Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Action from the weekend McKinleyville Invitational wrestling tournament.

The Fortuna boys tied for the championship at the weekend McKinleyville Invitational wrestling tournament as the new high school wrestling season begins to heat up.

The Huskies did not have any individual winners on the day, but they showcased their team depth with several wrestlers placing and the team scored 158 points to tie West Park for the win in the boys competition.

Hoopa placed third with 102 points, with Willits (97.5) and McKinleyville (97) rounding out the top five at the 12-team tournament.

Individually, there were eight H-DNL wrestlers who won their weight divisions, including two each from Arcata and St. Bernard’s.

While some of the local teams sent some of their wrestlers to other weekend tournaments, there was seven local schools represented at McKinleyville.

Nine Huskies finished in the top four in their brackets, including Soren Cheng (126 pounds), Landon Leon (144) and Jack Chipman (150), each of whom placed second.

“We had some young wrestlers step up and perform well,” Fortuna head coach Steven Stockdale said.

Cayden Spiers (113) and Gabriel Hamlin (157) both placed third for Fortuna, while teammates Elias Golder (120), Tyren Sanborn (132), Cairo Rios (138) and Dailyn Wallace (190) each also placed fourth.

Arcata’s Aiden Ayers took first at 120, as did teammate Jackson Hicks at 144, while St. Bernard’s Jack Kramer won the 165 bracket and teammate Kyler Smith placed first at 285.

Eureka’s Branson Hunter won at 113, as did Del Norte’s Remington Escobedo at 138, McKinleyville’s Jace Thomson at 157 and Hoopa’s Donald Hostler at 190.

Other local top-three finishers included …

Eureka’s Jackson Stratman was second at 106, followed by Hoopa’s Vanessa King in third, while McKinleyville’s Brandon Hillegeist was second at 120.

At 126, Hoopa’s Daniel Peralta was second, while McKinleyville’s Damarius Thompson was second at 132 and Arcata’s Coyle Walkner was second at 138.

At 150, McKinleyville’s Kevin Smith placed third, while teammate Lucas Dickey placed second at 165 and Hoopa’s Nathan Edwards finished third at 190.

Also impressing was Del Norte’s Robert Reyes-Villegas, who placed second at 215, as well as Hoopa’s Tyler Lewis and Arcata’s Matthew Anderson, who placed second and third, respectively, in the heavyweight bracket.

Seven H-DNL girls also had big days in tournament action.

The league swept the top four spots in the 145G girls bracket, with Arcata’s Lillian Afraid placing first and Arcata’s Melody Arguelles and Hoopa’s Delainy Sorrell and Audrina Mace rounding out the top four.

In the 120G bracket, Hoopa’s Pamela Houston was second, followed by Arcata’s Harmony Clayborn and Teresa Pilatti in third and fourth.