Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Del Norte’s Curtis Bartley is one of our athletes of the week.

By Ray Hamill — It was another impressive week for local high school wrestling, with the H-DNL claiming almost a quarter of the entire North Coast Section wrestling championships.

The league took home individual titles in three of the 14 weight divisions, and all three champions feature among our athletes of the week.

Fortuna senior Mason Evanow became the Huskies’ first-ever section champion in the sport after winning the title at 128 pounds at James Logan High School last weekend.

A pair of Del Norte grapplers also won a section championship.

Junior Curtis Bartley took home the title at 140 pounds, while fellow junior Colton Schaad secured the victory at 167.

Both were the first section titles for the two junior standouts, although they may not be their last.

After their big wins last week, all three wrestlers are competing at this week’s CIF state championships in Bakersfield.

Our team of the week, meanwhile, goes to the last remaining H-DNL team in the NCS basketball playoffs.

On Wednesday night, the South Fork boys qualified for just their second-ever section final in the sport after a hard-fought 59-44 win over Averroes in Miranda.

The Cubs are the No. 2 seeds in the Division-6 bracket and will play for the championship at No. 1 Cornerstone Christian in Antioch on Saturday night.

Mason Evanow

Curtis Bartley in action at this year’s H-DNL championships.

Colton Schaad

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK

Mason Evanow, Fortuna Wrestling, Senior

Curtis Bartley, Del Norte Wrestling, Junior

Colton Schaad, Del Norte Wrestling, Junior

Evanow, Bartley and Schaad are enjoying outstanding seasons and last weekend the talented trio of NCS champions showcased just how deep H-DNL wrestling is at the moment.

Their victories follow the recent success of the Del Norte and Hoopa teams, which each won a first-ever section dual meet title earlier this month.

Evanow not only became the first-ever Fortuna section champion, but he is one of just two Huskies to qualify for the state championships twice, along with current teammate Chloe Cox.

Bartley and Schaad, meanwhile, have been on mission all season with two big goals in mind — win a section championship and qualify for the state championships.

This week, they achieved both of those goals, and as juniors they should only be better next year.

For more on Evanow, see Cox, Evanow setting new standards for Fortuna wrestling …

For more on Bartley and Schaad, see Trio of dedicated Warriors get set for state championships …

TEAM OF THE WEEK

South Fork Boys Basketball

The Cubs will play for the school’s second-ever NCS championship at Cornerstone Christian on Saturday night, and their first in 34 years.

Under the guidance of head coach Taylor Morrow, the South Fork boys have evolved into one of the most consistent teams in the H-DNL in recent years.

They won back-to-back conference titles in 2022 and 2023, before making it back to the section championship for the first time since 1990 this winter.

Even more impressive, the majority of the players will be playing for a second NCS winning medal after also winning a section football championship in the fall.

For more on their big week, see NCS ROUNDUP — SF boys qualify for first NCS final since 1990