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A team with potential
Opens year with home tournament set for Saturday
Head coach Aaron Schaad believes that the talent is certainly in place to expect a good year on the mat for the Del Norte High wrestling team. A total of 35 kids are currently taking part, which is 10 more than last year, with the majority of returners back, as well as an intriguing group of newcomers, Schaad said. Around 50 percent of the team are sophomores, with many likely starting this year after making a mark as true freshmen last season. “We’re young, but I think we’ll only get better as they mature as wrestlers,” Schaad said. “We have a lot of potential.” Last year, Del Norte went undefeated in the Humboldt-Del Norte Conference in the regular season and took second place at the HDN Championships. Two Warrior senior wrestlers, Barrick Sala at 215 and Isaac Terry at heavyweight, both won Humboldt-Del Norte Conference White Star titles last season. Sala finished 8th at the Northcoast Section Championships. Coming into the season Sala is ranked 5th and Terry is 6th in the NCS in their weight classes. Sophomores that performed well last season and are expected to contribute this year include Skylar Hadad at 122 and Jackson Evans at 132. Robert Boulby, Hawk Mattz and Eric Turner are also back, although it is still being determined which weight classes they will wrestle at. Senior Andrew Napier at 171 is also expected to contribute again this year.
 Barrick Sala lifts up an opponent during a match last season at home, Sala took 8th place at 215 at Northcoast Sections last year. He will be a senior this season for the Warriors. Del Norte Triplicate/Bryant Anderson It begins at 10 a.m., with the championship matches taking place between 5 and 6 p.m. Schaad said that it’s nice to start the year and see where kids are at in the friendly confines of Thunen Gym, with local fans cheering them on. Terry said that everyone seems to be dedicated to the upcoming season. He has been impressed with the way the newcomers and the younger teem members have put in the effort to be ready to wrestle. Terry has lost around 10 pounds from last year and believes it will help him have better speed this year. Last season he went undefeated in the HDN and made it to the NCS Championships where he went 2-2. “I think we’ll have a really great year,” Terry said. “I’m excited.” Again this year, Aaron Schaad will be assisted by his brother Clinton Schaad. There also have a number of coaches helping out, including Nick Watson, Pat Terry, Chuck Schaad and Joey Kravitz. Kravitz is a 2009 Del Norte graduate who was a state qualifier his senior year. It’s nice to have a recent graduate in Kravitz come back and pass on his knowledge to the team, Aaron Schaad said. “He knows what needs to be done,” he said. “He still remembers what it’s like being on the team.” Schaad said a number of newcomers, including a fair share of players from other sports, such as football, have recently joined the team. He said that they are great athletes and believes if they can adapt to a new sport quickly they can contribute and potentially compete for starting spots. Schaad said that since practice just recently began it is still too early to know for certain which new wrestlers will contribute. Practices have been intense as they have a limited amount of time to get everyone ready to wrestle on Saturday. “We’re racing to prepare them to wrestle so they can defend themselves on the mat on Saturday,” Schaad said. Wrestling schedule • Dec. 3: hosting the Battle of the Border Wrestling Tournament starting at 10 a.m. • Dec. 10: at McKinleyville Tournament • Dec. 16-17: at Grants Pass Tournament • Jan 6-7: at Nor Cal Tournament in Redding • Jan. 10: Del Norte will wrestle Arcata and Ferndale at home. Hoopa will wrestle Arcata • Jan 14: at Windsor Tournament • Jan. 17: Del Norte will wrestle Fortuna and St. Bernard’s at home • Jan 21: at Eureka Tournament • Jan. 25: Del Norte will face Hoopa and McKinleyville at McKinleyville • Jan 28: at Maria Carillon Tournament • Feb. 2: Del Norte will face Eureka and South Fork at Eureka. Eureka will face St. Bernard’s • Feb. 4-5: at Mission San Jose Tournament • Feb. 11: NCS Team Tournament • Feb. 18: HDN Championships at McKinleyville • Feb. 24, 25: NCS Championships • Mar. 3-4: CIF Championships
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