The Mt. Edgecumbe Braves fared well at a regional wrestling tournament held in Metlakatla Saturday.
Five Mt. Edgecumbe wrestlers qualified for the tournament finals, with three Braves winning their respective weight classes.
Terry Rogers led the Braves with a victory at 152 pounds, while Stefan Weingarth (171) and Jaylin Prince (215) each added wins for Mt. Edgecumbe.
Prince beat Patrick Quigley, a tough Craig wrestler who was fourth in the state at 215 last year.
The double elimination tournament was held Saturday at Metlakatla High.
Mt. Edgecumbe arrived in Metlakatla Thursday and wrestled four dual matches before the tournament got underway Saturday morning. The Braves beat Petersburg and Ketchikan Friday, with the wins coming on the heels of victories over Wrangell and Metlakatla the night before.
The results from the weekend seem to indicate that Sitka High, Mt. Edgecumbe and Craig are the teams to beat in the 3A Southeast conference.
Sitka High and Craig each had six wrestlers in the finals Saturday, while Edgecumbe had five.
Craig does not have the depth enjoyed by the Wolves or Braves, but their top six wrestlers could all place at state.
SHS coach John Hedden said according to his unofficial calculations, Craig, Edgecumbe and Sitka were probably separated by only about five points at the tournament Saturday. Haines, Hoonah and Skagway were not there, but the local teams got a look at their first look at Wrangell and Petersburg.
The Vikings won the 3A state title in 2008, but have apparently been hurt by graduation, perhaps opening up the 2009 Region V title chase to Craig, Sitka and Mt. Edgecumbe.
Mt. Edgecumbe coach Mike Kimber said Sitka was the team to beat in the Region. The Braves beat the Wolves in an exciting dual last week, coming back to take a 33-30 victory.
Kimber said his team had a ``pretty good'' weekend in Metlakatla but that he wanted to make sure they didn't ``peak too soon.''
Edgecumbe and Sitka are expected to face off again Oct. 29, at B.J. McGillis Gymnasium. They are also scheduled to meet twice in November.
In Saturday's tournament, Edgecumbe put five wrestlers in the finals.
--At 103, Villanueva lost in the final to Tanner Thain of Craig. Thain, a freshman, has established himself as the top 103-pounder in the region so far this year.
--At 119, Daniel Villasenor was third and David Olin was fourth for the Braves
--At 130, Jordan Johnson took fourth.
--At 140, Henry Horner ended up in third place.
--Zach Ivanoff was beaten in the 145-pound final and took second place.
--Terry Rogers took the 152-pound title, beating Dylan Castle of Craig.
--At 160, Levi Kvasnikoff ended up in third place.
--Weingarth won for Mt. Edgecumbe at 171 pounds.
--Donovan Phillip wrestled at 189 for the Braves but did not place.
--Prince won at 215 for Mt. Edgecumbe, downing Quigley of Craig 7-3 in the finals in a match Kimber said ``could have gone either way.''
--In the junior varsity bracket, Luki Akelkok won at 152 pounds.
After returning from the Juneau JIVE tournament, the Mt. Edgecumbe Lady Braves volleyball team didn't miss a beat, sweeping Metlakatla in an unusual doubleheader at B.J. McGillis Gymnasium Oct. 12.
The Miss Chiefs, in town for a small-school tournament at Sitka High, asked Mt. Edgecumbe officials if they could stay in town an extra day and play two matches with Mt. Edgecumbe that were scheduled for later in the month.
Mt. Edgecumbe obliged and the Lady Braves made quick work of Metlakatla to improve to 9-0 on the season. The Lady Braves have now won 42 straight conference matches against 3A teams from Southeast, Alaska., a streak that dates back to the beginning of the 2007 season.
Coach Rich Calkins said doubleheaders are not typical in volleyball, but he was confident that his deep roster could handle the workload.
The Lady Braves won the first match 25-10, 25-7 and 25-4. After a short break the Lady Braves returned to the court and won again in a three-game sweep: 25-6, 25-8 and 25-4.
``I was pleased that the girls stayed focused and worked on some things that we asked them to,'' Calkins said, adding that he had challenged his team to ``not just play, but play to get better.''
After the pair of matches at Metlakatla, Mt. Edgecumbe had three conference matches remaining in 2009. The Lady Braves were scheduled to play Sitka Oct. 21 at SHS, and the Lady Vikings of Petersburg are scheduled to visit Mt. Edgecumbe Oct. 30-31 for a pair of matches.
The Region V tournament will be hosted by Mt. Edgecumbe Nov. 5-7.