File photo – Mason Evanow became the first Fortuna Husky ever to win an NCS championship in wrestling on Saturday.

Three H-DNL wresters were crowned North Coast Section champions on Saturday and five have advanced to next week’s state championships.

Competing at James Logan High School, Del Norte’s Curtis Bartley (140 pounds) and Colton Schaad (167) and Fortuna’s Mason Evanow (128) all won their weight classes at the prestigious section tournament.

And that’s an impressive haul for the local league considering there are 157 schools in the NCS that compete in wrestling and only 14 weight divisions.

Evanow becomes the first-ever section champion from Fortuna High School and he will compete at the state championships for the second time.

His teammate Chloe Cox also qualified for the state meet for the second time after placing fourth in her weight class at the girls section championships at Albany High on Saturday.

They are the first-ever two-time state qualifiers in school history.

Del Norte’s Channey Schaad also will moves on to the state meet after placing third in her weight class.

A total of five H-DNL girls and 15 H-DNL boys placed at the NCS meet.

Arcata’s Rory Bickmore finished fifth in her weight class at Albany, while Hoopa’s Vanessa King was sixth in her weight class and Eureka’s Brook Boone was eighth in her weight division.

Hoopa’s Antonio Correa also had a big day at the boys tournament and finished second at 192 pounds, but he will not advance to the state championships after losing his true second matchup.

A pair of Arcata freshmen — Kaidan Bell and Aiden Ayers — both capped outstanding debut seasons in high school competition with fourth-place finishes at 108 and 122, respectively.

Hoopa’s Donald Hostler also placed fourth at 167 giving the H-DNL two top-four finishes in that weight division.

McKinleyville’s Brandon Hillegeist placed one spot behind Ayers at 122 in fifth, while Del Norte’s Alex Osborne (108) and Hoopa’s Tyler Lewis (217) both placed sixth in their divisions.

Arcata’s Jackson Hicks (146) and Del Norte’s James Gensaw (128) both also had big days and placed seventh in their weight classes.

And rounding out a memorable day for the H-DNL, Eureka’s Logan Robertson (115) and St. Bernard’s Jack Kramer (159) and Kyler Smith (287) all placed eighth.

De La Salle placed first in the team competition, with Del Norte finishing fifth, Arcata 12th, Fortuna 16th and Hoopa 19th.

We’ll have more to come on the big day for the league.

Photo by Sam Razo – The 15 H-DNL boys who placed at this weekend’s NCS boys championships.