by Tommy Wells
Dellarae Charlie and the Bethel Regional High School Lady Warriors proved themselves the toast of the Great Alaska Conference this past weekend in front of their home fans. The BRHS girls, en route to qualifying seven wrestlers for the upcoming state tournament, finished atop the girls’ conference standings by having eight wrestlers finish in the top three in their respective weight divisions.
Charlie was among five Bethel girls to claim conference wrestling championships. She owned the 112-pound weight bracket by putting together a 2-0 mark, including a win over Chevak’s Shaina Atcherian in the finals.
Scammon Bay’s Leah Amukon was third in the standings.
Fiona Phelan, Jaron Mute, Lindsey Beans-Polk and Rebecca Samuelson also garnered gold medals. Phelan, now 16-6 overall, won the 125-pound title with a 9-4 victory over teammate Katherine Small in the championship match. Mute, now 22-4, breezed to the 130-pound title with a 2-0 mark. She bested Nunapitchuk’s Nikki Nick in the finals of the class.
Beans-Polk, 16-3, won the 135-pound title by claiming a victory over Rachel Kaganak of Scammon Bay.
Samuelson, who heads into the state tournament this weekend at 21-4, took the 145-pound title with a win over Scammon Bay’s Kaylee Simon.
Cadence Cedars punched her ticket to state with a second-place finish in the 103-pound class. Scammon Bay’s Flora Nanuk won the division.
The Lady Warriors’ Kayla Dela Cruz narrowly missed advancing to state. She was third in the 119-pound standings.
The top two finishers in each weight class will be headed to state. Michelle Atcherian and Haley Ulroan of Chevak, Kylee Fratis of Emmonak, Erica Chalres of Akiachak, Halle Savage of Unalaska, Shyanne Kopanuk of Scammon Bay, and Jacelyn Chikigak of Alakanuk will also be competing at the ASAA Girls 1A State Wrestling tournament along with Shaina Atcherian, Nikki Nick, Kaylee Simon, and Flora Nanuk.
