The Haines Glacier Bears wrestling team had a good showing at a home tournament last weekend with sophomore Hayden Jimenez and junior Leo Wald going undefeated.
“It was great,” said head coach Cosmo Fudge. “We got a real look (at the competition) and a bunch of matches in. I’m super delighted by our performance. They looked solid. The other coaches noticed.”
Fudge said both Jimenez and Wald have strong chances for competing at the state championship in Anchorage.
“Those are our two guys who are ranked at state right now because they placed last year,” he said.
Fudge also highlighted Nolan Wald’s performance at the tournament, a freshman wrestler who pinned several of his opponents during the tournament.
“He tore it up this weekend,” Fudge said. “He came out on fire and lost a couple matches against really tough kids, but anytime we have freshmen winning matches by a pin right out the gate makes me optimistic. He and his brother are practice partners and I can tell they’re going to go places.”
Fudge has overseen a wrestling program that grew from three athletes three years ago to 13 this year. The team will be traveling every weekend, except for Thanksgiving weekend, through the end of December with a good shot at competing at the state championship, Fudge said.
Incoming freshmen this year include Colton Combs, Loyal Tormey and James Stickler.
The team is sending eight wrestlers to a tournament in Juneau this weekend where they’ll face opponents from across Southeast.
Leo Wald is nursing a minor shoulder injury and is losing weight to wrestle in the 152-pound weight class at this weekend’s tournament. Fudge said Wald has made marked improvement since he began his sophomore year.
“Last season I started off not knowing much at all and slowly learned what I was doing,” Wald said of his state ranking.