Glacier Bears’ Kamakana Kanahele and Wesley Verhamme placed second in their weight brackets in the round-robin wrestling tournament in Ketchikan last weekend.
Other traveling wrestlers included freshman Emma Gillham and sophomore Ulric Lehman. Gillham finished with a record of 0-5, but it was the first tournament that she lasted for three rounds. Kanahele and Verhamme placed second in their divisions with a win-loss of 4-1 and 2-2 respectively. Lehman came in third, with 1-1 record.
Sophomore Nathan Haas’ season ended early when his tendon was severed in a rough takedown.
Metlakatla’s Gabriel Nathan put Haas in a head and arm hold, and threw him to the mat. Haas landed on his shoulder and severed a tendon. Unable to continue, he left in fourth place with a record of 0-2. The injury is so severe that Haas is out for the rest of the season.
“I still encourage him to come out…do exercises he’s able to do,” said Coach Ben Bard. “Losing Nathan was really tough. I think the atmosphere will be really different.”
Haas said when he made contact that he didn’t feel it at first. “Well, I heard a snap or like a pop or like a noise that made me wonder and then my shoulder started hurting and I knew something was wrong.” A minor concussion made it difficult to recall, but he said that he was put onto table, assessed and it was determined that he should go to the hospital. The tendon won’t grow back the same, but the experience hasn’t diminished his desire to continue wrestling. Asked about the injury and his thoughts on the rest of the season, practices, and future high school wrestling opportunities Haas said “I’m not afraid of getting back on the mat—I’m afraid of getting thrown on the mat.”
The Bears were up against teams from Ketchikan, Klawock, Hydaburg, Metlakatla, Juneau Douglas, Thunder Mountain, Sitka, Petersburg, and Wrangell.
Instead of travelling in the next few weeks, the Bears wrestlers will be staying home in Haines to focus on practice and schoolwork.