The Rewind: Dimond and Soldotna claim state football titles, Wolverines sweep Wisconsin, and UAF’s Kendall Kramer wins 3rd GNAC cross-country title

Welcome to The Rewind, a weekly digest that puts a spotlight on the biggest stories and best performances from Alaska’s world of sports.

This past week featured several notable individual and team performances across the Alaska sports landscape at the high school, collegiate and professional levels. The final week of high school football action saw two state champions crowned at the Division I and II levels. On the college scene, the University of Alaska hockey program dropped a two-game home series while the men’s basketball team opened the season with a two-game series sweep. Outside the state, several Alaskans had impressive performances and career achievements worth recognizing and celebrating.

Headlines and highlights

The 2024 high school football season in Alaska came to a close over the weekend with two state championship games that played out in polar opposite fashions. On a frigid Friday night out in the Mat-Su, Dimond capped off an undefeated season and ended a 23-year title drought by beating defending Division I state champion West in a 14-7 low-scoring defensive battle.

“I had all the faith in the world in our defense,” Dimond head coach Brian Yim said. “Coach (Nick) Middleton puts in so much work, and the defensive staff puts in so much work coming up with strategies, coming up with tendencies and trying to figure everything out. They do a great job of getting us in the right position.”

[Dimond football caps off undefeated season with DI state championship win against West]

On Saturday, the fifth straight Division II title bout between Lathrop and Soldotna saw a lot more points scored. The Stars ultimately prevailed 49-28 after outscoring the Malemutes 29-7 in the second half to come from behind and claim their second straight championship, 14th in program history and the 13th under Alaska’s winningest head coach, Galen Brantley.

“I think with our kids too, just having a strike-back mentality (was important),” he said. “We knew we were going to have some adversity. We knew they were going to make some plays and we just wanted to be able to answer. And I think our kids did that every time.”

[With a stellar second half, Soldotna makes it back-to-back DII football titles]

On the college scene, the University of Alaska Anchorage had a packed weekend of action between hockey, men’s basketball, volleyball and cross-country running.

At the rink, the Seawolves hosted nationally ranked Colorado College for a two-game series and although both contests were close, UAA dropped both. The Seawolves lost the first game 2-1 on Friday night and were shut out 2-0 on Saturday. The team’s lone goal of the weekend came from senior forward and local product Tanner Edwards, who found the back of the net in the third period of the first game.

“It’s a good measuring stick for where we’ve come through eight games,” UAA head coach Matt Shasby said Saturday. “(Friday) night was a good game, and I think our guys left a lot on the ice, and I feel like our first two periods tonight was more of a recovery from last night’s competition, but we’ve come a long way in eight games.”

[UAA hockey drops weekend series to No. 9-ranked Colorado College]

The men’s basketball team found much greater success in their season-opening series against Warner Pacific by notching a pair of 25-plus point victories on Friday and Saturday. The Seawolves scored 80 or more points and held the Knights to under 60 points in each game. They were led in scoring by guards Tyler Burraston and Sean Evans who each scored a combined 35 points between the two games.

“Tonight was another positive step forward for us,” UAA head coach Rusty Osborne said in a statement on Saturday. “With three huge games coming up next week, we were able to get more experience together as a new group, and we showed nice balance offensively. It was also great to see (redshirt junior) Malik Jackson finally get a chance to play and contribute (9 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists in 15 minutes) after fighting through some tough injuries last season.”

Out on the trails down in Bellingham, Washington, the cross country teams for both UAA and UAF competed in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship. The most notable performance of the bunch was UAF’s Kendall Kramer who claimed her third individual title in the women’s division with a time of 20:32.30. She and teammate Rosie Fordham who came in second with a time of 20:54.30 led the Nanooks to a second place finish as a team.

“We started out super relaxed, and our workouts have built us up to feel really good around this time of year,” Kramer said in a statement.

Both UAA teams finished in third place in their respective divisions. The Seawolves highest placers for the men were John Peckham and Zach Grams, who finished fifth and sixth with marks of 24:40 and 24:42. Meanwhile, in the women’s division, senior Nell Baker led the UAA women with a fifth-place finish after clocking in a time of 21:45 and Alexandra Otto earned GNAC Freshman of the Year after finishing in eighth place with a time of 21:57.

