By Ray Hamill — The Del Norte boys and girls wrestling teams are racking up the miles this winter, as the Warriors continue to build momentum ahead of the upcoming league championships and postseason.
This past weekend, the Del Norte grapplers traveled for four tournaments, including three for the boys.
Junior standout Wyatt Lewis made the trip to Clovis for the very competitive Doc Buchanan tournament, which features some of the top high school wrestlers in the nation, while some of his teammates traveled to Sacramento for the Tim Brown tournament and others made the shorter trip south for the annual Eureka tournament.
The Del Norte girls also traveled for the Eureka girls tournament and enjoyed plenty of success.
The Fortuna girls took home the team championship at Eureka as they continue their impressive winter on the mats, while the Warriors had a strong showing and placed fourth.
More importantly, the Del Norte girls are continuing to show signs of improvement.
“We’ve got good numbers right now and that’s always important,” longtime Del Norte program head coach Clinton Schaad said of the girls team. “And they seem to be improving every tournament. Every time I watch them wrestle they seem to be better and better. They’re paying attention at practice and absorbing information.”
All six Del Norte girls who made the trip to Eureka placed in their weight classes, including the impressive Karyle Dodson, who took first in the 140-pound division and was named tournament most outstanding wrestler.
“She’s doing really well. She has gotten better,” Schaad said Dodson, who placed fifth in the North Coast Section last year. “And we’re looking for her to do better (than fifth) in NCS this year.”
Freshman Aileen Carlson also impressed for the Warriors at Eureka and took first at 130.
“She’s been coming on,” Schaad said of the first-year high school wrestler. “And she’s getting better and better.”
Also impressing for the Del Norte girls, Belle Marquez-Suarez finished second at 140 pounds, Golden Rule (130) and Aubry Dodson (170) each placed third in their brackets, and Malena Bates finished fourth at 120.
The Warriors traveled to Eureka again on Wednesday to compete in an H-DNL dual meet and beat the host Loggers 42-30.
“The girls are wrestling well,” Schaad said. “We hadn’t beaten Eureka in several years, so it was nice to get that head-to-head win.”
Lewis, meanwhile, also enjoyed a productive week, good enough to earn him Humboldt Sports Athlete of the Week honors.
The Del Norte junior, who has placed in state in each of the past two years, competed at the Doc Buchanan tournament and finished fifth in the 157-pound bracket.
“He wrestled really well,” said Schaad, who described the annual tournament as one of the toughest in the nation. “It was a really solid performance for Wyatt.”
Two Warriors also placed at the Tim Brown tournament which is also a very completive tourney.
Remington Escobedo had a “very strong performance,” according to his coach, on his way to placing third at 150, while teammate Davion Johnson finished seventh at 190 pounds and also made the podium.
Five other Del Norte wrestlers placed at the Eureka tournament, including Wyatt Sharp, who finished second at 132 pounds.
Blake Owen also impressed for the team, securing a fifth-place finish at 165 pounds, while Lucas Fox (138), Jacob Burger (175) and Robert Reyes-Villegas all finished sixth in their brackets.
The Del Norte boys continued their busy month at Eureka on Wednesday, matching up against the Loggers and St. Bernard’s in league dual meets and winning both.
The Warriors defeated Eureka 72-9 and got the better of St. Bernard’s 84-0.
Next up, the Del Norte wrestlers will travel to Rogue River High in Oregon on Saturday for the Rumble on the Rogue Invitational.
“It’s a fun tournament,” Schaad said. “We’ve been going there for years.”
The Warriors will also host McKinleyville in a league dual meet on Wednesday.
