Fans who come out to watch this weekend’s wrestling tournament in Haines might see a rematch between Glacier Bear sophomore Jimmy Thomsen and Hydaburg’s Anthony Edenshaw.
Edenshaw has beat Thomsen in four competitions this year, but every match has gone a complete three rounds and Thomsen lost by only two points, 8-6, during their final match-up at last weekend’s double-elimination meet in Ketchikan.
“It makes a difference having the town cheering for you. It pumps you up,” said Thomsen, 15, who’s now in his second year wrestling.
Thomsen’s 2-2 record led the Glacier Bears last weekend, when the team saw its toughest competition to date, facing grapplers from schools including Juneau, Ketchikan and Wasilla.
The Haines team was increasing the difficulty of its conditioning and working on moves and stances in the wake of the meet where they placed 12th of 16 teams, winning six matches and losing 12. Sophomore Caullen Taylor also was 2-2, and senior Nygel Duffy-Webb was 1-2.
“We’ve got some improvement due,” coach Dennis Durr said. “We’ll work on fixing some of those little things, like body positioning. Turning the right way or not turning the right way. If you get them right, you win those matches.”
Durr said Ketchikan was important for the young team, as they squared off against some of the best wrestlers in the region. Kenny Thomsen, Tyler Thomas, and Mario Benassi of Haines also competed.
“It was a tougher test and a lot of our matches were real close, they were just a couple points from moving on for most of the matches. When you miss little things you can lose as easily as win. But it was a good reality check, which is what you need when you’re feeling high and mighty,” Durr said. “We’re learning and we’re improving.”
Durr said he expects about 100 wrestlers from a dozen schools throughout Southeast to show for the round-robin tournament in Haines starting Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. at Karl Ward Gym. It continues Saturday at 9 a.m.
Durr said he would schedule “spotlight matches” Saturday night, tentatively set for 6 p.m., with some of the most competitive match-ups. “We’ll try to find the most exciting matches. Everybody will get a chance to sit there for an hour and half and see all the weight classes. This is our first real tournament and it may be the only one we get for a year or two.”
He said he expects 11 Haines wrestlers will compete.
Enhanced conditioning for the team means sprint-type exercises that help a wrestler develop bursts of energy, Durr said. “It’s a different type of endurance. You’re using every muscle in your body.” Workouts for the team will include wrestling, sprinting, jump rope, push ups and sit-ups, sometimes in rapid succession.
Learning moves means developing muscle memory so time isn’t lost thinking what to do next, Durr said. “You need to be able to react without thinking. A wrestler doesn’t need to know a lot of moves. But it’s good to have a few moves you can do technically well.”