Southeast girls bring state championships home

When Hoonah senior Krista Howland pinned Soldotna’s Rowan Peck in the second period of their 125-pound state wrestling championship match Saturday and sprung off the mat to point toward the screaming fans who filled Anchorage’s Alaska Airlines Center, history had not been made — it had been solidified.

“Oh my gosh, this means so much,” Howland said. “Not just to me. To the girls before me and those coming up. I put in so much work for this. I’m just so happy for myself. All my work has paid off.”

Ten years ago, the first all-girls high school state tournament showcased the talent that had been emerging for years and on Saturday it was showcased on the mats by more than 190 girls from 41 schools grappling for the 2024 ASAA/First National Bank Alaska Girls State Championships.

“Really I think it is the 11th,” ASAA executive director Billy Strickland said. “This is my 11th year, and we have always had girls wrestling. Wrestling was one of the few sports that we never lost a tournament because of COVID, but we did it in the spring that year…We adopted that the year before I became executive director, and it has really been awesome to see the growth of it. I think some of the programs initially were like, ‘You’re asking us to do more,’ but about year two they were arguing about the seedings so I knew they were all in at that point. It’s been exciting. For me I think about a lot of the kids that wrestled before we had the standalone tournament, so for me this is kind of for them.”

A display in the commons above the tournament honored the class from that first sanctioning, and every wrestler competing felt the significance.

“This means everything to me,” Ketchikan junior Summer Boline (36-3) said. She had just lost by fall in the third period of the 132-pound championship to Homer’s Saorise Cook (28-0). “Honestly, girls’ wrestling changed my life. Before wrestling I kind of was lost. Just didn’t know what sport I was in. I tried MMA, I tried gymnastics, nothing really fit, but as soon as coach got me into wrestling it was, like, ‘Oh man, I love this sport.’ I started my freshman year and it’s my junior year and so far just making it to state finals, even though I didn’t win, was probably like one of the biggest moments of my life.”

“So I’m really excited and happy to be here and I’m so thankful to all the women before me that helped and gave me these opportunities to just thrive, honestly, I love it here…Girls can do anything. If you want to do it just go do it, like, just because a boy says, ‘Ah, you’re a girl’ don’t let them put you down in any way. You’re a girl wrestling other girls, like, that’s awesome. If you go out there and win that is amazing. Win or lose, honestly, like, that is just a life-changing thing to be all together. Just express who you are. Everyone on the mat is their own person and it is awesome. I meet so many new people.”

Hoonah’s Howland said she was inspired by seeing prior girl wrestlers, and “I wake up every morning at 5:30 to go to the gym at 6 to lift weights, then I go to school and then right after school I have practice. And sometimes I even have basketball practice so I am getting in, like, five hours of work every day…The 10th year, oh my gosh this is just amazing. I can’t put it into words. During basketball I tore my ACL and I didn’t know what was going to happen at all. I didn’t know if I was going to be able to wrestle or play basketball and originally the doctors told me that I wasn’t going to be able to, I would have to go through surgery. I thought about it a lot and I just decided to stick through it. Girls, you can do anything you put your mind to.”

Howland was also voted the state tournament’s Outstanding Girls Wrestler.

Hoonah coach Joseph Cornell noted what Howland has done.

“She has wrestled in the boys’ divisions in junior high and did really well,” he said. “Her championship is everything. It is everything for her and her community and our program. Our program took a little bit of a break and now it is back, and it is stronger than ever and she has inspired a whole generation of wrestlers.”

Kiann Williams (37-2), a senior from the Student Wrestler Development Program, an independent private school based in Fairbanks, pinned every opponent she faced, including South Anchorage’s Savannah Stout (26-6) for the 152-pound championship.

“My dad (Sol) wrestled, my uncle wrestled, my uncle used to be my wrestling coach, my brother (Riley) was second in state here two years ago at 125,” Williams said after the match. “It’s kind of a family thing, and I just got into it and I’ve been in other sports, but wrestling is the one thing that I’ve actually been good at and actually clicked. So I have always just stuck with wrestling. And I have a really good connection with my coaches. They’re like family to me so it’s just really enjoyable to me. It is inspiring to think of what girls went through to get us here. My advice to young wrestlers is I know it gets hard and practice is really miserable sometimes, and it is going to get tough, and you are going to want to quit all the time and get burnt out. I’ve been there but in the end when you do things like this, win state, then it is all worth it and when you do big things out of state it is also worth it so just push through it.”

