By Madeline Perreard
Seven Haines Glacier Bear wrestlers will advance to the state tournament after the team placed fourth at their regional meet in Ketchikan. Mount Edgecumb bagged the winning team title with Petersburg in second and Wrangell in third after what head coach Cosmo Fudge deemed a “tight race.”
Gracie Stickler, Hayden Jimenez, and Leo Wald won first place in their weight classes. Nolan Wald and Dalton Henry finished second, Colton Combs placed third and Jackson Long placed fifth. All seven will advance to Anchorage for the state tournament.
Wald, 152 lbs., won all of his regional matches. Wald told the CVN he “would like to be in the finals” at the state tournament.
Long, 189 lbs., did not initially qualify him for state, but after an at-large bid that considered his previous rankings this season, he was awarded a state qualification. Long said he was disappointed by his performance in Ketchikan.
“I had high expectations since I’ve beat the kid who was ranked first but I got beat by the second and third seeds,” Long said. “I wasn’t able to overpower the two matches I lost.”
Long said he is trying to “clear his head” before the state tournament.
“I’m working on not letting the losses get to my head and wrestling like I would if I hadn’t had taken those two losses,” Long said.
Henry, 145 lbs., got “stuck” by his opponent in the last period, leading him to compete for “true second” place. Wrestlers that lose their final matches to an opponent they have not beat at that tournament must compete against the third-place opponent for a “true second” ranking.
Jimenez, 103 lbs., won first by default when one of his competitors did not make his weight class. Jimenez is currently ranked second in the state behind Young Erikson of Nome. Erikson is Jimenez’s “toughest match” and is the only competitor in Jimenez’s weight class that he has lost to this season.
“This is going to be the hardest meet this year,” Jimenez said.
The team got stuck in Juneau on their way back from regionals after a last minute ferry cancellation so they opted to fly straight to Anchorage. Fudge says their early arrival gives them an edge up on the competition.
“We’re not going to show up jetlagged,” Fudge said. “We’re all fresh and ready for state.”
Fudge told the CVN that Jimenez, Henry, Wald and Long could “very easily be state champions.”