BRHS girls make history with 2nd place finish

The Bethel Warrior girls wrestling team placed second at the 2018 State Wrestling finals last weekend. It is the first time the BRHS girls have won the runner up spot at state. photo by Greg Lincoln

by Tommy Wells

The Bethel Regional High School Lady Warriors etched their names into the school’s history books this past weekend by turning in an eye-opening performance at the ASAA Division II Girls State Wrestling Tournament in Anchorage. The BRHS girls powered their way to a second-place finish in the overall team standings.

“Our girls’ team made BRHS history by bringing home a second-place trophy for the first time ever,” said Bethel head wrestling coach Darren Lieb. “We had a lot of compliments on how well this team competed in several tough matches.”

Bethel, which fielded just nine wrestlers for the three-day meet which began Thursday at the Alaska Airlines Center, had five wrestlers finish in the top five in their respective weight classifications and rolled up 102 points. Mt. Edgecumbe won the girls’ state title with 141.

Dellarae Charlie and Kelsi Madson helped the Lady Warriors get off to a solid start, scoring-wise. The two both placed in the top five in the 103-pound weight classification and accounted for 32 points.

Charlie was among three second-place finishers by turning in stellar effort. She won both of her first two bouts en route to earning a berth in the finals against Eielson’s Jolie Lucas. After opening with wins over Scammon Bay’s Leah Amukon and Kotzebue’s Jessica McCall, she moved into the finals.

Madson placed fifth in the division after posting a 4-2 record, including a 5-1 victory over McCall in the fifth-place contest.

Cadence Cedars also wrestled in the 103-pound division but did not place.

Rebecca Samuelson and Lindsey Beans-Polk also garnered silver medals by taking runner-up honors in their respective classes. Samuelson went 3-1 over the weekend and moved into the finals of the 130-pound division. She suffered a tough 3-1 loss in overtime to South Anchorage’s Shelby Ottum in the championship bout.

Beans-Polk, who wrestled in the 135-pound bracket, was second to Mt. Edgecumbe’s Brystel Charlie. Overall, Beans-Polk went 3-1 in the tournament.

Jaron Mute collected Bethel’s fourth medal with a third-place finish in the 125-pound division. After winning two of her first three matches, she rolled into the bronze-medal match to face off with Hutchison’s Kaitlynne Rice.

Mute nailed down third-place with a thrilling 4-2 overtime win over Rice.

Shanna Mendenhall and Fiona Phelan also notched wins for the BRHD girls. Mendenhall went 1-2 in the 145-pound ranks. Phelan was 2-2 in the 119-pound class.

Alexis Kinegak also competed in the tournament, going 0-2 in the 285-pound division.

ASAA Girls State Wrestling Championships Dec. 15-17 at Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage

Team Scores

No. Team, Points

1. Mt. Edgecumbe, 141.0; 2. Bethel, 102.0; 3. Lathrop, 92.0; 4. South Anchorage, 88.0; 5. Eielson, 78.0; 6. North Pole, 74.0; 7. Hutchinson, 57.0; 8. Homer, 52.0; 9. Wasilla, 51.5; 10. Kotzebue, 51.0; 11. Eagle River, 40.0; 12. Ketchikan, 39.0; 13. Palmer, 38.0; 14. Nome, 36.0; 15. Dillingham, 35.0; 16. Petersburg, 34.0; 17. West Anchorage, 32.0; 18. Soldotna, 30.0; 19. Wrangell, 26.0; 20. East Anchorage, 24.0; 21. Shaktoolik, 19.0; 22. Valdez, 18.0; 23. Unalaska, 17.0; 24. Barrow, 15.0; 24. Reddington, 15.0; 26. Kodiak, 14.0; 27. Houston, 13.0; 28. Alakanuk, 12.0; 29. Scammon Bay, 11.0; 30. Chevak, 10.0; 30. Dimond, 10.0; 32. Colony, 9.0; 33. Bartlett, 4.0; 33. Buckland, 4.0; 33. Napakiak, 4.0; 33. Noatak, 4.0; 33. Quinhagak, 4.0; 33. Selawik, 4.0; 39. Akiachak, 3.0; 40. Kenai, 1.0; 40. Nikiski, 1.0; 42. Chugiak, 0.0; 42. Cordova, 0.0; 42. Elim, 0.0; 42. Emmonak, 0.0; 42. Gambell, 0.0; 42. Metlakatla, 0.0; 42. Nunam Iqua, 0.0; 42. Nunapitchuk, 0.0; 42. Pilot Station, 0.0; 42. Service, 0.0; 42. Seward, 0.0; 42. Stebbins, 0.0; 42. Thunder Mountain, 0.0.