Smith, Lieb lift Warriors to Small School crown at Lancer Smith Invite Bethel HS Girls take runner up spot

by Tommy Wells

Heading into the final matches of the 2019 Lancer Smith Memorial Invitational Wrestling Tournament, the Bethel Regional High School Warriors needed wins from Landon Smith and Hayden Lieb to capture the small-school division.

Both delivered.

Backed by wins by Smith and Lieb, the Warriors finished one point ahead of Glennallen in the small-school division on Saturday in front of a large crowd at Palmer High School. The Warriors’ six wrestlers posted 77 points, while Glennallen had 76. Colony and Lathrop finished first and second, respectively, in the large-school division.

Smith put the Warriors on the road to the small-school title with a victory in the 112-pound championship. He went 4-0 in the tournament, including a 9-5 victory in the title round over Roberto Lechuga Porras of Lathrop.

Lieb finished off Bethel’s title. Now 19-0 for the season, the BRHS standout capped off a perfect 4-0 run by defeating Brandon DeYarmon of South Anchorage in the 160-pound finals. Lieb won the match by claiming a 3-0 victory.

Kyle Valadez, Jarvis Evans and Jamin Crow also recorded wins for the Warriors. All three went 2-2 in the tournament. Tyler Laraux also competed.

Lindsey Beans-Polk and Jaron Mute helped the Bethel girls turn in a stellar outing in the girls’ division. The Lady Warriors’ six grapplers rolled up 98 points and finished second in the team standings. North Pole won the girls’ title with 147 points.

Beans-Polk highlighted the Lady Warriors’ outing by dominating the 135-pound division. She cruised to a perfect 3-0 record, including a win over Kodiak’s Emily Lorring in the finals.

Mute also picked up a medal, taking second in the 130-pound classification. Mute won her first four matches before moving into the championship bout against Haley Gilson of Ketchikan. Walker won the title with a 5-3 decision.

Rebecca Samuelson, Kaeli Amik, Fiona Phelan and Cadence Cedars also did well for BRHS. Samuelson took fourth in the girls’ 145-pound division. Amik, Phelan and Cedars all finished fifth in their weight classes.

Lawrence Bayer and Charles Smith highlighted the junior varsity’s efforts. Bayer went 3-1 and finished second in the 189-pound bracket. His only setback came in the 189-pound finals to Eagle River’s Jaron Alf.

Smith was fifth in the 130-pound standings with a 5-2 record.

Also competing for the Warriors’ JV were Jaymes Martins, Mason Fitka, Peter Bill, Jordan Leinberger, Hayden Morris and Sam Beans-Polk.

2019 Lancer Smith Invitational Wrestling Tournament

Final team standings

JV Boys

1. Lathrop, 176.5; 2. South Anchorage, 174.0; 3. Colony, 123.0; 4. Wasilla, 114.5; 5. Ketchikan, 113.0; 6. Service, 98.0; 7. Eagle River, 91.0; 8. Soldotna, 84.0; 9. Grace Christian, 78.0; 10. Chugiak, 75.0; 11. Palmer, 74.5; 12. West Anchorage, 74.5; 13. Kenai, 74.0; 14. West Valley, 73.5; 15. Redington, 64.5; 16. Eielson, 60.0; 17. North Pole, 60.0; 18. Hutchison, 58.0; 19. Nome, 55.0; 20. Glennallen, 53.0; 21. Bethel, 47.0; 22. Gambell, 42.0; 23. Dimond, 35.0; 24. East Anchorage, 35.0; 25. Thunder Mountain, 32.0; 26. Kotzebue, 31.5; 27. Barrow, 27.0; 28. Noatak, 27.0; 29. Anchorage Christian, 25.0; 30. Kodiak, 23.0; 31. Nikiski, 23.0; 32. Dillingham, 16.0; 33. Homer, 16.0; 34. Newhalen, 9.0; 35. Valdez, 8.0; 36. Bristol Bay, 7.0; 37. New Stuyahok, 6.0; 38. Galena, 5.5; 39. Houston, 3.5; 40. Unalaska, 3.0; 41. Savoonga, 0.0.

VARSITY GIRLS

1. North Pole 147.0; 2. Bethel 98.0; 3. Homer 95.0; 4. Lathrop 89.0; 5. Ketchikan 68.5; 6. Mt. Edgecumbe 63.0; 7. Kodiak 62.0; 8. Nome 58.0; 9. Soldotna 49.0; 10. Palmer 48.0; 11. Kotzebue 47.0; 12. East Anchorage 45.0; 13. Colony 44.0; 14. Redington 43.5; 15. South Anchorage 38.0; 16. Eielson 36.0; 17. Dillingham 35.5; 18. Eagle River 35.0; 19. West Anchorage 29.0; 20. Hutchison HUTC 28.0; 21. Brevig Mission 26.0; 22. Wasilla 21.0; 23. Newhalen 20.0; 24. Chugiak 19.0; 25. Unalaska 19.0; 26. Valdez 19.0; 27. Service 14.0; 28. Barrow 12.0; 29. Houston 11.0; 30. West Valley 10.0; 31. Nikiski 7.0; 32. Noatak 7.0; 33. Galena Hawks 3.0; 34. Dimond 0.0; 35. Gambell 0.0; 36. Savoonga 0.0; 37. Susitna Valley 0.0

VARSITY BOYS 1. Colony 247.5; 2. Lathrop 224.5; 3. South Anchorage 218.0; 4. East Anchorage 130.0; 5. Soldotna 108.0; 6. Thunder Mountain 99.5; 7. Wasilla 98.0; 8. Bethel 77.0; 9. Glennallen 76.0; 10. West Valley 66.0; 11. Palmer 57.0; 12. Ketchikan 54.0; 13. West Anchorage 53.0; 14. Service 52.0; 15. Homer 46.0; 16. Chugiak 38.0; 17. North Pole 30.0; 18. Eielson 29.5; 19. Nikiski 24.0; 19. Redington 24.0; 21. Dillingham 23.0; 21. Susitna Valley 23.0; 23. Haines 22.0; 24. Nome 20.0; 25. Anchorage Christian 15.0; 26. Napaskiak 14.0; 27. Grace Christian 13.0; 27. Kenai 13.0; 29. Unalaska 12.0; 30. Houston 11.0; 31. Kodiak 10.0; 32. Barrow 9.0; 33. Eagle River 8.0; 33. Kotzebue 8.0; 35. Bristol Bay 4.0; 36. Savoonga 2.0; 37. Dimond 0.0; 37. Galena 0.0; 37. Hutchison 0.0.