Arctic wrestlers take it to the mat

Published on February 25th, 2010

By SUSAN ANDREWS

Creed throws Barrow wrestler Victoria Villafane over the shoulder in the statewide all-girls wrestling meet in Anchorage. (Courtesy Photo, Susan B. Andrews)

Creed and Villafane tough it out in a tight, final match. In a best-of-six contest in that weight class, Creed totaled three pins and Villafane two. (Courtesy Photo, Susan B. Andrews)

Kotzebue wrestler Deirdre Creed and Barrow wrestler Victoria Villafane face off in the final match of the 98-pound weight class. Creed edged out Villafane by a single point with a final score of 10 to 9. (Courtesy Photo, Susan B. Andrews)

Deirdre Creed took first, Victoria Villafane third and Elizabeth Villafane fifth in a best-of-six contest, 98-pound weight class. Other participants from Barrow at the meet included high school students Jasmine Elkins, who took second in the 125-pound weight class, and Pauline Lane, who took second in the 160-pound weight class. In the middle school, 110-pound weight class, Barrow wrestler Ramey Gerke took second and Alexandra Sage, also of Barrow, took third. The wrestling coach who accompanied the Barrow wrestlers to the meet is Steve Gillaspie, who also coached in Kotzebue from 1991-94. (Courtesy Photo, Susan B. Andrews)

Kotzebue eighth-grader Deirdre Creed and Barrow sisters Victoria and Elizabeth Villafane were among six wrestlers in the 98-pound weight class who competed in the Alaska U.S. Girls' Wrestling Association State Championship Open at Service High School in Anchorage on Feb. 13.

Forty-eight girls participated from communities all over the state, ranging from Mt. Edgecumbe High School in Sitka in Southeast; to Kodiak, Anchorage, Eagle River, and Chugiak in Southcentral Alaska; to the Northwest Arctic and North Slope regions.