Thunder Mountain High School wrestler Camden Erickson remained undefeated on the season after capturing the Lancer Smith Memorial 215-pound championship on Saturday at Curtis Menard Center in Wasilla.
Erickson, a junior, pinned Sean Michel of Lathrop High School in the 215-pound finals of the varsity tournament. The individual title is the Falcon’s first at the popular wrestling event in three years. Cody Weldon won the 220-pound weight class at the tournament in 2016.
“He had wrestled that kid (Michel) and beat him last year, but it was a lot closer,” TMHS coach Josh Houston said. “This time, it wasn’t even that competitive, he beat that kid pretty bad. With that, with the other kids that he beat in that tournament, you can just see he’s developed quite a bit since last year.”
Colony High School took first and Lathrop High School took second in the Lancer Smith varsity tournament. The wrestling competition encompasses three high school tournaments (varsity, junior varsity, girls) one middle school tournament and one elementary school tournament.
Thunder Mountain’s 99.5 points were barely enough to stay in front of Wasilla for sixth place.
“I’m super ecstatic about that,” Houston said of the sixth-place finish. “I don’t know, but I would guess Juneau probably has never placed that high in that tournament.”
Seniors Jahrease Mays and Nick Tipton also medaled in their respective weight classes. Mays followed up a quarterfinals loss with four straight victories to finish third in the 125-pound weight class. He won the 125-pound third-place match against Glennallen’s Jordan Korth in an extra session known as the sudden-death period after he and Korth were tied after three periods.
Tipton also rebounded from a quarterfinals defeat with multiple wins. Tipton won by a 3-2 decision against Mark Fisher of North Pole in the 189-pound fifth-place match.
• Contact sports reporter Nolin Ainsworth at 523-2272 or nainsworth@juneauempire.com.
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