“This team nailed it when it counted,” UAA associate head coach Chas Davis said in a statement. “It’s especially impressive with five freshmen on the men’s side and a lot of new people still on the women’s side, to be six points off the No. 10 team in the country is wild. All the credit to this team when they kept believing through the inevitable rough patches this season.”

The UAA volleyball team split its two conference matches this past week, getting swept in straight sets by Western Oregon last Thursday and bouncing back by doing the same to Saint Martin’s two days later on Saturday. The Seawolves were led in kills this past week by senior outside hitter Katie Birtcil with 17 followed by senior hitter Bethany Tuchardt with 16.

“That was an outstanding effort from everyone today,” UAA head coach Stacie Meisner said in a statement Saturday. “We had struggled the last couple matches, but we did a great job of leaving the past behind and focusing on today. Leilani stepped up with a huge individual performance, and the whole team fed off that energy.”

UAF’s volleyball team is on a three-match winning streak after notching a pair of five-set victories last week against the same two teams their in-state rivals played. The Nanooks pulled a reverse sweep on the Wolves on Saturday, rallying to win the last three sets after dropping the first two. They swept the GNAC Player of the Week honors with senior Karli Nielson receiving offensive recognition for the second time this season after racking up 43 kills in the two matches while junior Elena Guc received defensive acknowledgement after logging 10 blocks.

“Karli was outstanding this week,” UAF head coach Brian Scott said in a statement. “She had moments this weekend where she looked absolutely unstoppable on the attack. She also made some clutch defensive plays and serves in both matches. Karli would be the first person to tell you that she can only be good at what she does because she has teammates that are good at what they do.”

“Elena seemed to make the right play at the right time all weekend,” Scott added. “When we needed to have a kill she got it. If it was a stop we needed, she came up with the block. She was extremely good at making the right decisions at all the right times.”

The Anchorage Wolverines were back on their home ice to begin a 10-game homestand with a weekend series against the Midwest division-leading Wisconsin Windigo and pulled off an impressive sweep. An explosive second period in which they scored four goals broke the first game wide open as they cruised to a 6-3 victory on Friday night. The second game was much more tightly contested and went into overtime when forward Daniel Bagnole scored his second goal of the night at the literal last second to secure a 5-4 win. He was one of two Wolverines to record multiple goals over the weekend with the other two being fellow forwards Cole Christian and Connor Jalbert who each also had a pair.

Alaska stars shining Outside

Anchorage’s Tyree Wilson had his best game of his second season in the NFL in the Las Vegas Raiders’ 27-20 loss to the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday. The 2023 first-round pick recorded his first sack of the season on a key third down to force a punt, finished with a season-high three total tackles including a pair or solos and one for a loss and a quarterback hit. Wilson’s overall Pro Football Focus grade of 73.6 was the fourth-highest on the team.

Anchorage’s Brandon Pili played a career-high 17 defensive snaps for the Miami Dolphins and recorded just his second career solo tackle in the team’s 28-27 loss to the Arizona Cardinals in Week 8.

Anchorage’s Jeremy Swayman prevented 20-of-23 shots from finding the back of the net in the Boston Bruins’ 4-3 overtime win over the Toronto Maple Leafs this past Saturday.

Anchorage’s Deuce Zimmerman set career highs with 11 receptions for 124 receiving yards and four touchdowns in a monster performance for Western New Mexico University on Saturday. The former Bettye Davis East Anchorage standout just missed out on making single-game scoring history for the NCAA Division II Lone Star Conference. Zimmerman nearly helped the Mustangs rally from an early 20-0 deficit after the first quarter in a 41-34 loss to rival Eastern New Mexico University in the Chile Bowl.

Anchorage’s Elijah Reed and Malachi Casey played key roles in the Sierra College football team’s 41-9 blowout win over Santa Rosa on Saturday. Reed, a former East star, recorded 35 rushing yards on five carries for an average of seven yards a carry and reached the end zone for the second week in a row on a touchdown run of over 20 yards.

Casey, a former Dimond standout, set season highs across the board for the second week in a row with five catches for 85 receiving yards including a long of 36 to finish as the Wolverines second-leading receiver in back-to-back weeks.

Juneau’s Jamal Johnson led the Fort Lewis College football team in rushing yards and tied for the team lead in carries in the Skyhawks 49-0 loss to Colorado Mesa this past Saturday. Johnson’s 66 yards on the ground were his second-highest total of the season and his lone reception for seven yards brought his scrimmage total to 73 yards, his second-highest single-game total of the season.

