After 17 years, Malemute wrestlers are back as champs

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Marcus Riedlinger, of Colony High, defeated Jacob Spencer, of Lathrop High, at 113lbs. in the Division I Alaska state wrestling championship match at the Alaska Airlines Center at UAA on Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2017. In Anchorage, Alaska. (Bob Hallinen / ADN)

After winning the 145-pound state wrestling title with a series of clutch reversals Saturday, Lathrop's Westley Bockert said that if the Malemutes could win the team title, the victory would be for his dad and coach, also named Westley Bockert, who took over the program in 2005.

Like Bockert's narrow 11-10 win over South's Spencer Martin, the Malemutes held on for a two-point team victory over defending champion Colony, 320-318. South placed third with 264 points.

It was Lathrop's first state title since the 2000-01 school year and the first for a Fairbanks team since a Bockert-coached West Valley team won in 2002-03.

"We just did this for my dad," the younger Bockert said. "He never won a state championship at Lathrop, but he won one at West Valley. I'm just very grateful … to give it to my dad."

Lathrop put seven wrestlers in the championship finals at the Alaska Airlines Center and came away with two winners. One was Bockert, who repeated as the 145-pound champ. The other was a freshman who wasn't even expected to be on the team when the season started.

Kobe Ames won the 132-pound title just four months after moving to Fairbanks from Elko, Nevada. What was supposed to be a quick summer trip to visit his sister turned into his new home when his dad told Ames he could stay the day before he was due to leave.

"I'm just so thankful that I moved up here and thankful for my coaches and my wrestling partners," Ames said. "I liked how everyone was very welcoming to me."

Saturday started out rough for Ames when he showed up for weigh-ins without his singlet and had to borrow one from a teammate.

But by the time his championship match rolled around, he was ready to go, thanks to a solid warm-up with practice partner Riley Rust of Monroe Catholic — who also won a state title – and some music by Michael Jackson.

"One more shoutout goes to Michael Jackson," Ames said with a laugh. "I listen to his music before every match."

Ames used a quick start and three near falls to dispatch Ketchikan's Brayden Linne 14-3 in the 132-pound championship.

Colony earned four individual titles. Marcus Riedlinger won at 113 pounds with a last-second takedown, Rush Fannon won his second straight state title and his first at 126 pounds, Eric Christy  triumphed at 170 pounds and Caleb Hopkins took the 182-pound title after finishing second at state each of the last two seasons.

The championship finals were bookmarked by victories by the Concepcion brothers of South High. Sophomore Aedyn won the 106-pound title to start the finals and freshman Adam won the 98-pound title to end the meet.

Here's how Saturday's championship matches went:

98 – Originally called a pin, South's Adam Concepcion had already taken his headgear off and shaken hands with Lathrop's Jeremy Bockert at the end of the first period when the referee changed the call to a near-fall. The wrestlers went back to the mat with Concepcion leading 5-0, and the freshman held on for a 10-4 victory.

106 – South's Adam Concepcion showed the composure of an undefeated champ in his 9-0 win over Colony's Jared Hopkins. Concepcion earned an early takedown in the first period and steadily racked up points from there.

113 – In a rollercoaster match, Colony's Marcus Riedlinger nabbed the championship with a takedown of Lathrop's Jacop Spencer in the closing seconds. Riedlinger led 2-0 early, trailed 4-2 after two periods and roared back in the third with an escape and penalty against Spencer to tie it 4-4. The last-second takedown made him a 6-4 winner.

120 – Soldotna's Gideon Hutchison slapped his coach's hand and jumped up in down in anticipation of his  championship match. When it started, he was ready to go. Hutchison earned two takedowns, an escape and a penalty point in his 6-0 win over Wasilla's Alexander Logsdon.

126 – Boos rained down from the stands when Colony's Rush Fannon defeated South's Jacob Shack by injury default in the first period. Fannon, who was leading 4-2 before Shack's injury, wasn't fazed by the boos and lifted his arms in pump-up-the-crowd fashion for several seconds before walking off the mat.

132 – Lathrop's Kobe Ames garnered three near-falls in his 14-3 defeat of Ketchikan's Brayden Linne. He flew out to an 8-1 lead in the first period and hung on from there.

145 – Lathrop's Westley Bockert was king of the reversals in his 11-10 defeat of South's Spencer Martin. Bockert used reversals to tie the match at 7-7 and 9-9 and took the lead for good with another reversal that  sealed his second straight state title.

152 – Every point was essential for Wasilla's Andrue Shepersky in a 4-3 win over Soldotna's Bechler Metcalf. The wrestlers battled through a scoreless first period before Shepersky used two escapes and a takedown for the win. He rode Metcalf's back in the waning moments and didn't allow an escape, which would have tied the score.

