By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
Local wrestlers geared up to represent their schools for the last time this year at the state championship meet, Friday and Saturday in Anchorage. The Mt. Edgecumbe Braves earned eighth place and the Sitka Wolves were right behind in tenth out of 49 teams. The Lady Braves took 15th in the girls’ competition, with 55 teams present.
Though she was initially nervous at her first state championship, Mt. Edgecumbe freshman Tahira Akaran was happy with her performance. Despite her inexperience, she overcame a number of opponents and took fifth place in the 120-pound bracket. While Akaran previously lost to Glennallen’s Brejanay Stone, in Anchorage Akaran turned the tables and won by fall over Stone.
“I have one girl that I lost to throughout the season, and I was really proud of myself for that… I did some moves that I didn’t think that I could do on her – and it worked. And so it tired her out a lot,” Akaran said over the phone Monday.
“I was pretty nervous at first, but then when I got into the match I just cleared my head and went after it… I was really nervous because it was state, my first year ever! So I was pretty excited too. It just was amazing overall.”
She plans to return to the Lady Braves’ team in 2023.
“I think I will do it next year too. I really liked it this year,” she said. “And there were a lot of challenges that I have overcome… The hardest part about learning wrestling is probably the moves and competing and just having to keep going.”
One of Edgecumbe’s more experienced wrestlers, senior Isabella Kness, fought her way through much of the 165-pound bracket, but couldn’t quite make it onto the podium. Regardless, she was glad for the chance to compete.
“My top moment would probably have to be winning at least a few matches and not just automatically getting bumped off,” Kness said. “I tried to fight my way to the top as much as possible and I almost got there. If I would have won that last match I would have gotten on the podium, but I lost that last match.”
In the first round, Kness lost to Dillingham’s Kiley Clouse, who eventually won the state title in that weight class. But Kness turned things around and won her next two matches. Her final test was a rematch against Vanessa Johnson of Wrangell.
“I was going against the same girl that I wrestled for the final event in regionals, a girl from Wrangell. And at regionals I got pinned, but this time I fought through all three matches and she won by three points. But it was pretty much tied until close to the end,” Kness said.
Kness is new to the 165-pound weight class, having dropped down earlier this season.
“The girls in my weight class, I think, are really, really good. Because a lot of them are really strong, and then they’re also kind of speedy. So it’s like a two-in-one and it’s pretty competitive.”
While she faced an uphill fight up north, Kness emphasized her work on endurance and her willingness to stay in a match to the end.
“I try my hardest not to get pinned, even if I think in my head that there’s a possibility that I might not win,” said Kness. “I try to last all three rounds so that my team can score more points at the end of the tournament and so that I just won’t get pinned right away. I can at least try my hardest… They win by points instead of me just rolling over on my back and accepting defeat.”
With her time as a high school wrestler concluded, Kness described mixed emotions.
“Part of me is a bit relieved because it’s a very difficult sport. But at the same time I do really, really, really enjoy wrestling,” she said. “It’s a difficult sport to do and there’s times where it’s really hard to want to do anything, but I liked it. The sport overall was pretty fun to do, to actually go to tournaments and everything so I’m going to miss actually being able to wrestle.”
In team scores, Lathrop High won the state title in Division II, followed by North Pole and Soldotna. The Wrangell Wolves were the top team from Southeast, finishing half a point ahead of Mt. Edgecumbe, and tied for 13th place in the tournament.
MEHS’ Sarah Nanouk-Jones won the 100-pound weight class by bye and her teammate Nevaeh George took second at 107 pounds. Hayden Naneng earned fourth place in the 114-pound weight class, and Dana Roberts wrestled alongside Akaran and took fourth at 120. Halena Slats won second place at 126 pounds. McKayla Kazinguk won the state title at 132 pounds, followed by her teammate Sarah Bahnke in second place. In the 138-pound weight class, Angela Ayuluk won the championship, and Maelyn Westdahl took second. At 145 pounds Keisha Askoak earned second place, and at 185 pounds Taylor Bloomstrand also took second. Sitka High did not field any female wrestlers this year.
On the boys’ side of the mat, Redington High claimed the title by a wide margin, with Kenai and Bethel following in second and third respectively. The Petersburg Vikings were the top Southeast team, coming in fourth.
Wrestling in the 189-pound weight class, Sitka High junior Aiden Ojala took third place by defeating Craig’s Bryant Holloway.
“I definitely worked hard for it, and I beat the guy that’s been beating me all year for third place and it felt really good,” Ojala said on Monday.
He recalled the decisive match in vivid detail.
“We started off pretty even and they got to top and bottom and I got a reversal… I got the underhook and flipped him on his back and had kind of a Saturday-night-ride while I hooked his leg and held him to try to put him to his back,” said Ojala. “I’ve been practicing that a lot and it helped.”
Last year Ojala finished seventh in the state tournament; this year he set the bar higher.
“My goal was to get on the podium this year and I definitely beat my goal… It felt really good.”
He gave credit to coaches Mike Callahan and Kurt Bartlett, and the staff at the Baranof Bruins wrestling club where he also practices.
Sitka senior Jason Young took second place in the 160-pound bracket, losing only to Wrangell’s Randy Churchill.
“Definitely a lot of better wrestlers up there. There’s more of them. More competition. A lot more fun… It’s a pretty crowded bracket, there’s a lot of talent in there. Definitely will be a good bracket next year for sure,” Young said.
While he said the second place finish left him “very disappointed,” the loss in his final high school wrestling match didn’t undo the other highlights of the season.
“The team trips (were) definitely huge fun. Especially some of our younger wrestlers who are pretty funny. I’m excited for them to come back next year and kick some butt,” Young said.
He expressed appreciation for his coaches and the support of SEARHC trainer Carolyn Black. While Ojala qualified for the state competition outright at the Region V meet, Young earned his state spot through a wild card, or at-large, bid thanks to his high performing track record.
Another at-large Sitka wrestler who outperformed expectations was sophomore Silas Ferguson.
“Stuff actually went better than I thought,” Ferguson said. “The 171(-pound) weight class was dominated mostly by seniors and juniors, and it was me and another sophomore in that weight class. And he got fifth place and I got sixth place, so we did really well.”
That other sophomore was Edgecumbe’s RJ Didrickson.
Ferguson went into the championship without an expectation of earning a spot on the podium, but nonetheless wrestled for all he was worth.
“Just going into a match and deciding I’m going to wrestle to my fullest ability – no matter if I kind of know or it’s kind of obvious to bystanders how this match is going to go,” said Ferguson. “Because you’ll see two kids walk up to a table before they wrestle and just sometimes, you know, ‘Oh, that kid’s definitely going to win.’ And even if it was like that for my matches, I still just went out there, just to wrestle.”
He added, “It was a welcome surprise that I got to go to state and even more for how well I did.”
Also wrestling for Sitka High, Evander Elixman took fourth place in the 135-pound bracket.
Representing the Mt. Edgecumbe Braves, Elston Dock took fifth place at 135 pounds, while Oscar Mangrobang earned sixth in the 135-pound weight class. Torian Dull snagged fourth at 145 pounds.
Sitka’s and Edgecumbe’s wrestlers competed in the Division II tournament with smaller schools. In the Division I bracket, South Anchorage won the state title, followed by Soldotna and Lathrop high schools. Representing Southeast, Thunder Mountain took 13th place, with Ketchikan High in 14th out of 19 teams.
