A young Mustang varsity wrestling team fared better than some might have expected in the third annual Bob Bailey Memorial Invitational tournament last weekend at Chugiak High.

Chugiak placed second to Wasilla in the 15-school competition.

Any questions regarding maturity on the 2003-04 Mustang team, which lost several athletes to graduation, including state champion Ed Bailey, were answered positively by a pair of last year's juniors, Travis Schultz and Dan Bailey, now senior captains and team leaders.

Chugiak is likewise enjoying a youth movement fed by ninth-graders fresh from top-ranked grappling programs at Mirror Lake and Gruening middle schools.

Freshman Sam Carlson and Cayle Byers made the finals with four straight victories in the championship bracket, while other classmates Daniel Tol and Brian Hunsicker also finished high.

Bailey and Schultz took a similar path to the finals with four consecutive wins.

However, none of the four Chugiak grapplers posted a title win, Byers being the closest with a 3-2 loss to Anchorage Christian Schools' Jacob Masog on a last-second escape.

Carlson lost his finals match to the current national champion in the 112-weight class, Colony's Hollan Gravley.

The Mustangs also benefited from the addition of California-transfer senior Nate Hannah, who opened the 152-pound competition with a pin in the first round, then lost 13-7 to Wasilla's Chuck Carpenter. Hannah won the first wrestle-back by another pin, this one in 1:29. The senior concluded the march into the consolation finals to finish third with a 7-1 nod.

Chugiak's depth was also evident as the Mustangs wrestled the season opening in all but one of the fourteen weight divisions.

In six classes, Chugiak entered two grapplers in the 16-man draw, listing one as the team's counter, the other unattached.

"Overall, we wrestled very well but there are some little things that we can work on - like hand control and fighting off cradles and leg rides," said first-year head coach David Bierria.

"We need to work on some of the basics. We are banking on being twice the team (we were this weekend) midway through the season," he added.

The Mustangs might have won the tournament had they received some timely upsets of Wasilla, said Bierria.

Bierria said he was pleased with the performances of his younger wrestlers, particularly the freshmen as they competed in their first high school meet.

"They were very poised. You'd think they would have been overwhelmed by the whole high school experience, but they're not," said Bierria.

The school's new gymnasium more than accommodated the large crowds as the facilities upper bleachers were pulled out for seating, allowing for the placement of four wrestling mats on the gym floor for Friday and the first round Saturday.

For the consolation and championship finals, tournament director Tom Huffer, Jr., the Mustangs' former coach, reduced the mats to two and extended the lower bleachers to allow for more spectators on the floor level.

At full capacity, the gym can hold more than 3,000 spectators.

Bierria said he heard a lot of positive comments about the tournament's new venue, even from former Chugiak wrestlers.

"Why wasn't it like this before?," asked 2003 grad Ed Bailey. (The tournament is named after his father.)

Bailey, who won his weight division twice in the Invitational in its first two years, has been one of several alumni who has frequented Mustang wrestling practices this year and has helped out, said Bierria. Others include Brian Lance, Chester Thorn and Greg Zeiler.

The Mustangs' first conference meet was against Bartlett Wednesday. Results were not available at press time. The team will be busy next week, competing at West on Wednesday, then at Anchorage Christian School Nov. 20 and in Wasilla for the North/South Tournament, Nov. 21-22.At Chugiak HighWasilla, Chugiak, Lathrop, Anchorage Christian School, Service, Skyview, Palmer, West Valley, Dimond, Colony, Bartlett, North Pole, East, Houston, West.CHU - 4) Brady Schultz.

112 - 1) Hollan Gravley, COL; 2) Sam Carlson, CHU; 2) Hollan Gravley, COL, 3)

119 - 1) Eli Hutchinson, SKY; 2) Zach Shelley, ACS, 3) Daniel Tol, CHU

125 - 1) Jacob Masog, ACS; 2) Cayle Byers, CHU; 3) Duane Carpenter, WAS.

other CHS - John Herr

130 - 1) Jeff Bailey, LAT; 2) Shane Manuel, BAR; 3) Dallas Seavey, SKY.

CHU - Brian Hunsicker

135 - 1) Chris Odom, WAS; 2) Zach Tomco, PAL; 3) Clark Buffington, SKY.

CHU - Anthony Podvin and James Kempner.

140 - 1) Kaylen Baxter, WV; 2) Travis Schultz, CHU; 3) James Mills, LAT.

other CHU - Abram McMahon.

145 - 1) Trevor Pempek, PAL; 2) Dan Bailey, CHU; 3) David Weiss, WV.

152 - 1) Dustin Borland, LAT; 2) Chuck Carpenter, WAS; 3) Nate Hannah, CHU.

160 - 1) Kyle Newman, COL; 2) Jeff Herron, BAR; 3)

CHU - Teryn Nelson

171 - 1) Willie Ratcliff, PAL; 2) Marcus Lopez, DIM; 3)

CHU - none entered

189 - 1) Keenan Chirhart, DIM; 2) Jake Wade, WAS.

CHU - Stephen Saccone; Mike Pannone

215 - 1) Bobby Dunbar, ACS; 2) Bart Lucas, SER.

275 - 1) Jeremy Meisler, WAS; 2) Joel Morse, SKY.