By Ray Hamill — It’s been a good start to the new wrestling season for some of the Hoopa Warriors, including four grapplers who are expected to lead the way a young roster.

After winning a league title and placing fourth at the North Coast Section championships a year ago, senior Donald Hostler is looking to close out his high school career with a bang, along with fellow seniors Santiago Moon and Riley Baldy, each of whom has hit the ground running this winter.

Leading the way for a small but talented Hoopa girls team is sophomore Andee Lewis, who appears ready to pick up this year just where she left off after an impressive debut campaign at the high school level a year go.

All four of those team leaders have shown plenty of promise at the December tournaments on a Hoopa squad that features 13 boys and four girls.

“We’re still coming together as a team, but we’ve got a lot of kids, which is a good thing,” Hoopa head coach Robert Baldy said. “It’s one of the largest teams we’ve had in a while.”

Thus far, the Warriors have competed in three tournaments, at Del Norte, at McKinleyville and at Grants Pass, and they’ll be back in action at the Beast of the North tournament at Anderson High next week.

Hostler is ranked in the top 25 in the state at 165 pounds, according to his coach, while the impressive Moon has placed in the top three in all three tournaments at 175, including a first place at McKinleyville.

Lewis also has three top-three finishes in tournament action this month, including a first-place finish at the season-opening Del Norte Battle at the Border tournament and a second-place finish at McKinleyville.

Overall, Robert Baldy likes a lot of what he’s seeing from his wrestlers so far and the work they’re willing to put in.

“They do everything I put in front of them,” the head coach said. “And they’re always down to do the hard work when they need to.”

But while the coach has a sizable roster of grapplers, many of them are young or new to the sport and the Warriors lack a lot of experience.

“We’ve got some up-and-coming wrestlers that could be in the mix in Sections,” the coach added. “We don’t have a lot of seniors this year, but we’ve got a lot of freshmen and sophomores.

“I still think we have a good team.”

That group includes sophomore Jesse Roberts, who has transferred from Eureka High and will compete at 132, as well as seniors Daniel Peralta and Saul Peralta, who are competing at 150 and in the heavyweight division, respectively.

The coach is also excited about sophomore Owen Briggs, who is competing in the sport for the first time at 126 pounds and is adapting quickly, as well as senior, Uriah Cheng, who is also expected to make some noise in his first season competing in folkstyle wrestling after recently wrapping up an impressive fall on the football fields.

Freshman Angel Gabriel also gives the Warriors some added depth at 144, as does junior Chase Offield at 190, sophomore Jayden Dauz at 190, and senior Christian Hostler, who is a first-year wrestler competing at 215.

Lewis, meanwhile, is expected to lead the Hoopa girls team, which also includes the experienced Allison Mace, along with Morgan Gomes and freshman Brook Gulley, all of whom should also make some noise in league competition this winter.