Thunder Mountain Middle School’s Leighton Hall earns state title in Tanana
- Klas Stolpe
- Mar 2
- 6 min read
Falcons travel with 44 wrestlers, place 12 on medal stand at state championships
By Klas Stolpe
Juneau Independent
While the size and popularity of the Tanana Middle School Wrestling Invitational continues to grow, one thing remains the same — the outstanding grappling from the Thunder Mountain Middle School Falcons.
“The kids did really well,” TMMS head coach and seventh- and eighth-grade teacher Ken Brown said. “They wrestled hard and, although it didn't always turn out in our favor, they worked really hard and represented Juneau well on and off the mat.”
The Falcons placed 12 wrestlers on the medal stand of what is considered the state championships for middle school grappling, and for the first time they represented the Juneau School District with a full team of entrants.
“I couldn’t be any more impressed by this team,” TMMS assistant coach Jason Hass said. “The maturity they displayed off the mat was matched only by their growth on the mat. I think sometimes we underestimate what this age group is capable of. But when empowered with responsibility and challenged by expectations, they rose to the occasion. They all earned the right to be the first team to represent the JSD at Tanana.”
TMMS eighth grader Leighton Hall earned a 105.5-pound state title, finishing her time on the mat with a 5-0 record and with a pin in the championship bout over Aislyn Gleason of Randy Smith Middle School.
“It feels really good to be a state champion,” Hall exclaimed. “Last year I took fifth, so it shows all my hard work has paid off. The pressure and nerves building up to that final match was a lot, so to finally win was really emotional for me. I am really proud of this win and proud of myself getting this far in a sport I love...Going into my final match I felt nervous in front of hundreds of people and I did not want to let myself down. But I did what coach Hass said, which is to not change anything, and just go out there and wrestle how I always do, and that is what I did. Wrestled smart, did not try to change anything up too much, and it worked.”
Roughly 750 athletes from 41 teams wrestled about 2,000 matches at the tournament. The Falcons placed sixth when female and male scores were combined as a team with 309.5 points. Fairbanks’ Student Wrestling Development Program placed first with 21 wrestlers scoring 481.5; Palmer’s Colony Middle School was second with 25 wrestlers scoring 455.5; Wasilla’s Redington Middle School third with 31 wrestlers scoring 385.5; Wasilla’s Teeland Middle School fourth with 23 wrestlers scoring 385 and Soldotna’s Skyview Middle School fifth with 24 wrestlers scoring 381.
Other Southeast middle schools included Wrangell Middle School 16th with 10 wrestlers scoring 158.5; Petersburg 26th with four wrestlers scoring 55; Sitka’s Blatchley Middle School 30th with five wrestlers scoring 46.5; Haines Middle School 33rd with five wrestlers scoring 36.5; and Klawock Chieftains Middle School 37th with four wrestlers scoring 21.5.
“Leighton Hall was determined and would not be denied,” coach Brown said. “She is a real tough kid who will not back down from a challenge. Andrew Erickson came up short of his goal, but that kid is determined and with his work ethic I cannot wait to see how his high school career unfolds. Very proud to have been given the opportunity to coach him and his teammates. Sinira Tomanogi made the finals with only two months experience. Not because it was easy, she is naturally that good. Watch out for her in high school.”
The tournament has finally officially outgrown the Tanana Middle School, where the Falcons stayed, and this year West Valley High School hosted the competition.
“Andrew Erickson made it to the finals but was never quite able to get into the rhythm of match he’s accumulated to,” Hass said. “However, prior to the finals he wrestled relentless never ceding anything. Our third and least experienced finalist of the evening was novice Sinira Tomanogi. Sinira just began wrestling last year and has fallen in love with the sport. Due to her lack of experience she was barely seeded in the bracket, yet made the finials. I would have to look, but I highly doubt any other finalist outperformed their seed by this big a margin. Although she wrestled with suffocating intensity the entire tournament, she lost in the finals to a long-time veteran of the sport.”
A notable achievement for the Juneau Youth Wrestling Club and Thunder Mountain Middle School was the ability to field an entire roster of TMMS grapplers.
