The Haines High School wrestling team features two returning state qualifiers on a 10-grappler squad that opens its season this weekend in Metlakatla.
Junior Kai Hays (160 pounds) and sophomore Charlie Bower (106 pounds) both advanced to state last year, with Hays picking up one win at the elite competition.
Coach Dennis Durr said Hays again will wrestle at 160 pounds, and Bower has moved up to 120 pounds.
The team loses one state qualifier, Walker Blair, who wrestled at 152 pounds as a senior. Junior Zane Durr, who qualified for state as a freshman, will wrestle at that weight this season. The team’s lone senior is Casey St. Clair.
Coach Durr has developed a middle school wrestling program that has grown interest in the sport at the high school level.
“For the first time, pretty much everyone’s wrestled before,” he said. “That junior high feeder program is really paying off now.”
The path to state will be more difficult this year, as Juneau-Douglas, Thunder Mountain and Ketchikan will compete with 1A, 2A and 3A schools at the Southeast regional tournament in Wrangell this December, Durr said. The move will cut down on travel costs for those large schools.
“We will now be competing with schools with 1,000 kids,” Durr said. “You’re going to see schools that have eight kids compete against schools with 800.”
Haines will host a tournament Nov. 21-22. The schedule also includes events at Petersburg, Juneau, Sitka, and Ketchikan, and the possibility of an Anchorage meet.
“It’s an experienced team,” Durr said. “This is the largest team I’ve had since the program started.”
Andrew Cardella again is coaching the Glacier Bears on the more technical aspects of wrestling. “He’s one of the best coaches in the entire Southeast,” Durr said.
Durr noted a change this year is that high school girls will have their own state wrestling tournament, while still having the opportunity to compete against boys throughout the season. Durr said he’d encourage girls to participate in his youth wrestling program.