The Rewind: Wolverines stay hot, UAA women’s basketball makes history and Dimond’s Cayden Pili earns player of the year award

Welcome to The Rewind, a weekly digest that puts a spotlight on the biggest stories and best performances from Alaska’s world of sports.

This past week featured several notable individual and team performances across the Alaska sports landscape at the high school, collegiate and professional levels. One of the brightest stars from the 2024 high school season was honored while the top seniors from around the state strapped on their pads one last time. On the college scene, the University of Alaska Anchorage basketball programs had polar opposites results including a historically hot start by the women’s team in a two-game series sweep. Outside the state, several Alaskans had impressive performances and career achievements worth recognizing and celebrating.

Headlines and highlights

After leading the Dimond High football team to the program’s first state championship and undefeated season in 23 years, junior star quarterback Cayden Pili was named MaxPreps Player of the Year for Alaska last week. The Lynx legacy compiled 2,694 yards of total offense last season in 11 games with 1,744 coming through the air with his arm and 950 coming on the ground to go along with 40 total touchdowns.

Pili’s 22 rushing touchdowns were the second-most in the state behind Lathrop running back Oschaun Easaw and in the playoffs alone, he racked up more than 700 yards of total offense and had a part in scoring 11 touchdowns, including what went on to be the game-winner in a low-scoring state title game to dethrone defending champion West.

“Cayden has had a fantastic year leading us to an undefeated, state championship-winning season,” Dimond head coach Brian Yim said. “He did an amazing job on and off the field as a leader. Cayden led from the front and did whatever we asked him as a coaching staff. Not only did he start on the offensive side but he made our defense significantly better as we allowed him to play more. Cayden never looked to pass blame on to others and would instead encourage his teammates to recover and keep working. On the field, Cayden was the best athlete at all times. His ability to read, cut, and explode is insane. He is very deserving of the accolades and recognition.”

While the 2024 high school football season came to a close last weekend with Pili leading his team to the ultimate glory, the top seniors from around the state at every level including 9-man were in town for the annual Shriners’ Alaska all-star game Saturday. In what was a thrilling back-and-forth battle, the Red Freedom Team narrowly prevailed over the Blue Liberty Team 30-28 thanks to a fourth-quarter interception return for a touchdown by West High ball-hawking safety Dylan Sanders.

Other standouts included East High star wide receiver Brandon Young scoring a pair of touchdowns for the Red Team and while the Blue Team didn’t finish on top, Soldotna two-way star Wyatt Faircloth still earned MVP honors after scoring a pair of rushing touchdowns on offense and logging a pair of sacks on defense.

The 2024 high school swimming postseason got underway last weekend around the state with regional action. Here in town at Bartlett High, the Eagle River girls and defending state champion Service boys teams claimed titles and are confident heading into this weekend’s state meet.

“We’re really positive about how state is going to turn out,” Service’s Tomasz Balaban said. “In the beginning, it was a bit of a struggle. But I think over the season, we’ve like come together and worked as a team. So we’re really optimistic about going into state. We think we can do really well.”

[Eagle River girls, Service boys take Region IV swimming and diving titles]

On the college scene, women’s teams for the UAA and UAF programs found different degrees of success over this past week.

The UAA women’s basketball team opened its 2024-25 campaign with a sweep of Simpson University in a two-game home series in which career highs were set and program history was made in lopsided victories. King Cove’s Elaina Mack recorded single-game career-high point totals in back-to-back games with 20 in the first and a team-leading 27 in the second. Senior Emilia Long led the team with 21 points and broke the program’s single-game record with 11 steals in the first game on her way to earning GNAC Player of the Week honors for the first time.

“Millie has shown so much improvement in her short time with our program,” UAA head coach Ryan McCarthy said in a statement. “This is the first preseason she has had to focus on basketball, and it has really paid off. She made a lot of plays on both ends of the floor, but her defensive effort set the tone for our team and helped us to a strong start to our year.”

The men’s team wasn’t nearly as successful in Billings, Montana, where the Seawolves went 0-3 at the Division II Tip-Off Classic, dropping the first two games on Friday and Saturday by double figures and coming up just short in a 73-72 defeat to the University of Mary Marauders on Sunday. Junior guard Tyler Burraston led the team in scoring with 29 combined points that included a pair of double-digit scoring outings and a double-double in Sunday’s narrow loss with 13 points and a team-leading 10 rebounds.

