The Haines Glacier Bears wrestling team finished 26th of 60 teams at the ACS Invitational Wrestling Tournament Oct. 26-27 in Anchorage.
More than 500 wrestlers competed at the meet, one of Alaska’s largest wrestling competitions and one used for seeding at the state championship.
Senior Jimmy Thomsen led the Bears, finishing sixth of 50 wrestlers in the 152-pound weight class.
Coach Durr called it a good experience to wrestle outside of Southeast. “We got to see what kind of competition is up there, and we found out there are a lot of tough teams north of the Panhandle. But Southeast wrestlers represented half of the finalists in all weight classes.”
Senior Caullen Taylor reached the quarterfinals in the 145-pound division, finishing with a record of 2-2.
Senior Corey Piper ended with a record of 3-2; freshman Zane Durr won three and lost two in matches coach Durr described as “all really tight.”
Junior Dalton Tuohy finished 2-2. Junior Walker Blair and senior Zach Rossman faced tough competition in their divisions.
Durr said his team is improving as it should as the season goes on.
The Bears traveled next week to Skagway to compete against schools from Southeast, including 3A Sitka and 4A Juneau.
Eight Haines wrestlers competed in round-robin tournament last weekend in Skagway, facing competitors from eight other Southeast schools. The squad came away with 31 wins to 19 losses.
Seniors Thomsen and Taylor went undefeated.
Freshman Tyler Murphy, featured in an evening match, pinned his opponent in the final period after being down by 13 points to earn his first career match victory.
Individual finishes include: Jimmy Thomsen, 6-0, at 152 pounds; Taylor, 6-0, at 145 pounds; Piper, 5-2, at 138 pounds; Rossman 4-3 at 132 pounds; sophomore Casey St. Clair, 1-4 at 160 pounds; freshmen Kai Hays, 6-2, at 160 pounds, Tyler Murphy, 1-4 at 145 pounds, and Zane Durr, 2-4 at 126 pounds.
Next week the Bears will travel to Ketchikan to compete in Southeast’s largest tournament of the season.
Haines will host the Southeast regional championship tournament for small schools Nov. 30-Dec.1.