160 – Joshua Nummer of Kodiak jumped on his coach in excitement and then collapsed on the ground in exhaustion after coming from behind to defeat Lathrop's Zachary Tolver 7-6 with a takedown in the final 30 seconds. Nummer trailed 4-0 early.

170 – A dominant second period took Colony's Eric Christy from a one-point deficit to a four-point lead in his match against Palmer's Levi Farris. Christy held on in the third period for the 6-5 decision, scoring his  most pivotal points on a three-point near-fall that put him up 6-2 in the second period.

182 – Dimond's Austin Vreeland won the crowd when he wore a luchador mask for the introductions, but Colony's Caleb Hopkins won the crown with a dominant performance on the mat. Hopkins tallied two three-point near-falls in his 9-0 victory, including one in the closing seconds.

195 – North Pole's Bradley Antesberger defended his title with ease, piling up 10 takedowns to defeat Colony's Simon Ganchenko by technical fall, 23-8.

220 – Every time Lathrop's Jason Edwards got close, Thunder Mountain's Carl Tupou responded with points in a 10-6 victory. Tupou enjoyed leads of 2-1, 5-4 and 7-6 before a late escape and takedown sealed the win.

285 – Neither wrestler wanted to go down in the first two periods, but West's Poe Vaafuti broke through and pinned Dimond's John Faletagoai at 4:24. The only West wrestler in the finals, Vaafuti was mobbed by classmates when he walked off the mat.

ASAA/First National Bank Division I wrestling

Team scores

1) Lathrop 320, 2) Colony 318, 3) South 264, 4) Wasilla 160.5, 5) Palmer 159, 6) Soldotna 82.5, 7) Ketchikan 80, 8) North Pole 79, 9) Dimond 55, 10) Eagle River 53, 11) Kodiak 50, 12) Thunder Mountain 44, 13) West 42.5, 14) Service 35, 15) Kenai Central 28, 16) East 24, 17) Chugiak 20, 18) Bartlett 16, 19) West Valley 14.5.

First-place matches

98 — Adam Concepcion (South) d. Jeremy Bockert (Lathrop), 10-4.

106 — Aedyn Concepcion (South) m.d. Jared Hopkins (Colony), 9-0.

113 — Marcus Riedlinger (Colony) d. Jacob Spencer (Lathrop), 6-4.

120 — Gideon Hutchison (Soldotna) d. Alexander Logsdon (Wasilla), 6-0.

126 — Rush Fannon (Colony) won by injury default over Jacob Shack (South), 2:26.

132 — Kobe Ames (Lathrop) m.d. Brayden Linne (Ketchikan), 14-3.

138 – Isaiah Elvsaas (Wasilla) won by injury default over Micah Ee (South).

145 — Westley Bockert (Lathrop) d. Spencer Martin (South), 11-10.

152 – Andrue Shepersky (Wasilla) d. Bechler Metcalf (Soldotna), 4-3.

160 — Joshua Nummer (Kodiak) d. Zachary Tolver (Lathrop), 7-6.

170 — Eric Christy (Colony) d. Levi Farris (Palmer), 6-5.

182 — Caleb Hopkins (Colony) m.d. Auston Vreeland (Dimond), 9-0.

195 — Bradley Antesberger (North Pole) t.f. Simon Ganchenko (Colony), 23-8.

220 — Carl Tupou (Thunder Mountain) d. Jason Edwards (Lathrop), 10-6.

285 — Poe Vaafuti (West) p. John Faletagoai (Dimond), 4:24.

Third-place matches

98 — T.J. Clapp (Colony) d. Garrett Blydenburgh (Palmer), 8-4.

106 — Rett Gallagher (Colony) d. Logan Craig (Soldotna), 12-9.

113 — Aidan Ehmann (Colony) p. Patrick Rauwolf (Ketchikan), 3:42.

120 — Vincent Cramer (Colony) d. Niko Mayo (South), 10-8.

126 — Micah Mathis (Wasilla) d. Theo Cha (South), 11-5.

132 — Sam Sisco (Colony) d. Riley Harris (South), 9-5.

138 — Jordan Opp (Lathrop) d. Caedon Ott (Lathrop), tiebreaker 6-5.

145 — Trace Severson (Colony) d. Grant Burningham (Eagle River), 6-0.

152 — Hunter Bleakney (Palmer) d. Wyatt Story (Lathrop), 5-2.

160 — Jason Watkins (Palmer) d. Jacob Anderson (South), 8-3.

170 — Tyler Farless (Service) p. Daniel Niebles (Chugiak), 3:34.

182 — Jeffrey Glynn (Palmer) d. Chad Edwards (Lathrop), 7-3.

195 — Byron Dunham (Kenai Central) d. Riley Sweet (South), 8-7.

220 — Christian Kurka (Palmer) d. Maximus Stokes (Wasilla), 5-3.

285 — Lucas Santana (Palmer) p. Henry Saafi (South), 0:59.