Submitted photos – The Del Norte Warriors placed third out of 105 teams at this weekend’s NCS championships.

It was a good day at the North Coast Section wrestling championships for the H-DNL teams at James Logan High School on Saturday, with 18 boys and three girls placing in the top eight in their weight classes.

And it was a particularly good day for the Del Norte Warriors.

The Del Norte boys took home two individual NCS titles for the second straight year and qualified three wrestlers for the prestigious state championships for the first time this century.

As a team, the Del Norte boys placed third out of 105 programs and in NCS wrestling there are no separate divisions.

“It was a great day,” Del Norte head coach Clinton Schaad said. “It was a total team effort.”

At 140 pounds, Del Norte senior Curtis Bartley successfully defended the section title he won a year ago and will advance to next week’s state championships in Bakersfield.

Bartley defeated Chase Claassen of Windsor in the final with a 14-1 major decision.

“He had a great, great tournament,” Schaad said of Bartley. “He looked good the whole time. Curtis is a top-notch wrestler.”

Bartley’s teammate Remington Escobedo also placed first at 152 pounds, defeating Trevor Economos of Monte Vista in the final with a pin.

And he did it in just his sophomore year.

“He had an absolutely amazing tournament,” Schaad said of the young standout, who went 5-0 over the two-day event. “He tech’d or pinned everybody. He was a man on a mission.”

The story of the tournament for the Warriors, however, might have been senior Colton Schaad, who won an NCS title last year.

Competing in the 167-pound division, Schaad lost his quarterfinal matchup to James Emery of James Logan High on Friday, but he battled his way back through the consolation bracket with four straight wins on Saturday to secure third place, including a win over Emery in the third-place match.

Submitted photo – Del Norte’s Curtis Bartley (first) and Fortuna’s Tyson Evanow (fifth) on the podium on Saturday.

He then had the opportunity to wrestle Easton Hearne out of San Leandro in the true second matchup, which allows a third-place wrestler to face the second-place wrestler for the second and final state berth in the division, providing they have not faced off earlier in the tournament.

Colton would win that match, his fifth victory of the day, to qualify for the state tournament through the back door.

“He made a mistake and (Emery) capitalized on it,” Clinton Schaad said of the quarterfinal loss. “But Colton came back and didn’t make a mistake (in the rematch) and won it.

“Colton just had his mind right.”

As a team, the Warriors scored 154.5 points to comfortably out-distance fourth-placed Amador Valley (137.5).

It was the first top-three pennant for the Warriors since 2001.

“We’ve been close the last couple of years and just missed it,” Clinton Schaad said. “But we just kept plugging along and we were by far the smallest school up there (at the top of the leaderboard).”

Submitted photo – Del Norte’s Remington Escobedo won an NCS title in his sophomore year.

Windsor placed first with 187.5 points, followed by Liberty in second with 181.5. The Arcata Tigers placed an impressive 12th overall, while Fortuna was 23rd.

Del Norte’s Alex Osborne also enjoyed a big tournament and place second at 115 pounds, but he will not advance to state after losing his true second matchup.

“He had a great season,” Clinton Schaad said of Osborne. “He battled the whole way through. He just got beat in the final by a very good wrestler.”

Hoopa’s Nathan Edwards placed third at 192 but lost his true second match to barely miss out on state qualification. 

Five other H-DNL wrestlers finished fourth in their brackets, including McKinleyville’s Brandon Hillegeist at 122, Fortuna’s Waylon Shaw at 115, Arcata’s Talon Villaruel at 128, Hoopa’s Antonio Correa at 217 and Arcata’s Isaiah Bell at 146. 

Arcata’s Silven Yoder was one spot further back in fifth at 134 and he did so remarkably in just his second year competing in the sport.

Submitted photo – The five Warriors who placed at this year’s NCS championships.

Fortuna’s Tyson Evanow also placed fifth 140, as did Arcata’s Chase Bickmore at 152, Eureka’s Logan Robertson at 115 and Hoopa’s Donald Hostler at 159.

Del Norte’s Braydon Johnson rounded out the top local performers on the day with an eighth-place finish at 192.

“He had a great senior year, a great tournament,” Clinton Schaad said of Johnson

In the girls tournament, which was held at Albany High, three H-DNL wrestlers placed in the top seven in their brackets.

Del Norte’s Karlye Dodson (140) and Arcata’s Rory Bickmore (155) each finished fifth, while Del Norte’s Allie Bartley finished seventh.

“We had two girls in the tournament and they both brought home medals,” Clinton Schaad said. “They battled.”

The state tournament will take place as always in Bakersfield, with the three-day event beginning on Thursday.

Submitted photo – Del Norte’s Karlye Dodson placed fifth on Saturday.

Del Norte’s Allie Bartley placed seventh.