On Sunday, March 9, 126-pound Hayden Jimenez and Bryer Williams square off during the California Cadet / Junior Folkstyle State Championships at the Selland Arena in Fresno, California. (Francisco Martínezcuello/Chilkat Valley News)

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…

Francisco Martínezcuello is the Chilkat Valley News summer reporter. Previously, he was in Southwest Alaska working for KYUK Public Media as a News Reporting Fellow from November 2022 through January...