Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Del Norte’s Karlye Dodson and Arcata’s Lilianna Alfredi in action at Arcata High on Tuesday night.

By Ray Hamill — It’s been an impressive run on the mats for a group of talented and hard-working Del Norte seniors.

On Tuesday night, the Warriors traveled to Arcata High for a league-deciding dual match and prevailed 51-20 in boys action in a battle of unbeaten squads to clinch the regular-season dual match title.

Remarkably, the seniors on this year’s Del Norte boys team closed out their regular season career with a record of 27-1 over their four years with the program.

The victory also avenged their only loss during that impressive run, which came against Arcata last winter.

The Arcata girls, however, won their matchup 48-19 to also complete an undefeated run through league dual matches this winter, and they will be favorites to defend the H-DNL championship they won last year when they host this year’s tournament next week.

“The girls, they show up every day, they work hard, they want to learn, which is awesome,” Arcata head coach Cass Bell said. “They want it. They love the competition, and they’re always working hard at practice, always ready to go when we need them to.”

Among the highlights of the night for the Arcata girls, Rory Bickmore dominated her opponent and won with a second-round pin, as did teammate Ash Osceola.

Karlye Dodson, Allie Bartley and Golden Rule all won their matches for the Warriors.

The boys matchup went Del Norte’s way, in large part because the Warriors avoided a lot of pins.

“We were able to keep matches close and not give up max points,” said Del Norte head coach Clinton Schaad, who has a remarkable 55-1 record in league dual matches in his eight years in charge of the program.

Among the highlight performances for the Del Norte boys, James Gensaw Jr., pinned Silven Yoder and Remington Escobedo enjoyed an inspirational victory over Chase Bickmore, also with a pin.

“That match really opened the door for us and inspired the team to keep moving forward,” Schaad said of Escobedo’s victory.

Del Norte standouts Colton Schaad (forfeit) and Curtis Bartley (pin), who could very well be the best two wrestlers in the entire league this season and are both defending North Coast Section champions, each won their matches.

So too did Davion Johnson, who has “been wrestling really well the last few weeks,” according to his coach, and pinned his opponent at 190.

At 113, Carl Turner also won for Del Norte as he continues to play a crucial role for his team.

Clinton Schaad described Turner as the team’s “Swiss Army knife” because he’s always willing to take on whatever role the Warriors need.

“He makes weight (at different weight classes) when we need him to,” the coach said. “He’s been a workhorse for us and a wrestler we can count on when we need it.”

The impressive Chulhs Bates also won with a pin and appears to be headed back to full fitness at an opportune time of the season.

“He’s back in our lineup and that makes a huge difference for us,” Clinton Schaad said of the junior standout, who was also named Outstanding Lower Weight Wrestler at the Ukiah tournament on Saturday.

Chey Gensaw, Wyatt Sharp, Blake Owen and Alex Osborne all dropped close matches for Del Norte, with some impressive performances that benefitted their team.

There were also several standout performances for the Arcata boys, including senior Isaiah Bell at 144.

The head coach’s younger brother has been one of the top grapplers in the H-DNL in recent years but missed out on the opportunity to compete for a league championship last season because of injury.

This year, however, he appears primed to make up for that.

“Hopefully this will be his year to win that White Star,” Cass Bell said.

Talon Villurruel also won for the Tigers, as did River Mattole, who beat experienced Del Norte senior Osborne in the last match of the night.

“That was a good match,” Cass Bell said of Mattole’s win. “I’m really proud of River for stepping up going against an experienced wrestler like Osborne.”

Arcata freshman Tyler Shelton also impressed his coach in a loss at 115.

“He has just improved so much since the beginning of the season,” Cass Bell said. “He’s asking all the coaches questions all the time and is really motivated to get better.”

Yoder, who is only in his second year wrestling, also impressed his coach in his loss to James Gensaw.

“He works his butt off,” the Arcata coach said. “He’s always trying to get better. I’m so proud of him.”

Arcata’s Jacob Mola also has worked hard and turned in a solid performance against the highly-ranked Bartley.

“He stepped up and gave it his all,” Cass Bell said. “That was really impressive. I’m really proud of Jacob for trying to make something happen.”

Both Del Norte and Arcata will now turn their attention towards this weekend’s North Coast Section dual championships, which will be held at Ukiah High School.

The Warriors are the defending Division-2 Redwood Empire champions, ending a run of four straight years as runners-up last winter.

“I think we’re peaking at the right time,” Clinton Schaad said. “It’s been a year of hit or miss with all the injuries and illness, but I think we’re getting there.

“Hopefully we’ll be healthy and the kids do what they can do, but nothings given and everything’s earned.

“We’re going to go down there and hit it with all we got.”

Del Norte has faced off against Ukiah in the NCS championship match in each of the past five seasons, and both will be among the favorites to win it all this year, along with Windsor and Casa Grande.

The Tigers also will be included in the field, but Cass Bell will not be traveling with many of his top wrestlers, who need to heal up and get healthy for next week’s league championships.

“I’m hoping a week from now they’ll be healed,” he said. “We can still win the H-DN if I have my full lineup, but I don’t want them out there if they’re injured, so we’ll have to play it by ear.”

The Hoopa Warriors are the defending Division-3 NCS Dual Match champions and will also be in action at the section tournament this weekend, as will the McKinleyville Panthers.

While they lacked the overall numbers to challenge Arcata or Del Norte in league dual matches, the Mack boys could be in a position to challenge for a first-ever section dual championship with some quality wrestlers in their lineup.

In other dual match action this week, the Fortuna girls defeated Hoopa 18-12.

Fortuna’s Tiffany Krause and Allison Watson both won their matches with pins.