Both the UAA and UAF volleyball teams won home games against Seattle Pacific and Montana State Billings last week to extend win streaks. The Seawolves swept both GNAC opponents in three straight sets and were led in kills by junior outside hitter Tia Allen with 17 combined over the weekend. The Nanooks have won five straight after sweeping the Yellowjackets in three straight sets onThursday and going the distance with the Falcons on Saturday. They were led in kills by senior outside hitter Karli Nielson with 29 combined.

The UAF hockey team was on the road last weekend and while the Nanooks didn’t pull off a sweep in their two-game series with the Clarkson University Knights, they didn’t experience the bitter taste of defeat either. UAF won the first game 3-1 and tied 3-3 in the second. Junior forward Kyle Gaffney led the team in goals by scoring one in each game.

The UAF women’s swimming team won both meets against Fresno Pacific University in lopsided fashion, winning 145-59 on Friday and 147-57 on Saturday.

The Anchorage Wolverines played the second series of a 10-game homestand with a pair of games against the Chippewa Steel over the weekend and pulled off another sweep to increase their win streak to five. Following a sluggish start to the first game Friday, the Wolverines dug themselves out of a 4-2 hole with a pair of third-period goals to force overtime. Neither team scored in the extended period, but Anchorage team captain Jackson Stimple delivered the game-winning goal to seal a shootout victory.

“What I like about this group, and I think it bled over from last year just with the returners that we have, is that it’s a resilient group,” Wolverines head coach Nick Walters said. “There is no quit, so even when you’re down 4-2, they know they’re going to compete until the end buzzer.”

[Resilient Wolverines rally in 3rd period to force overtime and beat Chippewa Steel in shootout]

Game 2 on Saturday was much less dramatic and despite being tied through the first two periods, the Wolverines pulled away in the third with a trio of goals to win 4-1. Forward Taisetsu Ushio led the team with three goals over the weekend.

Alaska stars shining Outside

Anchorage’s Jeremy Swayman rebounded from allowing six goals in his last time in net for the Boston Bruins to produce his first shutout of the season by making 23 saves in a 3-0 home victory over the Seattle Kraken this past Sunday. With the win, the former South High standout improved his record to 3-4-1 with a 3.58 goals-against average and .884 save percentage.

“The guys in front of me did a great job clogging the middle and letting me see the first shot,” Swayman said. “I thought it was a really good team win.”

Fairbanks’ Ruthy Hebard recorded a double-double in a EuroCup game to help power Gdynia of Poland to an 87-71 victory over Alba of Berlin on Wednesday. The former West Valley star and first-round selection of the Chicago Sky of the WNBA led her team in scoring and rebounds with 26 points and 17 boards.

A pair of former Cook Inlet Conference defenders played on the same NFL field Sunday as Anchorage’s Brandon Pili and Edefuan Ulofoshio were both active and saw action. Pili is a second-year defensive tackle for the Miami Dolphins, formerly of Dimond, and played 10 snaps on defense and one on special teams. After being a healthy scratch for the first eight weeks of the season Ulofoshio, a rookie linebacker formerly of South, made his regular season debut and played eight snaps on special teams. The Bills defeated their AFC East rival Dolphins for the sixth-straight time on a franchise-record 61-yard field goal from kicker Tyler Bass to secure a 30-27 victory and all but wrap up the division crown with half the season left to play.

Anchorage defensive linemen Georgie and Georgia Mageo helped lead the Valley City State football team to a 10-6 victory in a low-scoring defensive battle with Mayville State University on Saturday. The two former East Thunderbirds-turned-Vikings combined for 13 total tackles, including two for a loss and three solos and 1.5 sacks.

Anchorage’s Jayden Heartwell of South High fame led the Dickinson State University football team with a single-game season-high eight total tackles, all of which were solos, in the Blue Hawks’ 35-30 win over Jamestown this past Saturday.

