by Tommy Wells
Rebecca Samuelson and Fiona Phelan will head into this weekend’s Great Alaska Conference wrestling tournament with plenty of momentum. The two Bethel Regional High School stars posted stellar performances at the 2019 Grace Grizzly Shakedown in Anchorage on Saturday and helped Bethel’s 8-person team place 19th overall in the team standings.
The Warriors rolled up 29 points in the meet. South Anchorage took the team title. Colony and Wasilla finished second and third, respectively.
Samuelson picked up Bethel’s lone win at the tournament by winning the girls’ 145-pound bracket. She went 4-0 in the meet, including a 4-2 victory over Trinity Donovan in the finals.
Phelan narrowly missed a gold of her own. She finished second in the 125-pound division, falling in the title bout to Homer’s Sadie Blake by a 3-1 margin.
Simon Snow turned in a strong outing for the BRHS boys. He wrestled his way to three wins in the varsity 171-pound classification. Lawrence Bayer also posted three wins, going 3-2 in the 189-pound bracket.
Kyle Valadez, Peter Bill and Mason Fitka also notched wins on the mat for BRHS.
The Warriors will host the GAC tournament on Friday and Saturday in the BRHS WarriorDome. The top two finishers in each weight classification will advance to the state tournament next weekend in Anchorage.
2019 Grace Grizzly Shakedown Final results
1. South Anchorage, 264.5; 2. Colony, 202.5; 3. Wasilla, 193.0; 4. East Anchorage, 151.5; 5. Palmer, 145.0; 6. Soldotna, 101.0; 7. West Anchorage, 84.5; 8. Grace Christian, 69.5; 9. Kodiak, 69.0; 10. Nikiski, 64.0; 11. Service, 60.5; 12. Chugiak, 58.0; 13. Redington, 51.5; 14. Homer, 49.5; 15. Kenai Central, 45.0; 16. Kotzebue, 42.5; 17. Nome, 41.5; 18. Bartlett, 38.0; 19. Bethel, 29.0; 20. Stebbins, 29.0; 21. Eagle River, 28.5; 22. Anchorage Christian, 21.5; 23. Unalakleet, 16.0; 24. Houston, 14.5; 25. Dimond, 14.0.