JDHS freshman Nixie Schooler (21-4) pinned her first two opponents before losing in the 107-pound semifinal to eventual state champion SWDP senior Jade Sherry (35-0). Schooler then won two matches in the consolation rounds, including a technical fall win over SWDP’s Megan Cornett (35-9) to win third place.

“I feel really good because women’s wrestling is starting to get more popular and is really growing fast and there are a lot of schools here,” Schooler said. “I hope younger wrestlers are inspired. I hope they don’t give up like I do sometimes, but I keep trying. So don’t give up. Now I can eat food, relax and hang out with my friends, and get a job.”

Standing on the state tournament floor, former MEHS wrestling coach (2000-19) Mike Kimber, 54, looked through misty eyes as the mat action unfolded and fans, filled to the upper decks, loudly showed their love of the sport.

“I knew it could become like this,” he said. “I have been to national tournaments. I’ve seen what other states are doing so I knew it could be like this.

Now the women’s director for Alaska USA Wrestling, Kimber brought college coaches from Jamestown University (North Dakota), Evergreen State (Washington) and Linfield (Oregon) to watch the tournament, just another step he’s taken to promote girls’ wrestling.

“This makes my heart soar,” Kimber said. “Ten years and now these girls are competitive and college coaches are excited about these girls. They are talking to them, they want to bring them down and wrestle in college. They want to extend their seasons. It is really super technical here now. The first few years when they were wrestling it was, ‘Yay, you’ve got your shoes on,’ and now you’ve got varsity boys’ coaching out here coaching them at the same level they are coaching their boys. That is a good sign.”

Kimber, who coached his daughter Sydnee to four straight state titles — all of which he says “she earned, she was not the coach’s daughter” — pushed to give girls their own tournament at state for over eight years and in 2014 his petition to ASAA to sanction girls wrestling in Alaska was honored.

When he was inducted into the 2018 Alaska Sports Hall of Fame, his ballot cited the work he had done to bring high school girls’ wrestling to Alaska.

“Really it was a lot of people working together,” he said. “Billy (Strickland), at ASAA, when he came in he said, ‘We’re going to make a statement about this and help support it,’ is a big reason this is here. If it wasn’t for Billy I could have made all the proposals in the world and it wasn’t going to happen.”

They needed 100 girls to hold the first tournament, but were short two.

“Billy said, ‘Two girls are not stopping 98 from having their own tournament…’ 2014 was a big deal. It was all small schools because the large schools did not have enough and the seasons were opposite. When the seasons were realigned then we could have a unified state tourney. We were the fifth state to sanction girls’ wrestling, we’re one of the original six (Hawaii 1998, Texas 1999, Washington 2007, California 2011, Alaska and Tennessee 2014).”

That number jumped to 26 states by 2021 and now girls’ wrestling is sanctioned in all 50.

Kimber also coaches youth club wrestling, and some of his alumni were wrestling in the boys and girls state tournaments.

Homer girls coach Tela O’Donnell Bacher is a 2001 Mariners alum who returned to coach.

“I wrestled with the boys,” O’Donnell Bacher said. “My highest placing was sixth when I was a senior when it was a co-ed state tournament…This state tournament is really cool. To just see the development, and the growth and the acceptance of women’s wrestling, and then just how far all these girls have come is pretty impressive. When I started there were a few girls here, a couple on my team once in a while, some in Soldotna here and there, but it always had to be smaller weights, right? Because you’re wrestling boys and you’re wrestling people who have gone through puberty. You don’t have that testosterone and you’re wrestling people who have it…Now we have girls from all the different weights who excel at it and there will be so many girls that will do wrestling if they wrestle other girls. Now we see the growth and development and depth of that…It is pretty cool to see the differences in the last 25 years.”

O’Donnell Bacher was the first Alaska wrestling Olympian, competing for Team USA in Athens, Greece.

O’Donnell Bacher is also a member of Alaska Girls Wrestle (alaskagirlswrestle.com), an advocacy group, along with Palmer coach Daisy Woodfork, Eagle River coach Vanessa Gonzalez, and Kodiak coach and alum Chloe Ivanoff. Their mission is to use wrestling as a catalyst for change.