Anchorage’s Brooke Dexter produced the seventh double-double of her stellar senior season to help the Simon Fraser University volleyball team extend its winning streak to nine in a four-set victory over Western Oregon University this past Saturday. The former West High standout led the Red Leafs with 18.5 total points, tied for the lead in kills with 15 and finished fourth on the team in digs with 11, earning her GNAC Offensive Player of the Week honors for volleyball for the second time this season and the sixth time in her career.

“We’ve talked a lot this fall about the importance of consistency and Brooke has demonstrated that all season long,” Simon Fraser head coach Gina Schmidt said in a statement. “She obviously plays a big role in our offense, but she also makes key contributions serving, blocking and defending as well.”

Girdwood’s Ava Earl shaved 32 seconds off her personal-best to come in 14th at the Big Ten Cross Country Championships on Friday. The senior representing Alaska and the Northwestern University women’s team covered the 6-kilometer course in 19 minutes, 42 seconds.

Anchorage’s Tatum Porter recorded the lone score in the University of Hawaii women’s soccer team’s 1-0 win over Long Beach State on Thursday. It marked the fourth goal of the season for the former Dimond star and Gatorade Player of the Year and her first since Oct. 3.

Anchorage’s Marisol Vargas stopped four shots as the starting goalkeeper for the University of St. Mary (Kansas) women’s soccer team in the Spires’ 1-0 victory over McPherson on Oct. 28. Her sister Frida Vargas recorded her fourth goal of the season and second in the last three games for the Southern Oregon University women’s soccer team in a 3-0 victory over Evergreen on Saturday.

Fast Forward

Prep

Swimming

ASAA state championships at Bartlett High School, Friday and Saturday

The high school season ends this week here in town with the state meet starting with prelims on Friday and finals on Saturday.

Volleyball

Region IV tournament at Service High School

The high school postseason gets underway across the state with regional action with the state meet just a week away. Here in town the top teams in the Cook Inlet Conference will duke it out for supremacy on the Cougars’ home court starting Wednesday and running until Saturday when the finals will be contested.

Hockey

West v. South at Ben Boeke, Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.

These two CIC rivals square off for the first time this season as the Wolverines play the state champion Eagles. West beat South three out of four times last season.

NAHL

Minnesota Wilderness at Anchorage Wolverines, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

The Wolverines will continue their homestand at Sullivan Arena with a three-game weekend series against their Midwest Division foes.

Last week’s results

High School

RIFLERY

Friday

Dimond 7, East 0

Dimond 3061, East 2883

A-team

Dimond (1,088) Elsberry 274, Collins 273, Delmendo 273, Snyder 268

East (1,074) Iris 277, Woolley 268, Amel 265, Simeonoff 264

B-team

Dimond (1,056) Humphries 270, Larson 257, Kawashing 262, Coorad 257

East (996) Vang 253, Sabado 254, Yim 246, Tobin 243

C-team

Dimond (997) Kalaski 260, Seitz 253, Taylor 246, Butryn 238

East (813) Barrios 238, Micheal 202, Deitz 206, Crockett 167

Service 7, West 0

• • •

WRESTLING

Tuesday

Service 41, Eagle River 24 (girls)

Eagle River 65, Service 12 (boys)

Wednesday

West Valley 75, North Pole 30 (boys)

Chugiak 48, West 6 (girls)

Chugiak 48, West 27 (boys)

East 43, Bartlett 30 (boys)

South 84, Dimond 12 (boys)

Thursday

Soldotna 23, East 6 (boys/girls)

