Moments before Michelle Canete stepped onto the mat for her 103-pound championship bout Saturday evening, she stood in the corner of the gym jumping back and forth rehearsing the match in her head.

Friday night she was pinned by her opponent, Adam Wood, just 1 minute, 43 seconds into the match.

This time she didn’t want to make the same mistake, especially wrestling at home under the lights for the first time in her four-year high school career.

The time to herself paid off.

Down 3-2 in the second round, Canete came alive and wrestled the way she knew she could, defeating Wood of North Pole 14-4 to earn the 103-pound title in the 31st Robin Hervey Tournament at Kodiak High School.

Her title was the first of four for Kodiak, but it wasn’t enough to overcome North Pole, which finished first with 213 points. The Bears were second with 186.5 points.

Canete’s turnaround was the story of the tournament and it earned her the Wrestler of the Meet award.

“I was really, really, really nervous, because I wrestled the kid last night (Friday) and he pinned me. I didn’t really remember anything of that match, but I didn’t want to get pinned again, especially with it being the spotlight and the finals,” Canete said.

“I was reviewing all the takedowns and if I were to get taken down what to do. I wasn’t going to do anything stupid. I just wanted to wrestle smart,” she added. “Last night (Friday), I lost the match because I did a stupid throw and I don’t even practice throws during practice.”

Canete got a quick takedown of Wood for an early 2-0 lead, but Wood scored the next three points on an escape and a takedown. After that it was all Canete.

Canete, who became Kodiak’s first female wrestler to qualify for the boys state tournament last year, regained the lead 4-3 on a takedown in the second. The takedown nearly resulted in pin, but Wood escaped after being on his back for nearly 30 seconds. But by then, Canete had increased her lead to 9-4 with a near fall. She added two more takedowns and a near fall to finish off Wood.

“I was tired, but I didn’t want to give up anything,” she said.

The title was the first tournament title for the senior.

“She handled it well and didn’t get into panic mode. She fought off a couple of early attacks,” Kodiak coach Pat Costello said.

“She did a real good job on her feet countering his shots. And she did a terrific job on the bottom. Her weak point last year was on the bottom getting away and today (Saturday) she was totally comfortable with the lead,” he added.

Kodiak’s other title winners were Jimmy Eggemeyer (130 pounds), Tuck VanMatre (135 pounds) and Marlon Branson (160 pounds).

Eggemeyer held a 2-0 lead over North Pole’s Kevin Jutila then turned it on for an 18-3 victory that was called with two seconds left in the match.

“Jimmy just dominates,” Costello said. “He hasn’t been tested this year.”

VanMatre and Branson won with forfeit victories, because they were going against teammates and Costello prefers not to wrestle his varsity against each other.

VanMatre received the forfeit from Noah Fields and Branson received the forfeit from Gary Anthony.

Costello said Branson was at his best this weekend.

“When Marlon is on like he was this weekend there are very few kids that can stay with him,” Costello said.

Four other Bears made the finals, but they all lost.

David Castonguay, a freshman, was pinned by New Stuyahok’s Billy Peterson at the 3:29 mark in the 112-pound title bout. Peterson is top-ranked 112-pounder in the 3A class.

Nick VanMatre fell 6-2 to North Pole’s Blayne Kiser in the 125-pound title match, while Charles Martin was pinned by Dimond’s Curtis Ferris 1:46 into the 189-pound championship match. Michael Odell lost a tough 5-3 decision to North Pole’s Jackson Collins in the 215 title bout.

On Friday, Kodiak split a pair of dual matches. The Bears defeated the Sitka/New Stuyahok combined team 51-30 and fell to North Pole – the fourth-ranked 4A team – 42-24.

Kodiak took a major hit during the North Pole match when junior Jimmy Caswell (171) suffered a left shoulder separation after being thrown to the mat by Taylor Lewis. Caswell is out indefinitely.

On Friday, Kodiak travels to the West Invite.

Robin Hervey Tournament

Saturday

Team

1. North Pole 213; 2. Kodiak 186.5; 3. Dimond 101.5; 4. New Stuyahok 83.5; 5. Sitka 76; 6. Bristol Bay 29.5; 7. Voznesenka 22.

Championship matches

103 – Michelle Canete, Kod, maj. dec. Adam Wood, NP, 14-4. 112 — Billy Peterson, New, p. David Castonguay, Kod, 3:29. 119 — John Hanson Jr., New, tech fall Brennan Hamilton, NP, 19-2. 125 — Blayne Kiser, NP, dec. Nick VanMatre , Kod, 6-2. 130 — Jimmy Eggemeyer, Kod, tech fall Kevin Jutila, NP, 18-3. 135 — Tuck VanMatre, Kod, won by forfeit. 140 — Eric Antesberger, NP, dec. Zack Eastlick, 9-3. 145 — Levi Jutila, NP, dec. Torin Lehmann, Sitka, 6-1. 152 — John Paul Croffut, Dim, maj. dec. Kamden Johnson, Sitka, 14-6. 160 — Marlon Branson, Kod, won by forfeit. 171 — Taylor Lewis, NP, dec. Trgve Angasan, Bristol Bay, 7-3. 189 — Curtis Ferris, Dim, p. Charles Martin, Kod, 1:46. 215 — Jackson Collins, NP, dec. Michael Odell, Kod, 5-3. HWT — Clay Tidwell, NP, dec. Alex Lutton, Dim, 13-11.

Third-place matches

103 — Trevor Nelson, Kod, p. Cameron O’Neil, Sitka, 1:43. 112 — Alex Lounsbury, Kod, dec. Wiber Cruz, Kod. 119 — Isaac Fields, Kod, p. Kei Heusser, Kod, 2:23. 125 — James Niedermeyer, Bristol Bay, dec. Kenneth Blunka, New. 130 — Pearson Brodie, Kod, p. Steven Blunka, New, .56. 135 — Dilon Neth, NP, p. Joe Martushev, Voz, 2:31. 140 — Bradley Bond, New, p. David Rounsaville, Kod, 1:51. 145 — Peter Andrew, New, p. Wesley Peterson, Kod, 2:59. 152 — Lewis Williams, NP, dec. Jacob Houston, Sitka. 160 — Ryder Torgeson, Sitka, dec. Sam Mclaren, NP. 171 — Joe Potter, Dim, p. Leo Parsley, Dim, 3:58. 189 — Michael Gelinas, NP, p. Jon Feldpausch, Sitka, 1:41. 215 — Anthony Noblett, Dim, p. Leo Polushkin, Voz, 3:24. HWT — Zhenay Kisarauskas, Sitka, dec. Jacob Long, Kod, 1-0.

High School Girls Are Ready To Wrestle