braves scored 202 points, Haines 138, WRG 134, Sitka 86.5, PSG 51, CRG 23, Kake 16, HNH 15, Skagway 15, SISD 7, MET 3 and HYD 0.
Ketchikan senior Julia Biagi works to pin Mt. Edgecumbe senior Makenna Beans in the 126-pound girls championship match of the 2023 ASAA Region V wrestling tournament Saturday at Thunder Mountain High School. Biagi won by pin. (Klas Stolpe/ For the Juneau Empire)
The first match of the finals started with an unusual occurrence with MEHS 100-pound senior Sarah Nanouk-Jones earning a takedown in the first 30 seconds over WRG freshman Sophia Martinsen. Martinsen would reverse her position with 50 seconds left in the first period, but the reversal involved a penalty issued to Martinsen for locking her hands. In that situation the other wrestler has a chance to better her position before the referee enforces the penalty. Unfortunately Nanouk-Jones suffered an injury during the move and could not continue the match. However she did receive a penalty point and the win.
WRG would get title wins by 107-pound freshman Hailey Cook, 114-pound Churchill, 152-pound Mia Wiederspohn and 165-pound Katelynn Gillen and KTN had title wins by 126-pound Julia Biagi and 132-pound Abigail Henson while MEHS relied on multiple wrestlers scoring across the weekend for the team trophy, including twin 132-pound seniors Sarah and Audrey Bahnke. HNH, 120-pound junior Krista Howland, HYD 138-pound junior Macy Alander, CRG 152-pound sophomore Abigail Patten and 185-pound MET sophomore Felicity Leisholmn had title wins.
Wrangell senior Keegan Hanson pins Mt. Edgecumbe senior Atigun Pensley in the 152-pound Division II championship match of the 2023 ASAA Region V wrestling tournament Saturday at Thunder Mountain High School. (Klas Stolpe/ For the Juneau Empire)
On the boys side MEHS had title wins from 103-pound freshman Ben Belluta unopposed, 119-pound junior Evan Andrew and 285-pound sophomore Donovan Standifer and, again, a variety of wins through the weekend. HNS 112-pound junior Hayden Jimenez, 145-pound sophomore Nolan Wald, 160-pound junior Dalton Henry, and L. Wald and Wrangell 125-pound sophomore Ben Houser, 130-pound freshman Jackson Carney, 140-pound sophomore Ian Nelson and 152-pound senior Keegan Hanson had title wins. Championships also went to SIT 135-pound senior Kai Davis, 215-pound classmate Aiden Ojala and CRG 189-pound senior Bryant Holloway who did a backflip off the medal stand during award presentations.
Haines senior Leo Wald attempts to pin Mt. Edgecumbe junior Richard Didrickson during their 171-pound championship match of the 2023 ASAA Region V wrestling tournament Saturday at Thunder Mountain High School. Leo Wald was voted the Division II Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament. (Klas Stolpe/ For the Juneau Empire)
GIRLS FINAL PLACINGS
100 pounds: 1st Sarah Nanouk-Jones, sr. MEHS; 2nd Sophia Martinsen, fr. WRG.
107: 1st Hailey Cook, fr. WRG; 2nd Dorothea Okitkun, jr. MEHS; 3rd Gabrielle Bueno, jr. KTN; 4th Miette Adams, sr. MET.
114: 1st Della Churchill, jr. WRG; 2nd Nevaeh George, jr. MEHS; 3rd Hayden Naneng, jr. MEHS; 4th Meg Thompson, so. KTN; 5th MJ Jasper, so. KTN; 6th Chloe Lane, so. HNH.
120: 1st Krista Howland, jr. HNH; 2nd Summer Boling, so. KTN; 3rd Lakell Deinhardt, sr. PSG; 4th Minh-thu Vo, so. KTN; 5th Violet Anania, fr. SISD; 6th Andrea Westdahl, fr. MEHS.
126: 1st Julia Biagi, sr. KTN; 2nd Makenna Beans, sr. MEHS; 3rd Shannon McCarty, jr. MET; 4th Nya Eby, jr. PSG
132: 1st Abigail Henson, jr. KTN; 2nd Audrey Bahnke, sr. MEHS; 3rd Sarah Bahnke, sr. MEHS; 4th Fyscher Humphrey, fr. PSG; 5th Kyah Martin, fr. HNH; 6th Mackenzie Williams, fr. MET.
138: 1st Macy Alander, jr. HYD; 2nd Isadora Oliver, sr. KTN; 3rd Maelyn Westdahl, jr. MEHS; 4th Sarah Weyhmiller, jr. KTN; 5th Liliana Wainscott, fr. SISD.