• • •

VOLLEYBALL

Tuesday

Nikiski 3, Soldotna 2

Wasilla 3, Colony 0

Dimond 3, Bartlett 0

Service 3, West 0

Wednesday

Colony 3, Juneau-Douglas 0

Thursday

Redington 3, Houston 1

Wasilla 3, East 1

South 3, Chugiak 1

Friday

Nikiski 3, Homer 0

Wasilla 3, Palmer 0

• • •

FOOTBALL

Saturday

Al-Aska Shriners Classic

Red 30, Blue 28

2024 Division II and Railbelt All-Conference Awards

Offensive Player of the Year: Oschaun Easaw, Lathrop

Defensive Player of the Year: Wyatt Faircloth, Soldotna

Dynamic Player of the Year: Andon Wolverton, Soldotna

Lineman of the Year: Kenai Lepule, Soldotna

Head Coach of the Year: Michael Hollett, North Pole

Assistant Coach of the Year: Claudious Jones, Lathrop

• • •

HOCKEY

Thursday

Colony 4, Soldotna 3

Monroe Catholic 12, Homer 1

Palmer 8, Kenai Central 3

North Pole 7, Dimond 4

Friday

Soldotna 8, Palmer 5

West Valley 8, Dimond 1

Kenai Central 6, Colony 2

North Pole 13, Homer 1

Chugiak 2, Eagle River 1

Saturday

West Valley 6, Dimond 2

Palmer 5, Colony 1

Soldotna 4, Kenai Central 0

Wasilla 2, South 1

• • •

SWIMMING

2024 Cook Inlet Conference Championship

Women - Team Rankings

1. Eagle River, 488; 2. South, 398; 3. Service, 325; 4. Dimond, 254

Men - Team Rankings

1. Service, 412; 2. Dimond, 404; 3. Eagle River, 360; 4. Chugiak, 229

Girls 200 Yard Medley Relay

1. Eagle River (Lola Woodward, Bryn Baldwin, Reese Woodward, Keira Gust), 1:48.93; 2. Service, 1:55.32; 3. South, 1:56.60; 4. Dimond, 1:56.71

Boys 200 Yard Medley Relay

1. Eagle River (Wes Mank, Eli Rumph, Nate Shockley, Matthew Baker), 1:35.33; 2. Service,1:39.60; 3. Dimond, 1:40.69; 4. Chugiak, 1:46.19

Girls 200 Yard Freestyle

1. Lelaina Trembath, Eagle River, 1:57.24; 2. Sophia Trembath, Eagle River, 1:57.58; 3. Caitlyn Rumph, Eagle River, 2:01.13; 4. Alexa Kotter, South, 2:02.82

Boys 200 Yard Freestyle

1. Blake Fazio, Chugiak, 1:45.24; 2. Nate Shockley, Eagle River, 1:47.71; 3. Caeden Kullander, Dimond, 1:49.57; 4. Dax O’Brien, Dimond, 1:52.08

Girls 200 Yard IM

1. Reese Woodward, Eagle River, 2:10.03; 2. Keira Gust, Eagle River, 2:13.27; 3. Zoe Fencil, South, 2:14.29; 4. Zaylee Mullinax, Dimond, 2:17.70

Boys 200 Yard IM

1. Wes Mank, Eagle River, 1:55.11; 2. Ben Price, Service, 1:57.42; 3. Eli Rumph, Eagle River, 2:05.25; 4. Roman Fosberg, Dimond, 2:06.95

Girls 50 Yard Freestyle

1. Charlotte Griffith, South, 24.94; 2. Natalie Hostetter, Service, 25.34; 3. Varya Bodrova, Dimond, 25.76; 4. Lilly Anderson, Service, 26.07

Boys 50 Yard Freestyle

1. Tomasz Balaban, Service, 21.33; 2. Clint Kopp, Dimond, 21.85; 3. Matthew Baker, Eagle River, 22.13; 4. Creed Cvancara, Dimond, 23.18

Girls 1 mtr Diving

1. Emma Marsh, South, 431.25; 2. Kensley Denmon, Service, 405.90; 3. Iona Snyder, West, 347.85; 4. Sophia Sidgman, Eagle River, 326.10

Boys 1 mtr Diving

1. Roman Billings, Dimond, 437.15; 2. Reubin Williams, Service, 338.35

Girls 100 Yard Butterfly

1. Reese Woodward, Eagle River, 57.45; 2. Zaylee Mullinax, Dimond, 1:00.87; 3. Kalea Davis, Chugiak, 1:01.85; 4. Catherine Heaphy, Eagle River, 1:05.11

Boys 100 Yard Butterfly

1. Tomasz Balaban, Service, 51.07; 2. Clint Kopp, Dimond, 52.25; 3. Andy Zhang, Dimond, 55.45; 4. Paradorn Connolly, Service, 57.33

Girls 100 Yard Freestyle

1. Lola Woodward, Eagle River, 53.67; 2. Sophia Trembath, Eagle River, 54.37; 3. Molly Wirschem, East, 54.94; 4. Charlotte Griffith, South, 55.13

Boys 100 Yard Freestyle:

1. Ben Price, Service, 46.54; 2. Tyson Morgan, Chugiak HS, 47.67; 3. Matthew Baker, Eagle River, 49.24; 4. Caeden Kullander, Dimond, 49.55.

