5 individual champs lift Colony Knights to narrow victory over Lathrop in Division I wrestling championships

The Colony Knights extended their reign in Division I high school wrestling Saturday by beating Lathrop by 7.5 points Saturday at the state championships at Bartlett High.

Both teams advanced five wrestlers to the championship finals. Colony got wins from all of its finalists while Lathrop got victories from three of its five, and that made the difference for the Knights.

It was the second straight team championship and the third in five years for the Knights, who have won a total of eight state titles.

Jersey Ritz (103 pounds), Carter Silva (125), Kayden Payne (145), Jared Hopkins (160) and Aidan Ehmann (171) all claimed state titles to cap undefeated seasons for Colony.

Colton Parduhn (130 pounds), Jeremy Bockert (135) and Noah Curtis (285) did the same for Lathrop.

South and Soldotna both boasted a pair of undefeated champions — Adam Concepcion (119) and Nick Mayo (152) for South and Sean Babitt (189) and Liam Babitt (215) for Soldotna. Concepcion and Liam Babitt both had a hand in deciding the team championship by defeating Lathrop wrestlers in the finals.

Also taking home individual titles were South’s Mark Marum at 112 pounds and East’s undefeated Kobe Ames at 140 pounds.

ASAA/First National Bank Division I state wrestling

Team scores

1) Colony 265, 2) Lathrop 257.5, 3) South 193.5, 4) Soldotna 179, 5) East 161, 6) Palmer 131, 7) Wasilla 113, 8) Thunder Mountain 79, 9) Ketchikan 77, 10) Service 68, 11) Eagle River 63, 12) Chugiak 51, 13) Dimond 34, 14) West 31, 15) West Valley 17.5, 16) North Pole 10, 17) Bartlett 4, 18) Kodiak 3.

Championship matches

103 — Jerzy Ritz (Colony) d. DeShawn Barbee (East), 3-1

112 — Mark Marum (South) d. Benjamin Pope (East), 6-2

119 — Adam Concepcion (South) d. Roberto Lechuga Porras (Lathrop), 7-4

125 — Carter Silva (Colony) d. Caleb Martin (Chugiak), 4-1

130 — Colton Parduhn (Lathrop) p. Ezekiel Miller (Soldotna), 5:55

135 — Jeremy Bockert (Lathrop) p. Owen Manley (Palmer), 2:48

140 — Kobe Ames (East) d. Degan Linne (Ketchikan), 10-4

145 — Kayden Payne (Colony) d. Octavius McCleskey (East), 12-10 (SV-1)

152 — Niko Mayo (South) d. Niles Williams (Wasilla), 8-3

160 — Jared Hopkins (Colony) d. Antonio Woodfork (Palmer), 11-7

171 — Aidan Ehmann (Colony) p. Andrew Green (Service) 20-1, Sr., 5:28

189 — Sean Babitt (Soldotna) 12-0, Sr. p. Colton Lindquist (Wasilla), 5:45

215 — Liam Babitt (Soldotna) 25-0, So. d. Sean Michel (Lathrop), 4-2

285 — Noah Curtis (Lathrop) d. Jackson Moore (South), 2-1

Third-place matches

103 — Ian Werner (Lathrop) d. Carson Cummins (Thunder Mountain), 7-2

112 — Matthew Mitchell (Colony) m.d. Riley Williams (Lathrop), 14-5

119 — Kadin Messmer (Thunder Mountain) p. Elias Cordell (Colony), 1:26

125 — Ole Watson (Dimond) p. Kameron Potter (Eagle River), 2:34

130 — Aaron Concepcion (South) p. Kyle Patterson (South), 2:55

135 — Samuel Chaput (South) d. Dimitri Larson (West), 2-1

140 — Isaac Chavarria (Soldotna) d. Kawaiola Patterson (Lathrop), 9-4

145 — Aaron Johnson (Lathrop) p. Jevin Lim (Service), 2:24

152 — Garret Blydenburgh (Palmer) d. Jacob Johnson (Lathrop), 4-3

160 — Wayne Mellon (Soldotna) d. Deshawn Campbell (Wasilla), 7-4

171 — Hunter Richardson (Soldotna) d. Bradley Keeney (Wasilla), 3-2

189 — Daniel Mokom (East) d. Jaron Alf (Eagle River), 3-0

215 — Camden Erickson (Thunder Mountain) m.d. Britten Hamilton (South), 12-3

285 — Daniel Van Slyke (Colony) p. Ikaika Vaivai (East), 2:35

Fifth-place matches

103 — Kael Salisbury (Palmer) t.f. Makai Baylous (West), 21-5

112 — Elijah Allen (Wasilla) p. Braydden Ellibee (Palmer), 3:58

119 — Hunter Secor (Soldotna) won by forfeit over Kenton Cooke (East)

125 — Cody Vansiegman (Palmer) p. Jayden Styer (Lathrop), 2:27

130 — Evan Holmes (Colony) d. Alexander Green (Service), 9-6

135 — Tyler Foss (Wasilla) d. Ryunosuke Tsukada (Service), 7-6

140 — Jeffrey Reynolds (Colony) won by forfeit over TJ Clapp (Colony)

145 — Charlie Blair (Ketchikan) d. Beau Daily (South), 3-1 (SV-1)

152 — Kolin Houthoofd (Ketchikan) d. Tristan Petrykievicz (Chugiak), 4-1

160 — Dennis Taylor (Soldotna) d. Haysen Madrid (East), 5-2

171 — Raif Floresta (Colony) p. Cole Kretsinger (Eagle River), 2:41

189 — Sage Richards (Thunder Mountain) p. Owen Merrill (Dimond), 1:55

215 — Peter Macchione (West Valley) d. Punimat Pa`a (East), 6-1

285 — Gunner Aderman (Palmer) d. Liam Moseng (Ketchikan), 1-0