Submitted photo – The Del Norte Warriors celebrate their third-place finish at the NCS championships last weekend.

By Ray Hamill — It was a big week for the Del Norte Warriors on the wrestling mats.

The boys team placed third overall out of 105 programs at the North Coast Section championships at James Logan High School on Saturday.

And individually, they took home two of the 14 individual championships for the second straight year and qualified three boys for this week’s CIF State Championships in Bakersfield for the first time in at least 24 years.

This followed the team’s second straight NCS Dual Championship, which they won earlier in the month, as well as the H-DNL championship they secured two weeks ago.

All in all, it’s been a great season on the mats for the Warriors, who are closing out the winter in style.

And that’s why they feature heavily in your weekly athletes and team of the week awards.

Senior Curtis Bartley, who won his second consecutive NCS title at 140 pounds is one of our athletes of the week, while teammate Remington Escobedo took home his first NCS title in just his sophomore year and is our second athlete of the week.

And that’s not all for the impressive Warriors.

The Del Norte boys are also our team of the week after enjoying so much success down the stretch of the season.

Head coach Clinton Schaad and his staff have built one of the most dominating programs in H-DNL sports and this year was one of their best ever on the mats.

Submitted photo – Curtis Bartley celebrates his NCS win at James Logan High School.

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK

Curtis Bartley

Del Norte Wrestling, Senior

Remington Escobedo 

Del Norte Wrestling, Sophomore

Bartley was expected to compete for another section crown this year and the outstanding senior did not disappoint, leading the charge for his team at James Logan High.

The standout wrestler, who will continue his career on the mats at North Idaho College, one of the top JUCO programs in the nation, is closing out his high school career with a bang and will go down as one of the top wrestlers the Warriors have seen in recent memory.

Escobedo, meanwhile, could yet match Bartley’s success or even surpass it after winning his first NCS title in just his second year of high school competition.

Escobedo should only continue to improve on the mats over the next two years and don’t be surprised to see him back here among our weekly honorees again in the future.

For more on their big week, see Three locals advance to state; Warriors place third at NCS championships …

Submitted photo – Remington Escobedo on the podium after his NCS win last weekend.

TEAM OF THE WEEK

Del Norte Boys Wrestling

It’s been another outstanding season for the Warriors, who followed a seventh straight league title with a memorable trip to last weekend’s NCS championships.

Clinton Schaad and his assistants have built a dynasty and no other H-DNL wrestling program has come close to matching their success over the past decade.

And remember, NCS wrestling does not feature different divisions, so the Warriors were the third best team in the entire section, an incredible achievement for a school the size of Del Norte.

The Warriors were by far the smallest school at the top of the leaderboard.

“It was a great day,” Clinton Schaad told Humboldt Sports on Saturday night. “It was a total team effort.”

For more on their big week, see Three locals advance to state; Warriors place third at NCS championships …