Anchorage’s Conner O’Farrell finished as the second leading tackler for Eastern Washington in the Eagles’ 38-28 loss to the University of Idaho on Saturday. The former Service standout logged a single-game season-high nine total tackles including four solos.

Anchorage’s Brooke Dexter helped lead the Simon Fraser University volleyball team extend its winning streak to seven with a four-set victory over Western Washington University this past Saturday. The former West High standout led the Red Leafs with 17 kills, 20.5 total points and fell one dig shy of a double-double with nine.

Anchorage’s Marisol Vargas stopped five of six attempts to get the ball past her and into the back of the net as the starting goalkeeper for the University of St. Mary (Kansas) women’s soccer team in the Spires’ 2-1 victory over Bethel (Kansas) on Saturday.

Fast Forward

Prep

Swimming

Region IV championships at Bartlett High School, Friday and Saturday

The 2024 high school postseason will get underway across the state with regional action with the state meet just a week away.

College

Women’s basketball

Simpson v. UAA at Alaska Airlines Center, Friday at 7 p.m.

The Seawolves will officially open their 2024-2025 season on their home court with a two-game exhibition series against the Red Hawks with the second game taking place on Saturday with a tipoff time of 4 p.m.

Volleyball

Seattle Pacific v. UAA at Alaska Airlines Center, Thursday at 7 p.m.

The Seawolves will be back in action at home for a pair of conference matches starting with the Falcons and then the Montana State Billings Yellowjackets two days later on Saturday night with the same start time.

NAHL

Chippewa Steel at Anchorage Wolverines, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

The Wolverines will continue their homestand at Sullivan Arena with a two-game weekend series against their Midwest division foes who they blew out on the road 6-0 earlier this month.

Last week’s results

High school

RIFLERY

Thursday

Eagle River 7, East 0

Eagle River 3278, East 2863

A team

Eagle River (1128) - Beirl A. 290-19, Floyd 285-16, Bell 277-8, Berg 276

East (1060) - Harstad-Bell 271-9, Woolley 267-9, Amel 262-3, Sobrepena 260-8

B team

Eagle River (1087) - Griedanus H 272-10, Bierl C. 272-9, Westman 272-6, Greidanus R. 271-9

East (985) - Yim 257-2, Vang 255-4, Sabado 251-6, Deitz 222-2

C team

Eagle River (1063) - Merrstein 268-10, King 265-1, Jacobs 265-8, Davies 265-7

East (818) - Barrios 214-5, Crockett 207, Kiunya 202, Kierra 195

Friday

Service 7, Dimond 0

Service 3,315; Dimond 3,205

A team

Service (1,143)— Riffe 293, Hoppe 284, Flatt 284, Nickerson 282

Dimond (1,105)— Humphries 277, Delmendo 277, Lin 276, Coonrad 275

B team

Service (1,099) — Suralta 277, Peterson 276, Miller, C 273, Conway 273

Dimond (1,069) — Snyder 273, Koloski 270, Collins 263, Kain-Patterson 263

C team

Service (1,073) — Olson 270, Gunn 270, Osborn 269, Nelson 264

Dimond (1,031) — Beirne 260, Larson 260, Kawashima 259, Elsberry 252

• • •

VOLLEYBALL

Monday

Cook Inlet Academy 3, Ninilchik 0 (25-18, 25-13, 25-17)

Wasilla 3, West 0

Tuesday

Birchwood Christian 3, Susitna Valley 1 (23-25, 25-21, 25-15, 25-19)

Kenai Central 3, Nikiski 1 (24-26, 25-16, 25-16, 25-19)

Grace Christian 3, Houston 0 (25-13, 25-16, 26-24)

Dimond 3, West 0 (25-23, 25-16, 25-18)

South 3, Eagle River 0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-14)

Service 3, Bartlett 1 (26-24, 18-25, 25-15, 25-8)

East 3, Chugiak 0 (26-24, 25-23, 25-22)

Thursday

Seward 3, Homer 0 (25-18, 25-23, 25-17)

Mountain City 3, Houston 0 (25-15, 25-22, 25-17)

Wasilla 3, West Valley 0

Palmer 3, North Pole 0 (25-7, 25-15, 25-21)

