Senior Walker Blair led the Haines High School wrestling team at a Wrangell tournament last weekend, posting a runner-up finish with a 3-1 record at 152 pounds.
Blair faced a Petersburg opponent in the championship.
“They did the spotlight match,” said co-coach Dennis Durr. “He did lose that by a major decision, but he showed improvement from the last time he wrestled. The last time he wrestled, the kid pinned him, but this time he hung in there for three rounds.”
Sophomore Zane Durr (145 pounds), who went 3-1 for a third-place finish, also saw a better result against a Petersburg foe.
“His only loss was against a kid that pinned him before, and he went all three rounds with him, too, in a close match,” coach Durr said.
Overall, the Glacier Bears placed seventh in a dozen-team field.
Freshman Charlie Bower (106 pounds) tallied a 1-3 record and earned fourth place. Junior Casey St. Clair’s 2-2 mark landed him fifth place at 152 pounds.
Freshman Ketch Jacobson (106 pounds), freshman Mori Hays (138) and sophomore Tyler Murphy (170) also competed for Haines in Wrangell.
“It was a pretty good-sized, well-attended meet,” Durr said. “We’ve got some work to do; we’re still working out some of the bugs, but we’re seeing improvement again. We’re kind of approaching the halfway mark here.”
Blair, Bower, Murphy, St. Clair, junior Josh Stearns, and sophomore Kai Hays wrestled at a round-robin Hoonah tournament Oct. 18-19. “It was, overall, a big improvement,” said co-coach Andrew Cardella. “We’ve been working on a lot of technique in practice.”
Senior Dalton Tuohy recently was cleared to return to wrestling after a medical issue, and sophomore Hays has been sidelined with a concussion.
Trips to Anchorage and Craig the next two weekends are now off the Haines schedule. Durr said this will allow the team to get a full week of practice in, and then avoid traveling to Craig and Ketchikan in back-to-back weeks.
The changes have freed up a Saturday for a dual meet with Skagway, tentatively set for 5 p.m. Nov. 9 at the Haines School. Durr said he expects about five wrestlers from Skagway to make the trip over to Haines.
“We’re going to mix and match a little bit,” he said. “We’re going to have the parents come, have friends that are in town, and it will be their only opportunity to see the kids wrestle here, in town.”
The Glacier Bears will close out the season with meets at Ketchikan and Juneau, followed by the regional and state tournaments.