Mariners upset ranked wrestling opponents

• Wyatt wins Glenn Vandergaw Tourney

By Chris Perk
Special to the Homer Tribune
Fresh off a 41–34 victory over Soldotna, where the Mariners honored seniors Eli Garvey and Josh Brandy, the team went on to place ninth out of 18 teams at the Glenn Vandergaw Classic hosted at Dimond High School. 
On Tuesday night, with the score 36–34 in favor of the Mariners, Travis Catron was in a must-win situation to hold onto the Homer lead. He did more than that, as he won by technical fall, 15 -0. Catron’s decisive victory – along with pins from Wyatt and Brandt – gave the home team something to celebrate. Garvey bumped up two weight classes to defeat Soldotna’s 119-pounder Nick Davis. 
On Saturday, only six members of the Mat Team went north to Dimond. Five of them placed in the top six. The majority of the region and state 4A teams were in attendance, which means the Mariners could be peaking at the right time of the season. While some of the team stayed home to study and rest up from a busy academic week, Eli Garvey continued his surge at 103 pounds. 
Garvey’s fourth-place finish and upset of No. 4-ranked Noah Roatman from Colony, 11-3, was a sure sign that Garvey could very well place in the top six at State this season. Colony is the No. 1-ranked team in the state. Garvey has lost twice to Kenai’s Hope Steffensen, who is ranked No. 3 by akmat.org. 
“Once Eli can believe that he can get off the bottom, he will be able to win this match,” Coach Chris Perk said. “Steffensen was able to control Garvey for much of both matches, eventually turning him to his back for near-fall points.”
Wyatt, who has a 12-match winning streak under his belt, defeated the No. 5 and 6 state-ranked wrestlers en route to his championship the Vandergraw tourney. He will maintain his No. 3 ranking in the state. 
Wyatt was able to control his opponents using a tight-waist hold that tired out his opponents, as well as his new move of a front headlock to score takedowns. Wyatt will be looking forward to Regions, where he may tangle with Caleb Pempek from Wasilla. Pempek is currently ranked No. 1 in the state.
Junior Larry Croft, who now has 21 wins this season, scored the biggest upset of the year as he turned Dan Wilson from East High School to his back two times before pinning him in the second period on Saturday. This win allowed him to earn a fourth-place finish. Junior Ben Harville joined Croft as a fourth-place finisher after a win over Kevin Hunter from Kenai. Harville used his favorite pinning combo – a power half – to pin Hunter, before losing to Service’s Jason Jeffords. Jeffords is ranked sixth in the state.
Chris Franklin, a freshman in his first varsity competition, was able to use a forfeit to his advantage when a wrestler did not make weight. Franklin placed sixth overall, while DJ Marsengill also competed at 119 pounds and won a match. 
The Mariners will use the next two weeks to master their moves as they train for the Regional Tourney at Wasilla on Dec. 4. From there, the top six place-winners will advance to the State Tourney the following weekend.