145: 1st Abigail Patten, so. CRG; 2nd Dannica Hayward, fr. MET; 3rd Riley Dock, so. MEHS; 4th Aryah Dybdahl, fr. HNH.
152:1st Mia Wiederspohn, sr. WRG; 2nd Lexi Cook, jr. MET.
165: 1st Katelynn Gillen, jr. WRG; 2nd Vanessa Johnson, jr. WRG.
185: 1st Felicity Leisholmn, so. MET.
Hoonah junior Krista Howland takes down Ketchikan sophomore Summer Boling in the 120-pound girls championship match of the 2023 ASAA Region V wrestling tournament Saturday at Thunder Mountain High School. (Klas Stolpe/ For the Juneau Empire)
DII FINAL PLACINGS
103: 1st Ben Belluta, fr. MEHS.
112: 1st Hayden Jimenez, jr. HNS; 2nd Cooper Power, fr. WRG; 3rd Brenden Moncibaiz, so. SKG; 4th – Franz Fermoyle, sr. MEHS.
119: 1st Evan Andrew, jr. MEHS; 2nd Boomchain Loucks, so. WRG; 3rd Kyan Stead, jr. WRG.
125: 1st Ben Houser, so. WRG; 2nd Elden Andrew, so. MEHS; 3rd Gerred Garrison, so. HNH; 4th Darius Nanok, fr. MEHS; 5th Sam Davis, so. SIT; 6th Bruce Roelfs, so. MET.
130: 1st Jackson Carney, fr. WRG; 2nd Evander Elixman, sr. SIT; 3rd Talen Davis, jr. KAK; 4th Nathaniel Vincler, fr. MEHS; 5th Justice Collins, fr. SISD; 6th Aulis Nelson, fr. CRG.
135: 1st Kai Davis, sr. SIT; 2nd Colton Combs, so. HNS; 3rd Aiden Andrew, fr. MEHS; 4th Dashel Huskey, so. HNH; 5th Killan Hammock, fr. SIT; 6th Lawrence Howland, fr. HNH.
140: 1st Ian Nelson, so.WRG; 2nd Radson Paul, so. MEHS; 3rd Jackson Powers, so. WRG; 4th Franklin Jimmy, fr. SIT; 5th Elijah Trujillo, fr. HNS.
145: 1st Nolan Wald, so. HNS; 2nd Torian Dull, so. MEHS; 3rd Jacob Wassily-Merlino, so. MEHS; 4th Everett Meissner, fr. WRG.
Craig senior Bryant Holloway takes down Haines sophomore James Stickler in the 189-pound Division II championship match of the 2023 ASAA Region V wrestling tournament Saturday at Thunder Mountain High School. Holloway won by technical fall 15-0. (Klas Stolpe/ For the Juneau Empire)
152: 1st Keegan Hanson, sr. WRG; 2nd Atigun Pensley, sr. MEHS; 3rd Carlos Sandoval, so. MEHS; 4th Eli Anderson, fr. PSG; 5th Michael Jones, fr. SISD; 6th George Lee, so. MEHS.
160: 1st Dalton Henry, jr. HNS; 2nd Samson Smith, jr. MEHS; 3rd Kaden Duke, jr. PSG; 4th Colton Collins, fr. SISD; 5th William Massin, so. WRG; 6th Jorge Sandoval, fr. MEHS.
171: 1st Leo Wald, sr. HNS; 2nd Richard Didrickson, jr. MEHS; 3rd Jonas Anderson, sr. PSG; 4th Kolby Clark-Pruitt, so. MEHS; 5th Porter Hudson, fr. MET.
189: 1st Bryant Holloway, sr. CRG; 2nd James Stickler, so. HNS; 3rd Paaraq Nelson, sr. MEHS; 4th Vance Milligrock, fr. MET; 5th Arthur Frank, CRG; 6th Kelly Michielssen, so. MET.
215: 1st Aiden Ojala, sr. SIT; 2nd Jackson Long, sr. HNS; 3rd Silas Ferguson, jr. SIT; 4th Angus Olsen, jr. PSG; 5th Cody Barnes, so. WRG; 6th Josiah Bergtold, fr. MET.
285: 1st Donovan Standifer, so. MEHS; 2nd Dylan Petersen, jr. SIT; 3rd Aiden Clark, jr. KAK; 4th Tristan Ross-Shaquanie, sr. KAK; 5th Maika Olap, so. HYD.
