The Bethel Warriors varsity, junior high, and 6th-8th grade boys and girls teams competed at the Lancer Smith Memorial Wrestling Tournament in Palmer this past weekend. Sheldon Smith, Paul Dyment, Aaron Mute, Patricio Vasquez, and Ellis Johnson all competed for the high school boys team. Vasquez made it to the awards podium placing 5th overall in the 140 lbs. bracket.
On the Junior Varsity side, Bethel Warrior Zachery Chase (125 lbs.) placed 6th.
Chevak’s Avron Atchak (140 lbs.) took home the silver medal and his teammate Ace Hill (130 lbs.) won a bronze medal. Liam Pingayak-Green (140 lbs.) also placed 4th.
Known as the “toughest in Alaska”, the tournament took place at the Curtis D. Menard Memorial Sports Center.
The tournament also opened up to 6th-8th grades for the first time for both boys and girls. On the girls side, Claire Dyment took gold in the girls 97 lbs. bracket. She beat Ellia Harcharek of Avalanche by majority decision 18-4.
Dyment also wrestled in the boys 91 lbs. bracket. She won the bronze medal. Dyment lost her first bout to 91 lbs. eventual boys champion Mick Dobbs of the Student Wrestling Development Program. She then beat August Reigh of Dillingham, Easton Jones of Chugach, and her teammate Cole Iverson of Bethel. She defeated Jens Fonkert of Dillingham to win 3rd place.
Gabrielle Sanbei of the Bethel Junior High team also won gold in the girls 104.5 lbs. weight division. She defeated Heidi Francis of Gilson Middle School in the opening round. Her next bout was with her teammate K’yonce Tsosi – Sanbei won the match. She was victorious over Madison Cottrell of the Pioneer Grappling Academy and won by fall at 3:50 for 1st place. Her teammates Mary Evon and Claire Lee also wrestled in the same bracket. Evon placed 4th overall.
Bethel’s Isabelle Kerr (113 and 120 lbs.) of the Bethel Junior High team took 4th place in two brackets.
Winner of the girls 145 lbs. bracket was Riley Boney of the Bethel Junior High Warrior team. She wrestled Kaari Storrs of Chugach, Laura Askoak of Newhalen, and then Kahlen Savo from Dillingham for the championship. Boney won the match by pinning her opponent at 2:52.
Maya Iverson of Bethel won the silver medal in the 77 lbs. girls bracket.
Winning first place in the boys 126 lbs. weight division was Jackson Iverson of the Bethel Warriors. Iverson, the top seed for the bracket defeated Lewis Lumba of the Pioneer Grappling Academy, Ryder Thomas of Avalanche Wrestling, and second place winner Jett Knezovich of North Pole.
Aiden Crow of the Bethel Junior High team wrestled in the boys 84 lbs. bracket and placed 2nd. His teammate Cole Iverson also wrestled finishing in 4th.
In the 91 lbs. bracket, two Bethel wrestlers made it to the podium. Maximos Lonewolf won the silver medal and Claire Dyment took third.
Scammon Bay’s Christian Chandler (98 lbs.) won 4th place.
In the boys 132 lbs. weight division, two Bethel wrestlers made it to the top three – Jackson Iverson won the silver medal and Ethan Wheeler took home the bronze.
