Last weekend, three Haines high schoolers earned bragging rights at the state wrestling championship with two reaching the top of the podium and one earning second place.
Among the 615 athletes representing 70 teams across the state, five Glacier Bears headed to the Alaska School Activities Association championship in Anchorage.
“Our two senior captains pushed through and crossed the finish line,” said Haines head wrestling coach Andus Hale.
He’s talking about back-to-back state champion Dalton Henry at 171 pounds and Hayden Jimenez at 125 pounds. Jimenez was the state runner-up in his weight class last year.
“(Both of them) are arguably in the toughest weight classes this season,” Hale said. “And they came up in a huge way.”
At 215 pounds, James Stickler got second place in front of a packed crowd filled with friends, family, fans and recruiters at the Alaska Airlines Center.
The arena was at times deafening, especially throughout the finals matches on Saturday evening. It could have been overwhelming for the inexperienced to compete at such a high level, but Haines freshman Finn Crowe was poised.
“He’s got a ton of potential,” Hale said. Although the 103-pounder ended the season with a record of 10-13, Hale said he was pleased with his performance. “That was great for him to wrestle so tough.”
Crowe was not the only Haines athlete who fought through adversity. Colton Combs rejoined the team just a month ago and, like Crowe, won the Region V tournament in Haines in his weight class. “(Combs) came in with just three to four weeks of practice time and reached the podium in sixth place at State,” Hale said of the 145-pound junior. “We’re excited about that, and hopefully we get him for the entire season next year.”
Combs ended his abbreviated season with a 10-5 record.
It was deja vu in the finals of the 215-pound weight class when Richard Didrickson of Mount Edgecumbe faced off against junior James Stickler. Didrickson beat Stickler in Haines just a week before their state championship finals match. The outcome was the same for Stickler. “(Stickler) got the first takedown and started rolling, but wasn’t able to hold off the offense that Didrickson had. So, he came up a little short with second place,” Hale said. “But he’ll be back next year, and I have a feeling that he’ll be on that mat again for the finals.”
Stickler wrestled 32 matches this season and only lost five of them.
The only eligible female wrestler from Haines was unable to travel with the team to Anchorage.
Senior Camelia Bell won the Region V tournament at 100 pounds on Dec. 15, but was injured in the process. “(Bell) had a bone bruise on her knee going into the championship region finals,” Hale said. “She suffered that while jogging about a month prior. So she reaggravated that and decided not to attend.”
Bell finished the season with 8 wins and four losses.
Senior Dalton Henry projected composure and calm as he fought his way to being a state champion again this season. During the finals, the 171-pound senior faced Graelin Chaney from Dillingham. “I pulled him down really hard, and his tailbone hit right in the middle of my sternum,” Henry said. “And it knocked the wind out of me, and hit my stomach pretty hard.”
During the match, Henry barely grimaced and during a telephone interview just a few hours after his tone was matter of fact,“It went pretty good for the most part,” Henry said. “I got through the first day and wrestled how I wanted and that felt pretty good. And then Saturday, I felt like the match went pretty good.”
In the end, Henry beat Graelin by decision, 14 to 7. He also officially graduated from high school on the first day of the state finals. Instead of wearing a cap and gown, he wore a singlet with a gold medal around his neck. Henry said he isn’t planning on wrestling in college, although he believes he could if he wanted to. Henry only lost four matches this season; he had his hand raised in victory 28 times.
He is unsure what he wants to do next besides travel. He plans to travel to New Zealand for a month or two. “Just for fun,” he said.
It is difficult enough to become a state champion, and Henry accomplished that twice in a row so he is familiar with being on top while co-captain 125-pound Hayden Jimenez had one last chance to earn the title which has eluded him throughout high school. Although he won the Region V tournament four years in a row, he placed fourth at state his freshman year, third his sophomore year, and second his junior year. While Jimenez did become a state freestyle champion over the summer, last weekend’s state championships were his last time to become a folkstyle or scholastic champion.
“I knew what I needed to do, and I couldn’t picture it any other way besides getting my hand raised,” Jimenez said. He also said he felt relaxed. “I knew there was no way that I was going to be beat. I envisioned it and it happened.”
He may have envisioned being a state champion but the road to victory had challenges. Jimenez finished the season 20-8 but coach Hale said the numbers are deceiving.
“We seek all the tough competition we can get while focusing on peak performance late in the season,” he said.
But Hale also said things started rough for Jimenez competing in two different weight classes and getting injured earlier this season. “He came back and just figured some things out,” he said. “Ass we preach on the mat, the focus is achieving peak performance by the end of the season.”
That’s what Jimenez did, overwhelming two opponents he faced in both the Region V and State Championships. Jimenez pinned Ben Houser from Wrangell and in the process breaking Houser’s arm during the regional tournament in Haines. During the state finals Jimenez faced Dylan McCambly from Dillingham. Jimenez was leading 12 to 3 late in the third period when he took a shot at McCambly.
“I ran him out of bounds onto the other mat and he landed on his head,” Jimenez said. Although it was a legal move McCambly could not continue. Jimenez was well on his way to the 15 point differential needed to end the match under the technical fall or wrestling’s version of the mercy rule. There was plenty of time left too.
“When I wrestle my match,” Jimenez said. “I can beat anybody I want to.”
It’s true. In the larger school or Division 1, Titan Linne from Ketchikan won in the finals at 125 pounds when he pinned Soldotna’s Titus Watts and received the Outstanding Wrestler award for Division 1. But Jimenez beat Linne earlier this season.
“It felt good (beating Linne).” Jimenez believes there’s a misconception that Division 2 is not as competitive as Division 1. “But beating him just proves that’s not necessarily true,” he said.
Jimenez, who also graduated this fall, said he plans to go on to college and wrestle. But first, he is looking forward to some time off.
“I’m gonna go down south. I’m gonna check out some colleges, and I’m gonna find a good wrestling club.” Jimenez said he will train and compete for the Folkstyle Nationals in March, in Des Moines, Iowa.