“Another thing that is really cool,” O’Donnell Bacher said, pointing at various women near the mats. “She wrestled in high school in Barrow and now she is back here coaching…A girl I wrestled from Soldotna is now back in Ketchikan and is coaching…You see things like that. People getting so much from the sport and then giving back to the sport and then developing it is awesome. We muddled through when it was like a boys’ wrestling program and there were some girls, but now that there is a place for girls it makes a huge difference. It is the difference between a little seasoning and a whole meal.”

With the sounds of athletes in competition on the mats below them, a group of young athletes had gathered around the 10-year anniversary display.

The words “so awesome” and “cool” and “incredible” were overhead being passed back and forth.

In photos were the eight original girls’ state champions: Scammon Bay’s 98-pound Johanna Bell (now lives in Anchorage) works for the Alaska Village Council of Presidents and is attending the University of Alaska Fairbanks for a Rural Human Services certificate. 103-pound Moira Sheldon ran cross country and wrestled at Umpqua Community College and returned to Kotzebue to work for Bering Air. Bethel 120-pound Kelly O’Brian attended Brown University and played varsity rugby. She lives in Providence, Rhode Island, and works in an emergency room while preparing for medical school.

MEHS 132-pound Brittany Woods-Orrison earned All-American wrestling honors at Menlo College, has a degree in psychology and has been prominent on Indigenous issues; MEHS 145-pound Sydnee Kimber won her first of four state titles. She won world and junior national titles and achieved All-American status, won four individual titles at McKendree University and is a two-time Olympic trials qualifier. Kimber will be playing for the Seattle Rugby Club in the 2028 Olympic games.

MEHS 160-pound Kanesha Lie wrestled at Ferrum College and works in Fairbanks as a chemical dependency counselor. MEHS 182-pound Lyric Wiggins earned nursing degrees at Portland State and University of Texas. She is currently an emergency medical services first responder in the Fort Worth Fire Department. Homer 235-pound Heather Harrington lives in Fairbanks with her husband and two children.

“I think wrestling is one sport that teaches a lot of things,” Mike Kimber said. “Kids learn how to work hard and deal with problems, how to be successful. They learn humility, discipline and being part of something more than themselves. It teaches resiliency and that’s what those girls all show.”

A timeline was also laid out for viewers: 1970-80, elementary aged girls step onto Alaska wrestling mats; 1989 Afsoon Rashanzamir earns the first world medal for USA wrestling with a bronze at 47kg; 1990, earliest accounts of Alaska girls wrestling on high school teams; 1992, Tricia Saunders wins the first women’s world gold medal for USA Wrestling; 2004, women’s freestyle wrestling is in the Olympics (O’Donnell is noted for competing in the premier women’s Olympic event; 2006, Michaela Hutchison (Soldotna) becomes first girl to win a high school wrestling state title against boys at 103 pounds at the Alaska state championships; 2014, Mike Kimber petitions to ASAA and Alaska sanctions high school girls’ wrestling.

The timeline then appeals to the readers; “2024, You are competing at the 10th Alaska girls’ high school wrestling state championships! You are making history!”

“There is some young girl watching up there,” Kimber said, looking up into the Alaska Airlines Center’s crowded wrestling fans, then turning his gaze to the action on the mats said, “And she is going to be inspired to be down here.”

Girls 2024 State Championships

Team Standings

1) Soldotna 169.5; 2) Colony 136; 3) SWDP 134.5; 4) South Anchorage 132.5; 5) Wasilla 84.5; 6) North Pole 69; 7) Mt. Edgecumbe 68; 8) Lathrop 63; 9) Homer 58; 10) Palmer 55; 11) Chugiak 48; 12) Napaskiak 44.5; 13) East Anchorage 39; 14) Bethel 37; 15) Newhalen 35; 16) Service 34.5; 17) Wrangell 30.5; 18) Hoonah City 29.5; 19) Dimond, Nome 26 (tie); 21) Redington 24; 22) Kayhi 22; 23) Juneau-Douglas 21.5; 24) Delta, Dillingham 21; 26) Eagle River 20.5; 27) Houston, Nikiski 19; 29) Kenai Central, Valdez, West Valley 18; 32) Metlakatla 15.5; 33) Bristol Bay 11; 34) Hydaburg 10; 35) Kodiak, Kotzebue 7; 37) Barrow 6; 38) Bartlett, Galena, Sand Point 4 (tie); 41) Hutchison, Tuntutuliak 3 (tie); 43) Seward 2; 44) Shaktoolik 1.

