The Haines Glacier Bears brought home two Region V champions, Freshmen Dalton Henry and Hayden Jimenez.
Henry placed first in the 135-pound weight class after defeating a Petersburg Viking in the finals. Henry was initially unranked for the tournament.
Henry won his state-qualifying match 6-0. Henry scored two points with a takedown in the first period. The Petersburg wrestler chose a neutral position to begin the second period. Henry scored two more points with another takedown with 30 seconds left in the second period.
The Viking wrestler then chose the top position for the third period. Henry scored another two points with a takedown 30 seconds into the final period. Henry won the match 6-0 and became the Region V champion in the 135-pound weight class.
“I’m happy I have the opportunity to go to state,” said Henry. “I’m excited for next season.”
Jimenez placed first in the 103-pound weight class. Jimenez was the only athlete in his weight class, so he didn’t have to wrestle for the Region V title. Jimenez had one exhibition match against the Region V Champion in the 112-weight class. He’s ranked sixth for the state tournament.
“I’m excited for state,” said Jimenez. “I never thought I’d be ranked my freshmen year. I think it’s an advantage that I haven’t been up north yet, so they haven’t seen us. Hopefully I can surprise some people.”
Sophomore Leo Wald placed third in the 152-pound weight class with a winning record of 4-1. Wald originally didn’t qualify for state, but the ASAA judges voted for Wald to attend the tournament because he lost by only one point to an athlete ranked fifth in the state.
Wald defeated a Wrangell athlete with a pin to place third. Wrangell began the first period with a takedown. Wald then scored one point for an escape followed by two points for a takedown. Wald held the athlete on his back for five seconds, which gained him three more points. Wald was up 6-2 at the end of the first period.
Wrangell chose a down position to begin the second period. Wald received three back points right away and then won the match with a pin with 58 seconds left in the second period.
“I’m very happy to go to state,” said Wald. “I’m excited to hang out with my teammates on the drive to Anchorage.”
Sophomore Jackson Long went 0-3 in the 189-pound weight class. Long planned to wrestle in the 171-weight class, but was unable to due to ASAA guidelines. The guidelines state that at the Region V meet the athlete must wrestle in the weight-class they wrestled in for the majority of the season. Long wrestled in the 189-pound weight class more than the 171-pound weight class throughout the season, so he had to wrestle 189. This weight class is more competitive, so Long didn’t perform as well as expected.
Sophomore Douglas Adams placed fourth in the 171-pound weight class with one win. This was Adams’ first win of his entire high school career.
Freshmen Rylan Jorgenson placed seventh in the 152-pound weight class.
The state-qualifiers and Long, the team captain, will be traveling to Anchorage to compete in the state tournament Dec.17-18. They will be wrestling in The Dome, the city’s sports complex.