East 3, Juneau 0 (25-9, 25-9, 25-22)

Friday

Dimond 1, Colony 1 (23-25, 25-11)

Colony 2, Juneau-Douglas 0

Palmer 2, West 0 (25-17, 25-8)

Palmer 2, Valdez 0 (25-18, 25-20)

Colony 2, Grace Christian 0 (25-13, 25-16)

Susitna Valley 3, Cook Inlet Academy 0 (25-19, 25-13, 25-13)

Palmer 2, West Valley 0 (25-22, 25-14)

Kenai Central 2, Lathrop 0 (25-12, 25-18)

South 2, North Pole 0 ( 25-16, 25-8)

Service 1, Palmer (14-25, 25-20)

Colony 2, Kodiak 0 (25-10, 25-11)

Lathrop 2, Bartlett 0 (25-15, 25-19)

• • •

FOOTBALL

Friday

Dimond 14, West 7

Saturday

Soldotna 49, Lathrop 28

• • •

College

VOLLEYBALL

Thursday

UAF 3, Saint Martin’s 2 (25-12, 25-21, 20-25, 25-27, 19-17)

Western Oregon 3, UAA 0 (25-14, 25-20, 25-19)

Saturday

UAA 3, Saint Martin’s 0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-22)

UAF 3, Western Oregon 2 (21-25, 19-25, 25-23, 25-22, 15-9)

• • •

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Friday

UAA 80, Warner Pacific 55

Saturday

UAA 88, Warner Pacific 50

• • •

HOCKEY

Friday

Colorado College 2, UAA 1

Saturday

Colorado College 2, UAA 0

• • •

NAHL

Friday

Anchorage Wolverines 6, Wisconsin Windigo 3

Saturday

Anchorage Wolverines 5, Wisconsin Windigo 4 (OT)

• • •

Frightening 4K Results

Women

1. Hailee Giacobbe, Wasilla, AK 13:53; 2. Allison Macy, Chugiak, AK 15:47; 3. Rachel Fairbanks, Anchorage, AK 15:55; 4. Emily Urlacher-Kirkham, Anchorage, AK 16:11; 5. Kyra Walter, Eagle River, AK 16:30; 6. Katie Gatica, Palmer, AK 16:50; 7. Kristin Riall, Anchorage, AK 16:56; 8. Lane Messing, Anchorage, AK 17:00; 9. Jessica Shaffer, Alexandria, VA 17:55; 10. Ellen Kruchoski, Eagle River, AK 18:04; 11. Delia Neroda, Anchorage, AK 18:10; 12. Lindsay Maffei, Windham, NH 18:15; 13. Kaitlyn Michel, Jber, AK 18:32; 14. Grace Volmer, Anchorage, AK 19:18; 15. Mikayla Kalicin, Wasilla, AK 19:27; 16. Jill Duke, Eagle River, AK 19:47; 17. Kelsey Schwartz, Palmer, AK 19:57; 18. Savannah Mccarney, Anchorage, AK 20:04; 19. Aimee O’Neil, Anchorage, AK 20:11; 20. Brie Mahoney, Eagle River, AK 20:17

Men

1. Chris Osiensky, Anchorage, AK 11:48; 2. Dash Dicang, Anchorage, AK 13:20; 3. Josean Olivieri, Eagle River, AK 13:49; 4. Jared Kirkham, Anchorage, WA 14:03; 5. Matthew Varney, Eagle River, AK 14:13; 6. Maxim Macy, Chugiak, AK 14:54; 7. Jack Schamber, Eagle River, AK 15:16; 8. Grant Ellingson, Anchorage, AK 15:20; 9. Carlos Glines, Reno, NV 15:41; 10. Tucker Nakken, Eagle River, Ak, AK 15:48; 11. Connor Woodley, Eagle River, AK 16:24; 12. Daniel Confalone, Anchorage, AK 16:29; 13. Zach Blanton, Anchorage, AK 16:30; 14. Gianfranco De Marzo, Anchorage, AK 16:33; 15. Josiah Thompson, Anchorage, AK 16:36; 16. Reubin Williams, Anchorage, AK 16:36; 17. Oliver Casurella, Anchorage, AK 16:36; 18. Haro Ross, Anchorage, AK 16:36; 19. Reyce Lee, Anchorage, AK 16:42; 20. Griffin Walter, Eagle River, AK 16:49