Girls 500 Yard Freestyle

1. Lelaina Trembath, Eagle River, 5:17.39; 2. Caitlyn Rumph, Eagle River, 5:29.67; 3. Zoe Zipsir, South, 5:31.35; 4. Alexa Kotter, South, 5:38.24.

Boys 500 Yard Freestyle

1. Jan Beck, Service, 4:49.60; 2. Nate Shockley, Eagle River, 4:55.64; 3. Blake Fazio, Chugiak, 4:57.54; 4. Amadrion Reynier-Wilson, Eagle River, 5:05.84

Girls 200 Yard Freestyle Relay

1. Eagle River (Reese Woodward, Sophia Trembath, Lelaina Trembath, Lola Woodward), 1:39.46; 2. South, 1:43.07; 3. Dimond, 1:44.12; 4. Service, 1:44.20

Boys 200 Yard Freestyle Relay:

1. Eagle River (Matthew Baker, Eli Rumph, Nate Shockley, Wes Mank), 1:27.99; 2. Dimond, 1:29.79; 3. Service, 1:32.11; 4. West, 1:37.94.

Girls 100 Yard Backstroke

1. Keira Gust, Eagle River, 57.25; 2. Lola Woodward, Eagle River, 57.64; 3. Zoe Fencil, South, 59.96; 4. Payton Curtis, West, 1:04.06

Boys 100 Yard Backstroke

1. Wes Mank, Eagle River, 49.50; 2. Tyson Morgan, Chugiak, 52.46; 3. Dominic Brunelle, Dimond, 58.44; 4. Amadrion Reynier-Wilson, Eagle River, 58.98

Girls 100 Yard Breaststroke

1. Anna Brooks, Service, 1:08.37; 2. Bryn Baldwin, Eagle River, 1:11.20; 3. Stella Baldessari, South, 1:11.22; 4. Kalea Davis, Chugiak, 1:11.28

Boys 100 Yard Breaststroke

1. Eli Rumph, Eagle River, 57.98; 2. Jan Beck, Service, 58.62; 3. Roman Fosberg, Dimond,1:00.19; 4. Sigge Mellerstig, West, 1:04.93

Girls 400 Yard Freestyle Relay

1. Eagle River(Lelaina Trembath, Sophia Trembath, Keira Gust, Caitlyn Rumph), 3:39.75; 2. South, 3:48.18; 3. Chugiak, 4:15.81; 4. Service, 4:18.28.

Boys 400 Yard Freestyle Relay

1. Service (Tomasz Balaban, Braeden Schoppert, Jan Beck, Ben Price), 3:19.95; 2. Dimond, 3:21.62; 3. Chugiak, 3:28.02; 4. West, 3:36.21.

• • •

College

VOLLEYBALL

Thursday

UAF 3, Montana State Billings 0 (25-22, 25-17, 25-21)

UAA 3, Seattle Pacific 0 (25-19, 25-20, 26-24)

Saturday

UAF 3, Seattle Pacific 2 (25-23, 23-25, 25-21, 19-25, 15-11)

UAA 3, Montana State Billings 0 (25-17, 25-9, 25-20)

Men’s Basketball

Friday

St. Edward’s 80, UAA 73

Saturday

Texas A&M International 65, UAA 51

Sunday

University of Mary 73, UAA 72

• • •

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Friday

UAA 103, Simpson 24

Saturday

UAA 94, Simpson 29

• • •

HOCKEY

Friday

UAF 3, Clarkson University 1

Saturday

UAF 3, Clarkson University 3 (2 OT)

Swimming

Friday

UAF 145, Fresno Pacific 59

Saturday

UAF 147, Fresno Pacific 57

• • •

NAHL

Friday

Anchorage Wolverines 5, Chippewa Steel 4 (OT/SO)

Saturday

Anchorage Wolverines 4, Chippewa Steel 1