Glacier Bear wrestler Hayden Jimenez was down six points to zero going into the third period of his semi-final match last weekend when he realized his opponent was using the same move to score points on him.
“He did that same thing over and over. Finally I felt it coming when he locked up my arm and I just stepped over it,” said Jimenez, a junior.
His insight worked.
“I just needed to make something happen, and I ended up getting him pinned. It was pretty great,” said Jimenez.
Jimenez’s comeback in the match ultimately led to an overall win in the 112-pound weight class at the Mountain City Wrestling Invite in Anchorage, as well as an overall small school division win in the tournament. The division includes wrestlers from high schools with fewer than 80 students. The comeback win was characteristic for the Glacier Bears squad, said coach Andus Hale.
“That’s our secret weapon: the third period,” said Hale, who is in his first year as head coach.
Sophomores Colton Combs and James Stickler both overcame eight-point deficits to win their matches, with Stickler’s performance earning him a third-place medal.
The win was the Haines’ first win at the tournament in recent memory, Hale said. He called the performance “special” and “historic” especially considering the grueling 15-hour van ride the wrestlers undertook to make it to Anchorage.
“I expected a lot out of these kids — they’re tight, they work hard, they want it — but winning like that even surprised me,” he said.
Hale said the team’s exceptional endurance this year can be attributed to intense anaerobic cardiovascular training that they do every week.
For example: 10 times sprinting 400 yards up Cemetery Hill, or six 200-meter sprints on the track followed by four 800-meter runs.
Hale said the style of high intensity running is different from the more sustained runs that he did growing up, but that it simulates a wrestling match better.
“We’re following the science more than the history of how training should be,” he said.
The group has also doubled down on technique work.
At a recent weekday practice after returning from the meet, seven wrestlers practiced “shadow wrestling” – working on moves without the feedback from a partner to nail down technique.
Throughout the session, Hale reminded athletes of technique cues. “Keep your elbows in,” he shouted.
After shadow drills, the group transitioned into partner sparring, working on starting in different positions and following through in full motions. Hale said the group has focused on getting off the bottom, a starting position during matches where wrestlers start on their hands and knees with their opponents on top and have to find a way to get out from that. The position puts wrestlers at a natural disadvantage, but it’s worth more points.
“Anywhere we can find points, we go for it,” said Hale.
Perhaps even more important to their performance, Hale said, was the close bond the small team shares.
“They root each other on and if there’s a bad loss, an upset or something, we get through it so easily because of that tightness. They joke around about it and it’s gone and then we can focus on the next match,” he said.
Wrestlers will compete in the Southeast regional meet Dec. 8-9 in Juneau. Top athletes will qualify for state championship in Anchorage the following weekend.