After turning in second place finishes for two years, the Bethel Warriors took first at the 1-2-3A State Wrestling Championships this weekend at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage. The victory marks Bethel’s seventh state championship title and sets a new record for Alaska’s small schools. The team scored 264.5 points, 18.5 points more than defending champion Homer High School. KYUK went to Bethel High School on Monday to talk with the champions following their win.
Going into the second day of the tournament Saturday morning, things looked dire for the Bethel Warriors.
“We were down by 17 points or so," said Darren Lieb, Bethel Regional High School wrestling coach.
“You know everybody felt Homer was going to win, and they’ve been doing it all season," Lieb continued. "They were the number two team in the state… up until this weekend.”
Homer won state last year, knocking Bethel into second place for the second year in a row.
But Thomas Dyment, a Bethel junior, says that by Saturday afternoon’s finals, the Warriors knew this championship was theirs.
“Because we were up by, like, 20 points. There were, like, two matches left when we figured that we won. I couldn’t really believe it," Dyment said, "because my whole high school career we were taking second in the state tournament. So I was pretty happy about that.”
Dyment earned his third state championship title in the 106 pound weight class at the tournament and finished the season undefeated.
His final match ended 12-0 against Homer’s Wayne Newman, an opponent he defeated at state last year as well.
Bethel Freshman Hayden Lieb was voted Outstanding Wrestler of the Year by the coaches at the tournament. He says he’s proud yet daunted by the award.
“It feels pretty nice but pretty scary at the same time, because I know now that kids are out to beat me. And I just have to work, like, 10 times harder just to still be at that level of winning those kind of things,” he said.
Lieb ended the season 27 - 1. His single loss was to Glenallen senior Jared Virgin, although Lieb defeated Virgin later in the season. In the final this weekend, the two opponents, both 1-1 against each other, faced off for the state title. Lieb says he approached the mat repeating words from his coach, who also happens to be his dad.
“I have to go out there and be aggressive and wrestle my match to win, and if I don’t wrestle my match and wrestle his match, he’s going to beat me.”
But Lieb beat Virgin and earned his first state title.
Bethel Senior Tristen Evan took his third state championship title in the 120 pound weight class and advanced to his fourth state final. Evan went into overtime against Curt Bartlett of Sitka, who had defeated Evan in the ACS tournament earlier this year.
“It was a tough match all the way," said Evan. "The score was tied 1-1, which sent us into overtime. He got in on a shot on me, but I encountered it pretty good and scored off that.”
Two-time state champion Kelly O’Brien, a Bethel junior, came in second this weekend. A disappointment, she says, after beating everyone in her 145 pound weight class the day before. But the season had an upside.
“I got to wrestle against more girls. There were more girl tournaments, and so there are more girls in the programs, so there’s a lot more match time,” O'Brien said.
Of the Bethel Warriors’ 40 wrestlers this year, six are girls. O’Brien wants to see more girls entering the sport in Bethel and is encouraging her nieces to join.
Over half the Warrior team qualified for state this year. Five advanced to the championship finals.
After all the excitement this weekend, the Warrior champions returned to school Monday to a few congratulations from peers and teachers, but Hayden Lieb says most people had something else on their minds.
“I’m taking my first and second hour final today after lunch,” he said on Monday morning.
Lieb says the team had time to study this weekend, but who can study at a state championship?
“I’m not ready," he said with a laugh, "but I’ll just get through it.”