Individual results

100 pounds – 1) Grace Loutzenhiser (Colony); 2) Hayden Kumfer (SWDP); 3) Claire Dyment (Bethel); 4) Jessica LeClair (Soldotna); 5) Naomi Keller (Soldotna); 6) Renee Brown (Nome)

107 pounds – 1) Jade Sherry (SWDP); 2) Valarie McAnelly (Soldotna); 3) Nixie Schooler (Juneau); 4) Megan Cornett (SWDP); 5) Brooklyn Duelfer (South); 6) Talia Jenkins (Chugiak)

114 pounds – 1) Mia Hannevold (Soldotna); 2) Nevaeh George (Mt. Edgecumbe); 3) Jaelynn Colby (North Pole); 4) Hayden Vanderpool (Colony) 5) Christabelle Minke (Homer); 6) Kaylani Vreeland (Dimond)

120 pounds – 1) Lillie Vansieman (Palmer); 2) Pagan Leser (Newhalen); 3) Braelyn Troxell (Colony); 4) Della Churchill (Wrangell); 5) Nyah O’Neil (Dimond); 6) Solveig Finstad (Lathrop)

126 pounds – 1) Krista Howland (Hoonah); 2) Rowan Peck (Soldotna); 3) Sarah Callender (Palmer); 4) Alora Wassily (Dillingham); 5) Jane Douglas (Delta); 6) Ida Lester (Newhalen)

132 pounds – 1) Saorise Cook (Homer); 2) Summer Boling (Kayhi); 3) Olivia Probasco (Wasilla); 4) Braylynn Young (Nikiski); 5) Taryn Wright (Wasilla); 6) Eliza Anders (West Valley)

138 pounds – 1) Brynlee Lutz (Wasilla); 2) Desiree Moore (North Pole); 3) Annika Johnson (Chugiak); 4) Adalyn Samuelson (Napaskiak); 5) Lexi Cook (Metlakatla); 6) Heavan Copeland (East)

145 pounds – 1) Amelia Fawcett (Colony); 2) Saige Morris (South); 3) Daisy Hannevold (Soldotna); 4) Lacey Sherman (Nome); 5) Kirstyn Passin (Valdez); 6) Rylie Boyscout (Chugiak)

152 pounds – 1) Kiann Williams (SWDP); 2) Savannah Stout (South); 3) Hilary Larson (Napaskiak); 4) Bella Byrd (Soldotna); 5) Kaari Storrs (Eagle River); 6) Alica Balash (Lathrop)

165 pounds – 1) Jessailah Thammavongsa (South); 2) Infinity-Ann Asiata-Higa (Soldotna); 3) Alexia Zacharof (Mt. Edgecumbe); 4) McKinley Hafen (Wasilla); 5) Jenna Yoeman (Kenai Central); 6) Megan Connelley (Lathrop)

185 pounds – 1) Keasiya Luedde (Service); 2) Maya Curp (South); 3) Ayana Hamilton (Eaast); 4) Thalia Martinez (Lathrop); 5) Nikayla Miller (Redington); 6) Milla Harris (North Pole)

235 pounds – 1) Noelle Buck (Colony); 2) Honey Rexford (SWDP); 3) Allison Coffey (South); 4) Kimberly Tischner (Houston); 5) Ari O’Domin (Bristol Bay); 6) Sophie Didrickson (Mt. Edgecumbe)

JDHS results

107 pounds

Nixie Schooler (21-4) placed 3rd and scored 21.5 team points.

Champ. Round 1 – Schooler def. Sophia Ellibee (Colony High School) 7-5 by fall 1:12

Quarterfinal – Schooler def. Megan Cornett (SWDP) 35-9 by fall 1:12

Semifinal – Jade Sherry (SWP) 35-0 def. Schooler by fall 4:00

Cons. Semi – Schooler def. Talia Jenkins (Chugiak) 24-13 by fall 1:35

3rd Place Match – Schooler def. Megan Cornett (SWDP) 35-9 by TF-1.5 3:33 (15-0)

• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@juneauempire.com.