“This was made possible by an effort of many dedicated individuals,” Hass said. “And a partnership between the Juneau School District, Bears & Falcons Wrestling Boosters and the Juneau Youth Wrestling Club.”
Three weeks earlier, weather prompted the cancellation of flights and prevented TMMS from traveling to the Southeast Alaska regional tournament in Ketchikan. Members of the above three organizations came together to turn a Southeast Alaska travel hiccup into a blessing and, with money saved from one trip, all wrestlers could travel to the state’s most challenging middle school tournament.
TMMS Falcons to place included eighth grader Leighton Hall (5-0 in the tournament) first at 105.5 pounds, eighth grader Andrew Erickson (4-1) second at 126 pounds, eighth grader Sinira Tomanogi (3-1) second at 145 pounds, eighth grader Minali Reid (6-1) third at 128 pounds, eighth grader Ngai Kivalu (5-1) third at 136 pounds, eighth grader Logan Sivertsen (5-2) fourth at 105 pounds, seventh grader Finley Hulson (1-2) fourth at 81 pounds, eighth grader Koltin Krueger (4-2) fifth at 174 pounds, seventh grader Sophia Beedle (0-3) sixth at 81 pounds, eighth grader Sean Smack (4-2) seventh at 140 pounds, and seventh grader Cole Savland (4-3) eighth at 132 pounds.
Sixth grader Morgan Pegues (3-2) entered the tournament as a JYWC grappler and placed fourth at 91 pounds. JYWC wrestlers that traveled with the team included sixth graders Garrett Sturrock (1-2) at 91 pounds and Zane Darbonne (2-2) at 84 pounds.
Hall acknowledged how important her teammates are to her.
“It really does help a lot knowing that I have a team that supports me and really great coaches in my corner,” Hall said. “I am really grateful to have the support from my family and friends at school too. Without that support I am not sure I would be wrestling.”
Other TMMS wrestlers that traveled included eighth graders Haylee Dyer-Ondrejka (2-1 at 155 pounds), Hunter Ridle (2-2 at 114), Matvii Kozodoi (2-2 at 148), Hinai Kuma (0-2 at 136), Ben Lansing (0-2 at 140), Sierra Savage (2-2 at 136), Gavin Tobacco (0-2 at 118), Eli Underwood Knowles (2-2 at 110), Momar Diouf (1-2 at 114), Aaro Eckerson (1-2 at 148), Tanner Freebury (0-2 at 105), Wyatt Hickock (2-2 at 133), Guy Hunter (0-2 at 133), William Lansing (3-2 at 160), Boe Reigard (3-2 at 140) and Amelia Ryder (1-2 at 120) and manager Cole Whiting (160, injured); and seventh graders Cash Miller (4-2 at 105), Jacob “Tug” Hansen (2-2 at 105), Janessa Dutton (1-2 at 113), Kael Prince (0-2 at 140), Neviah Blanton (0-2 at 89), Steven Fairchild (0-2 at 140), Troy Peters (1-2 at 77), Jeremiah Filipo (1-2 at 210), Margaret Olson (3-2 at 128), Casey Blackwell (1-2 at 113), Darion Brown (0-2 at 148), Lindwood ‘Woody’ Collins (0-2 at 114), Harper Durham (0-2 at 120) and Otto Lindoff (1-2 at 133).
Some special achievements included Hickock tying for the second fastest pin just nine seconds into a match and Tomanogi the fastest technical fall in an incredible 28 seconds.
The team thanked many volunteers for their efforts to make the trip possible, including JYWC Vice President Megan Hulson, who was instrumental in regard to the travel changes and is the ultimate wrestling mom and chaperone at the tournaments.
“I am a very proud coach,” TMMS’ Brown said. “I can't wait for next year. Gary Reid, Jason Hass, Pete Hulson, Joardan Savland, Landon Hill, Tom Pegues, Chris Heideman, and Alex Marx-Bierly were outstanding coaches who really did a great job of teaching the kids to be champions on and off the mat. A massive thank you to Jen Pegues and Shelly Crowe and all the other parents who worked tirelessly to help us fundraise and communicate with parents. They make my job easier.”
• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@gmail.com.
