Return To Sports |
Return to Home |
The Mt. Edgecumbe Braves won the 3A Region V wrestling tournament Saturday, using their depth to outlast a competitive field and finish ahead of second-place Sitka High.
It was the Braves' first Region V title since 2004, and the second in the 10-year coaching career of Edgecumbe graduate Mike Kimber.
Kimber said it was the first time in school history that the Braves had won a Region V title on the road.
"That was a knock,'' Kimber said today. "These kids went out there and proved them wrong.''
The win will cost Kimber his goatee, which he has had for more than 20 years. He had promised to let the wrestlers shave his face if they won a Region V title, and the Braves performance forced Kimber to pay the piper.
"I'm not sure if I'm ready for that,'' Kimber said. "I don't think I'll be making any more promises like that.''
The Braves had three individual champions and tallied 189 points for the victory. Sitka had two champions and scored 170.5 points to narrowly edge Craig (168.5) for second place. The Panthers took the bronze and host Petersburg was fourth with 144 points.
Kimber said it was nice to beat Petersburg and Hall of Fame coach Rob Schwartz in the Vikings' home gym.
Petersburg won the 2008 Region V and state titles and is a perennial power in Southeast.
When Kimber led the 2004 Braves to a Southeast title, Schwartz was taking a sabbatical.
A total of 11 from Mt. Edgecumbe qualified for the state tournament, which opens Friday at Anchorage's Bartlett High.
Heading into the 2009 Region V tournament, the battle for the 3A crown was too close to call. Sitka and Mt. Edgecumbe appeared to be the favorites early in the season, but late surges by Craig and Petersburg seemed to unsettle the field.
When all was said and done, it came down to the two local teams, and Edgecumbe, with more than 30 wrestlers entered in the tournament, got the better of the action.
"We told them go out there and wrestle better than they had all season,'' Kimber said of the Edgecumbe coaching staff's pre-tournament advice to the team. "The kids took that heart.''
There are 14 weight classes in high school wrestling. At the Region V tournament, Craig had five champions, and Sitka and Edgecumbe combined for another five. The remaining four titles were split by Petersburg and Hoonah.
Mt. Edgecumbe's Terry Rogers, a three-time state placer, won at 145 pounds to claim his first regional title. Rogers, a senior, has been one of the best wrestlers in Southeast for four years, but it was not until Saturday that he won a Region V title.
Rogers captured a 7-2 victory over Hoonah's Cody Anderson and will likely enter the state tournament seeded second, behind Reed Tennyson of Dillingham.
Tennyson handed Rogers his only loss of the season at the ACS tournament.
Jaylin Prince will also head to state as a top seed after beating Michael Berkley of Metlakatla 6-5 in the 285-pound final Saturday.
Entering the tournament, akmat.org had Berkley as the state's top ranked 3A heavyweight.
Prince spent most of the season at 215, but bumped up to 285 recently and could make noise at the state tournament.
Stefan Weingarth also won for MEHS Saturday, holding on for a 5-4 win over Metlakatla's Michael Vera in the finals. Weingarth led the match 5-1, but was thrown to his back with 20 seconds to go and narrowly escaped with an individual title.
Mt. Edgecumbe had two second-place finishers: Fritz Guy (103) and Ian Sia (135).
Guy lost to Tanner Thain of Craig in the final, while James Valentine of Petersburg got the best of Sia. The Braves rounded out their scoring with a handful of fourth-place finishers, each of whom advanced to state: David Olin (119), Zach Ivanoff (152), Levi Kvasnikoff (160) and Adam Iyanpana (189).
In the 3A Southeast tournament, the top four wrestlers in each weight class earned a spot at the state tournament.
After losing to Sitka High's Alex Kernin at 140, Henry Horner battled back to take fourth and survived to wrestle another week.
At 119, Edgecumbe's Daniel Villasenor lost in the semifinals. Despite the loss, Villasenor was solid in the consolation bracket and scored key points for the Braves on his way to a third-place finish, Kimber said.
Mt. Edgecumbe will wrestle at 1-2-3A state tournament in Anchorage Dec. 11-12.