Shedding weight is what wrestlers are good at, but for 18-year-old Hayden Jimenez, leaving Haines and traveling light was requisite. He filled a hunting backpack with necessities like clothes, wrestling gear, and toiletries.
“And my mountain bike,” he said.
Jimenez sold the rest of his belongings and what he couldn’t sell he gave to his brother. “I have a little bit of stuff up in the garage at home,” he said.
He flew to Seattle on Jan. 5 and met up with another recent Haines graduate, 171-pound state champion Haines wrestler Dalton Henry. “[Henry] drove down from Haines with his girlfriend.” Jimenez said he was going to join them but did not want to feel like a third wheel.
“We hung out,” Jimenez said. But only for a short period of time. Henry planned a trip to New Zealand. “I was a little bit jealous,” he said.
But Jimenez was looking for something else.
“I spent a week in Oregon, then I went to Arizona,” he said. He went camping then mountain biking for a week at a time.
“And then I realized I wanted to get back to wrestling,” he said.
Jimenez has always wanted to go somewhere warm. “I was kinda sick of winter,” he said.
He boarded a plane and flew to San Jose, California. Jimenez heard about a gym in Gilroy, south of the San Francisco Bay Area. He rode his mountain bike. “The first night I camped at Coyote Creek,” he said.
The following day, Jimenez planned to go apartment hunting in Gilroy. But after 30 minutes of traveling, his mountain bike got a flat tire. “I hitchhiked and got picked up by this guy… he was super nice,” he said. “He showed me around town and offered me to crash in his RV that’s parked on his property and offered me a job.”
Jimenez took him up on that offer. He worked from 7-11 a.m. every morning. He pitched in where he could, like driving the kids to school. One of them is a second-grade boy. “I got him into wrestling,” he said. “He freaking loves it…he’s an addict.”
Jimenez struggles to put into words how it all unfolded. “I don’t know how to explain it,” he said. “We just met each other randomly…I’m very blessed…If I didn’t get a flat tire we would’ve never met…We eat dinner as a family every night.”
Training in Gilroy
Jimenez practiced with the Gilroy High School Mustangs varsity wrestling team from 4-6 p.m. Monday through Thursday. They competed on Friday and Saturday during the season.
Training wasn’t free for Jimenez. After working at the mechanic shop he’d head over to the gym to clean it. “Then I’d just hang out until 1 p.m. when practice starts,” he said.
It’s called the DC Wrestling Academy, where the Gilroy Mustangs practice. DC are the initials of Daniel Cormier, not only the current head coach of the Mustangs, but former UFC Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight Champion. His list of accomplishments and accolades are lengthy: Cormier was a six-time U.S. Olympic Team wrestler, a world bronze medalist, and an All-American at Oklahoma State University.
“It’s surreal,” he said. “For me, it’s like that’s Daniel Cormier but for the wrestlers on the team, he was just ‘Coach’.”
Jimenez regrets not getting a photo or selfie. “I wanted to be a fanboy, but I had to play it cool,” he said.
The Mustangs placed third at the California State Championships with five state champions.
“They’re the real deal,” Jimenez said. “I got to practice with them…it’s been great to have that experience.”
Although the Mustangs were midseason and working towards peaking, they welcomed Jimenez.
“I got to choose my [wrestling] partner,” he said. “[During practice] if I wanted to go over something, they would help.”
Wrestling in the Lower 48 has sharpened Jimenez’s skills. “It’s eye-opening, training with technically sound, super high caliber athletes,” he said.
A Much Needed Win
There’s a duality to Jimenez. He paces like a pendulum, ticktocking down the three two-minute periods of a wrestling match that didn’t go his way. He’s analyzing and envisioning. There’s something soothing about the repetitive motion that enables him to think clearly and critically so that he doesn’t repeat mistakes.
“When I put the pressure on, that’s when I shine,” he says.
It’s the second Sunday in March at the California Cadet, Juniors, and Open Folkstyle Championship.
“It’s basically for anybody who is out of high school in California who didn’t have the grades, didn’t qualify for the state tournament, whatever reason – they’re sick or hurt,” he says.
The tournament resembles an old cartoon assembly line. For three straight days, two wrestlers enter each mat and compete, one athlete wins and gets their hand raised, both wrestlers exit. Rinse and repeat.
Jimenez’s name is broadcast in the arena. The speakers pop. It is deafening.
At 126 pounds, Jimenez is over the weight limit to compete at 120 pounds, which was his plan. But the last time he cut weight was over two-and-a-half months ago so he’s a little rusty.
“I just felt really weak, I’m fighting a cold,” he says. “So I just said screw it…I’d rather stay healthy at 126 and try to win it all.”
Moments before, Jimenez wrestled his first match against Max Wong from Folsom, California. He has to forget the 11-3 loss quickly, because he will wrestle again soon. It’s a double-elimination tournament.
The last time Jimenez competed was at the Alaska State Championships in Anchorage just before Christmas.
He says his nose is stuffy. Perhaps it’s the weather. Perhaps it’s allergies. Maybe it’s the stale musky air blended with concession-stand food.
“I miss the snow,” he said.
Jimenez stepped onto the mat wearing his Team Alaska singlet.
It’s unclear how many out-of-state wrestlers competed in Fresno. Perhaps a couple were from Alaska but Jimenez was the sole Haines representative.
He wrestled Bryer Williams from Chico High School and got his first win with a pin.
“I’m definitely congested,” he said. “It’s no excuse but it’s definitely messing with my cardio. I got a pin, so it felt pretty good.”
Jimenez wrestled one last time against Alexander Duarte from Morgan Hill, California. He lost by one point. He was done.
“I guess he just outwrestled me,” Jimenez said while catching his breath. “There’s nobody to blame.”
At two edges of every mat there are two chairs – they’re reserved for the coaches. The three wrestlers he faced had coaches – a clear advantage. Jimenez was alone.
“This is hard. I don’t know. I feel like I didn’t do the job like I should have,” Jimenez said. He took one last deep breath before heading into the locker room to change and leave.
On the Road Again
Jimenez flew to Des Moines on March 12 to compete at the 2025 Folkstyle National Championship in Des Moines, Iowa. He checked into a hotel and got on the scale. He planned to wrestle at the 120-pound weight class. “I weighed in at 120 (pounds) knowing I would sleep off some weight and be good,” he said.
Jimenez went to bed. But the next day, during the official medical check-in, he was too heavy.
“I weighed 122 pounds so I just started running, and anything I could do and I missed it by 0.3 pounds,” a frustrated Jimenez said. “I’ve never missed weight.”
Jimenez had two choices – not wrestle at all or wrestle at the next highest weight-class 126-pounds.
He gave it a shot.
In the opening round, Jimenez faced Arkansas wrestler Tristen Jackson. It was a close match going into the third period and Hayden was only down by one point, but Jackson got a three-point takedown with only seconds left. The 11-7 loss put Hayden in the consolation bracket so the highest he could place was third.
He then faced Mason Quarles from Fishers, Indiana and lost again. Because it was a double elimination tournament so he was done.
A was a quick end to a long trip. But Jimenez is hopeful.
“After having a pretty disappointing day,” Jimenez said, “Or even after every failure I have, I am still doing more than I would be if I was in Haines right now. The small failures don’t matter because overall it’s a big success. I’m getting so much better every single day compared to how I would be if I was home and didn’t embark on this adventure.”