14 wrestlers complete undefeated seasons as Alaska high school champions

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Palmer’s Antonio Woodfork takes down Lathrop’s Aaron Johnson during the ASAA Division I State Wrestling Championship match at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage on Saturday, Dec. 18, 2021. (Emily Mesner / ADN)

Even on a day when 14 wrestlers capped their seasons as undefeated state high school champions, Landon Smith’s perfect campaign was conspicuous in its excellence.

Smith, a Bethel senior, put a bow on not only a 36-0 season, but also a historic career Saturday at the high school state wrestling tournament at the Alaska Airlines Center.

With a second-period pin in his 119-pound finals bout, Smith dominated a third weight class. He joins an elite group of high school wrestlers to win four consecutive state titles.

“It feels really amazing,” said Smith. “I had a great team help me through it. My freshman year I wrestled at 103 and sophomore and junior year I wrestled at 112.”

Of the 38 state champions who were crowned, an eye-popping 14 wrestlers — including Smith — finished with untarnished regular and postseason records at their respective weight classes between the three divisions.

At the boys division I level, East High junior Elyle Fransisco finished 32-0 at 112 pounds, South junior Dylan Shaw finished 38-0 at 130 pounds, Lathrop senior Colton Parduhn finished 44-0 at 140 pounds, Colony junior Elijah Larsen 37-0 at 145 pounds, Palmer senior Antonio Woodfork finished 33-0 at 152 pounds, Soldotna senior Wayne Mellon finished 21-0 at 171 pounds, Soldotna junior Liam Babitt finished 36-0 at 215 pounds and Lathrop senior Noah Curtis finished 38-0 at 285 pounds.

With his 14-6 major decision victory in his championship bout, Larsen won his second state wrestling title but his first in the Last Frontier: He earned his first state title in Utah last year. Curtis won his second straight state title with a 16-5 major decision victory in his championship bout.

The only Division I boys title match that saw a wrestler with a previously flawless record fall from the ranks of the unbeaten was in the 135-pound weight division. In the most exhilarating final faceoff, South sophomore Aaron Concepcion upset Colony senior Carter Silva, who was the top seed heading into it with a perfect 27-0 record.

Both wrestlers notched an escape in regulation, but it took four overtime periods to decide the winner. It wasn’t until Concepcion was able to pull off one last escape in the final seconds of the fourth overtime period after a controversial finish to the third that the match was able to come to an epic end.

“I really had to dig deep,” said Concepcion. “I read this book called ‘Chop Wood, Carry Water’ and always pound my craft and doing this practice really helps. Coach (Randy) Hanson puts us through these kinds of situations every day and we just get used to it.”

With the win, he joins his older brothers Adam and Aedyn, who also wrestled and won state at South in continuing the family tradition of bringing home the gold. It also avenged his lone regular-season loss of the year at his weight class. He had a 35-2 record coming into the state tournament, with his only defeats coming against Silva at the Lancer Smith tournament and the other when he bumped up a weight class to face Larsen of Colony.

“It was a match that he lost earlier in the year that looked nothing like that state finals match,” South coach Randy Hanson said. “I’m so proud of how he stayed disciplined and stuck to the game plan, just did it the hard way.”

Other Division I champions were Kael Salisbury, Palmer, at 103 pounds; Benjamin Pope, East, 119 pounds; Matthew Mitchell, Colony, 125 pounds; Chad Hakala, South, 160 pounds; and Hunter Richardson of Soldotna at 189 pounds.

The boys Division II finals bracket featured not only Bethel’s Smith but also another repeat champ in Wrangell senior Ryan Rooney, who finished 21-0 to secure his second title in a row.

Rooney appeared on the verge of losing his third title match in four years before he prevailed in the end. He trailed by as many as seven points, 10-3, but was able to pin Redington’s Charles Severance in the third period of their 160-pound bout to complete the thrilling comeback and stay undefeated.

“One thing we always talk about in the wrestling room is relentlessness,” said Rooney. “Even if you’re down 14-0, you just work as hard as you can and that’s what I did.”

After finishing as the runner-up in his first two state tournaments, Rooney was relieved that he was able to finish atop the podium for the second straight year.

“My freshman and sophomore years, I was a little bit of a lightweight, but I made it to the state finals those years too but got second both times,” said Rooney. “The first one was to Landen Smith 7-11 at 103 and the second it was 3-5 to Jordan Korth at 125.”

Also collecting titles in the Division II state tournament were Aiden Schilling, Seward, 103 pounds; Myles Campbell, Redington, 112 pounds; Paul Dyment, Bethel, 125 pounds; Joseph Smith, Bethel, 125 pounds; Demetry Hoseth, Dillingham, 135 pounds; Jordan Korth, Glennallen, 140 pounds; Zach Kolbe, Dillingham, 145 pounds; Alex Buck, Glennallen, 152 pounds; Simon Grenier, Nikiski, 171 pounds; Seth Briesmeister, Hutchison, 189 pounds; Stephen Hunt, Delta Junction, 215 pounds; and Uatahouse Tuifua, Barrow.

The girls finals saw five wrestlers with undefeated records take the mat and four came away with victories via pin — three of which occurred in the first period. Nome junior Natallie Tobuk finished 22-0 at 125 pounds, Wrangell senior Liana Carney finished 19-0 at 135 pounds, Soldotna junior Trinity Donovan finished 36-0 at 145 pounds to win her third straight state title and North Pole senior Emily Bellant finished 39-0 at 160 pounds.

The only previously undefeated competitor who suffered her first loss of the season was Kodiak senior Olivia Troxell, who came into her finals match with Lathrop senior Autumn Poland as the top seed with a perfect 19-0 record. Poland got up early and led by as many as four points, 7-3, before Troxell tried to mount a ferocious comeback but came up just short in an 8-6 defeat.

“I am so glad I chose this kind of sport,” said Poland. “It’s something you have to work to earn, which I like about it a lot because it reminds me of things I can use in life. Some things aren’t going to work out, and you’re going to have to fight for it.”

Poland left it all out on the mat and nearly lost her lunch: The match had to be stopped midway through so a trash can could be brought out, as it appeared at one point that she was on the verge of vomiting.

“I had swallowed hair and it was coming out,” said Poland.

The two girls are familiar foes, having faced each other in a previous season, and Poland was able to edge out Troxell on those occasions as well.

“I wrestled her my sophomore year in the state semifinals and beat her by one takedown,” added Poland.

Other competitors collecting individual championships in the girls division were Megan Spencer, Lathrop, 103 pounds; Trinity Pendergrass, Palmer, 119 pounds; Aileen Lester, Newhalen, 130 pounds; Twyla Anderstrom, Redington, 189 pounds; and Alice Bent, West Valley, 235 pounds.

As far as total team scores, the Colony Knights took the boys Division I with 248.5 points, the Bethel Warriors claimed the state championship for the Division II boys with 158 points and the Lathrop Malamutes won the girls division championship by a landslide with a whopping 164 points.

The South Wolverines finished as the runner-up in boys Division I with 236 points and the Redington Huskies were the runner-ups in the boys Division II with 152 points. The next closest girls team was Colony with 98 points.

(An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that South coach Randy Hanson was a 4-time state champions. Hanson won 3 state titles)