Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Arcata’s Joshua Hannan is the top-ranked wrestler in the section at 132 pounds.

By Ray Hamill — The local high school wrestlers are getting ready for what will be a busy couple of weeks and what many H-DN coaches believe could be their best postseason in several years.

On Saturday, the top wrestlers in the area will head to Fortuna High for the league championships, with the top three in each weight class moving on to the North Coast Section tournament the following weekend.

And judging by the latest NCS rankings, there is every reason to believe several H-DN grapplers will compete for a section crown and state qualification.

“We have more wrestlers ranked in the NCS right now than I’ve seen in a decade,” Fortuna head coach Steven Stockdale said. “It should be a fun year to watch.”

According to CalGrappler.com, seven H-DN boys from four different schools are ranked in the top six in their weight classes, including four in the top three.

Leading the way are defending NCS champions Joshua Hannan of Arcata (132 pounds) and Gerard Marshall of Hoopa (heavyweight), each of whom is the top-ranked grappler in their divisions.

Del Norte’s Chulhs Bates (106) and Fortuna’s Mason Evanow (120) are each No. 3 in their brackets.

Bates is one of only two freshmen out of 75 wrestlers ranked in the NCS among all divisions.

The youngster leads the way on a deep and talented Del Norte squad that is the fifth ranked team in the entire section, including all school sizes.

Junior teammate Eric Stansbury is No. 4 at 126, while a pair of Del Norte sophomores — Curtis Bartley at 132 and Colton Schaad at 160 — are ranked fifth and sixth, respectively.

“The coaches in league have done a great job,” Stockdale said.

The depth in competition should make for an exciting day of action at Fortuna on Saturday, as the top local grapplers push each other to greater heights.

“It’s good for our league to have that competition,” Del Norte head coach Clinton Schaad said. “Our league is getting better and better.”

The Warriors in particular haver been competing at a very high level in recent years, and they placed second in the NCS Division-2 Redwood Empire championships last weekend for the fourth straight postseason.

And while the team was obviously disappointed to barely miss out on a team championship once again, placing that high against much bigger schools on such a consistent basis speaks volumes for the steps the Warriors and the H-DN have taken in recent years.

On Saturday, the Del Norte boys will be favorites to retain the league championship they won a year ago, but they expect a lot of competition, particularly from a deep Hoopa team that has several contenders among the heavier weight divisions.

“As far as our hopes and expectations this weekend, I’m just hoping the kids can wrestle up to their ability and stay healthy and qualify for the NCS,” Clinton Schaad said. “As far as a league (title), we’ll let that take care of itself.”

Just about every team in league has at least one contender and several of them are hoping to take home an individual title or more.

And that augurs well for the entire league ahead of next week’s big NCS meet.

“I think the H-DN as a league is poised to have the most successful year at the NCS,” the Del Norte head coach said.