Hungry underclassmen leading the charge for South boys at Division I state wrestling championships

More than half of the finals matches at the 2023 Division I boys state wrestling championship tournament featured a wrestler from South Anchorage High School. Despite only having three individual champions crowned by the end of the night, the Wolverines had their second straight team state title wrapped up before the finals even began.

While all three of the champions who were crowned graduated this past spring, several of the runner-ups and top-five placers returned, including many underclassmen. That group is poised to both help South go for a three-peat at this weekend’s state meet and contend for their own individual titles.

“Top to bottom, we’ve got a lot of tough kids,” South head coach Randy Hanson said. “Our sophomore class that fell a little short last year, taking second, taking third, they really stepped up this year with their work ethic and they turned the corner. A lot of them are dominating this year so I’m looking forward to seeing them compete. Even our seniors who were juniors last year are stepping up and having awesome seasons and are leaders on the team.”

One of the sophomores who has some unfinished business this weekend at the Alaska Airlines Center is Dylan Frawner, who was the runner-up at state at 103 pounds as a freshman in 2023. He is now wrestling at 112 pounds and competed in one of the most exhilarating finals matches at the 2024 Region IV championship tournament Saturday.

Frawner overcame a 7-0 deficit after getting caught on his back and forced overtime, where he prevailed with a walk-off takedown.

“We talk about it all the time, just executing down the stretch,” Hanson said. “When we wrestle, when we practice hard and we finish practice with our executions, get yourself tired, execute correct technique and stay mentally focused on the task at hand and he did it excellently,” Hanson said. “It wasn’t pretty but he made it happen.”

Frawner said that Hanson prepares the Wolverines to endure such dire situations in practice so that if and when the challenge presents itself, they are equipped with the proper mindset and technique they’ll need to overcome it and triumph.

“He puts us in those exact positions, down by one, down by two with 30 seconds left,” he said. “It’s just a mental battle from there. That’s all it is. That and conditioning.”

Frawner expects and looks forward to wrestling some tough matches at state as he looks to claim the first individual title of his prep career.

“You just got to get excited for it, you can’t run from it,” he said. “You go against those tough competitors that maybe they previously beat you and it’s exciting to get your match back and revenge.”

Frawner got caught on his back in his final match last year and that loss helped drive him during the club and current high school season.

“I’m 100% confident that I can get it done,” he said. “I know I can beat those other guys, those Fairbanks guys, whatever, whoever. You just have to trust yourself, trust your abilities and your coaches.”

The South boys team has been a perennial powerhouse for well over a decade, with four state titles in the last 10 years including three of the last seven since the four classes were realigned into two divisions in the 2017-2018 season. Even in years they haven’t won the team award, they came close and had numerous individual champions crowned.

“It’s just a dynasty,” Frawner said. “That’s the expectations. Our expectations are still to go win another state title.”

Dimond wrestler proving technique can prevail when brute force falls short

After helping the Dimond football team capture its first state championship in 23 years as the starting right guard on the offensive line, junior Daven Nysta dove right into wrestling with the same brute force he played on the gridiron.

But as the season went on, he has become more technically sound.

“I was more aggressive and more brutish but now over the weeks, I’ve been getting more technical and learning more skills,” he said.

The time and effort he spent refining his skills and improving his endurance paid major dividends as he qualified for the state tournament for the first time in his career this past weekend at regions. Nysta’s dream of contending for a state title became a reality just by virtue of making the finals. But with his 6-1 decision victory in the 285-pound weight division, he is doing so with soaring confidence.

Nysta credits God, his parents and coaches for his success and making him more mature and resilient.

“Last year I wasn’t in the right head but the coaches this year are very great,” he said. “They actually take time to talk to you and ask you and give you pointers instead of just saying ‘Oh, you need more mat time’ so I’m grateful for my coaches.”

While Nysta is “super excited” to get to compete at state for the first time, his mindset is to treat it like “just another day at practice.”

“That’s how I usually stay calm,” he said. “I like to think of the opponent I’m wrestling not as an enemy but like ‘Oh I wrestled this guy before’ so it’s much easier. I always think of them as a teammate because you’re not nervous to wrestle your own teammate.”

Nysta believes his explosive power from football translates well to the mat and gives him an edge over some of his usual more lumbering opponents.

“I always notice how the 285 guys always go super slow and I was like ‘I want to be different’,” he said. “I’ve always been so rigid in my form and my style of wrestling. I always thought that brute force always beats everything but now my coach sat me down and talked to me about it and it opened my mind on how great technique can beat brute force.”

The state wrestling action gets going at 9 a.m. both days starting with the preliminary rounds Friday morning and consolation rounds on Saturday morning with finals slated to take play later in the evening at 4 p.m.