By Ray Hamill — Fortuna senior Chloe Cox is hoping to make a little bit of history this winter.
The Huskies grappler is one of two returning state qualifiers on this year’s Fortuna team and a three-time defending H-DNL champion.
If she can win another league title next month, she will become the first-ever Husky, boy or girl, to become a four-time league champ, folioing in the footsteps of Del Norte’s Adenne Schaad, who achieved the impressive feat a year ago.
Cox has been one of the most impressive local wrestlers this season with three first-place finishes in tournament action, including at last weekend’s North Coast Classic at Eureka High.
In addition to her victories at Eureka, Del Norte and Anderson, Cox also placed second at the prestigious North Bend and Liberty High tournaments.
Teammate Mason Evanow is also a returning state qualifier on this year’s team and a returning North Coast Section finalist.
Evanow placed first at the weekend Eureka tournament and is ranked No. 19 in the state at 126 pounds.
The standout senior also placed first at the season-opening Del Norte tournament, as well as second at the Elk Grove tourney and third at the Lou Bronzan tournament at Liberty, one of the biggest annual high school tournaments in Northern California.
Several other Fortuna grapplers have also impressed this winter, as the team continues to build momentum ahead of the upcoming H-DNL and NCS championships.
And like every other H-DNL team, the Huskies don’t want to peak too soon.
“The kids are working hard,” Fortuna head coach Steven Stockdale said. “I think they haven’t reached their potential yet, that’s for sure.”
Evanow’s younger brother, sophomore Tyson Evanow, also placed first in his weight bracket at the Eureka tournament, as did enior Cayden Spiers.
Tyson Evanow was named the outstanding lower weight wrestler at the North Coast Classic.
Spiers is a two-time NCS qualifier and is expected to close out his high school career with a strong finish to the season.
Spiers is ranked No. 12 in the NCS, while Tyson Evanow is ranked No. 7 in the section and has beaten multiple top-40 state wrestlers so far this winter.
Fortuna’s Jordan Jacobs also has impressed on the mats this season and is ranked No. 7 in the section after placing at multiple tournaments, including a sixth-place finish at the prestigious Lou Bronzan and second at the Anderson tourney.
Juniors Elias Golder and Landen Leon also are enjoying good seasons for the Huskies, as is senior Jacob August, the latter of whom is No. 8 in section.
In just his second year wrestling, sophomore Jack Chipman has put together several big tournament finishes so far, including second-place finishes at the North Coast Classic and at last month’s McKinleyville tournament, as well as a fourth-place finish in Del Norte.
“He’s had some impressive performances for a young kid,” Stockdale said of Chipman. “He’s going to be fun to watch.”
Fellow sophomore Mako Limon, who enjoyed an outstanding fall on the championship-winning Fortuna JV football team, has adapted seamlessly to the mats this winter despite missing some time.
On Tuesday, Limon defeated defending league champion Soren Lewis of Del Norte for the second time this season as he continues to grow on the mats.
Fortuna’s Kavi Bolden also has impressed and is looking to close out the season strong after missing some time early, while senior teammate Elijah Boyd-Brisco is a first-year high school wrestler who has shown a lot of improvement over the last few weeks after also missing time early in the season.
“He’s only really been wrestling for three weeks, but he’s doing great for the time he’s had on the mat,” Stockdale said of Boyd-Brisco. “He’s working hard and he’s coachable.”
Among the upper weights, Dailyn Wallace placed third at the Eureka tournament and is “improving and getting better and better,” according to his coach, while junior Kayson Finley is in just his second year with the team and also has impressed, placing second at the Del Norte tournament and fourth at Eureka.
Another second-year high school wrestler is sophomore Phillip Ellebrecht, who is 1-1 in dual meets.
Ellebrecht has shown substantial improvement from his freshman campaign and already has eight more wins this winter.
The Fortuna girls team, meanwhile, features four wrestlers, each of whom is showing some promise.
In addition to Cox, sophomore Abby Bibby and freshmen Tiffany Krause and Allison Watson all are expected to make some noise at the upcoming league championships, which will be held at Eureka.
And both the boys and girls teams are expected to continue to get better as we head toward the business end of the season.
“They’ve done well so far, but they’re still a long way off where they could be,” Stockdale said. “Which is pretty exciting.”
The Fortuna boys are now 2-1 in league dual meets after falling 51-19 to a dominating Del Norte team on Tuesday.
The Huskies previously beat McKinleyville (53-18) and Eureka (49-23).
They will face off against Hoopa next Wednesday before traveling for the competitive two-day Ukiah tournament two days later.
They will close out the league dual meet season with a pivotal showdown against Arcata in two weeks.
