Del Norte youth wrestler Aldaron McCovey, 8, competes at the Redwood Classic wrestling tournament, held Saturday at Del Norte High School. Del Norte Triplicate / Bryant Anderson

The Del Norte Youth Wrestling team put on a show at the Redwood Classic freestyle wrestling tournament, held Saturday in Del Norte High School’s Thunen Gymnasium. The young Warriors finished first in the team competition, ahead of seven teams from Humboldt County. Wrestlers from Oregon and across Northern California also competed in the tournament.

“We’re really proud of the way things are going,” Del Norte Youth Wrestling coach Roger Boulby said. “The kids are doing very well. They’re tough.”

The victory marks the second championship for the young Warriors on the season, following a team title at a tournament in Arcata.

Del Norte Youth Wrestling claimed the team title with help from Colton Schaad, 5, (in black singlet). Del Norte Triplicate / Bryant Anderson

The Del Norte High track and field team had one meet under its belt entering Saturday’s Panther Relays in McKinleyville. 

If the previous meet, the Brookings-Harbor Icebreaker, was something of a status update after a month of practice, the Panther Relays served as an experiment for the Warriors. Athletes competed in events familiar and unfamiliar to them in hopes of challenging themselves or putting up improved marks.

“The combo of kids we put out on the track — they rooted each other on. They cheered each other, supported each other,” Del Norte head coach Samuel Escobar said. 

“We didn’t have high expectations for the meet. Our goal is to win the league championship and slowly peak at the end of the year.”

The Warriors took sixth in the men’s team standings (19 points, 33 behind champion McKinleyville) and third in the women’s team standings (23 points, 55 behind champion Arcata), but team points took a backseat to the relay teams competing.

Del Norte’s 4x100-meter relay team of Maddie Critz, Rachel Rowe, Kayla Costello and Katelynn Rowe combined on a second-place finish (53.49 seconds).

Roller derby boot camp on April 6

North Coast Roller Derby and the Tsunami Sirens are holding their second boot camp of the 2013 season on Saturday, April 6, from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Del Norte County Fairgrounds’ main building.

Boot camp is open to men and women ages 18 and older; all skill levels are welcome to participate. Gear will be made available on a first-come, first-serve basis, but skaters must provide their own mouth guard. Interested parties with questions may visit www.northcoastrollerderby.com for more information.

DN boys tennis shut out by Eureka 

The Del Norte High boys tennis team was swept by Eureka, 9-0, in its Humboldt-Del Norte League tennis match, held Saturday in Eureka.

The Warriors (2-4 overall) forfeited the No. 6 singles match and the No. 3 doubles match and lost the remaining seven matches, all in straight sets.

The Del Norte High boys golf team took third place overall at the Humboldt-Del Norte League tournament at Bigfoot Golf Course in Willow Creek.

The Warriors combined to tally 416 strokes among the top five finishers, behind tournament champion Eureka (387 strokes) and St. Bernard’s (414).

Del Norte freshman Kobie Lockwood was the event runner-up, carding a 1-under 72 on the par-73 course. Eureka’s Aaron Russell earned medalist honors with a 2-under 71.

Warriors senior Anthony Kravitz also cracked the top 10 with a 5-over 78 (seventh place).

Del Norte has a combined stroke total of 852 through two tournaments, 67 behind the first-place Loggers.

The Warriors continue their season on Thursday, March 21, at 11 a.m. at Beau Pre Golf Course in McKinleyville.

Forfeiting three matches at the beginning of a first-to-five-wins team match is enough of a stumbling block.

The Del Norte High boys tennis team compounded matters Thursday afternoon with mental mistakes that added up in a hurry against Fortuna High. The Huskies ended up shutting out the Warriors, 9-0, in the match, held at the Del Norte High School tennis courts.

“Tennis is a mental game — that’s what took us out,” Del Norte coach Sara Sampels said. “All the kids learned something.”

Del Norte senior Blair Westbrook readies a backhand shot in the Warriors’ team match against McKinleyville Tuesday at Del Norte High School. Del Norte Triplicate / Bryant Anderson

The No. 1 doubles match, the last of the day, was deadlocked at 5-5 in a pro set. The Panthers’ team of Nick Thomas and Will Clark pulled ahead to beat Del Norte’s Blair and Alec Westbrook, 8-6.

The victory gave McKinleyville a 5-4 team win over the Warriors.

“Everybody played well today,” Del Norte head coach Sara Sampels said. “We learned something for the next match. We’ll keep fighting.”

The Warriors (2-2) started out from behind on the day, forfeiting the No. 6 singles and No. 3 doubles matches due to senior Christian Wong’s ankle injury.

Del Norte split the contested doubles matches and won three of the five contested singles matches — but it wasn’t enough.

Warrior senior Daniel Quick was the only player to win both of his matches on the day. Quick defeated McKinleyville’s William Whitehead, 7-5, 6-3, at No. 4 singles, then teamed up with fellow senior and friend Doug Ovick to defeat Erik Vodden and Peter Oliver of the Panthers, 8-3, in the No. 2 doubles match.

“I had a couple aces (on serve),” Quick said of his singles match. “Mainly rushing the net — he’d be there and I’d return it to get the quick volley.”

Del Norte High senior Josh Barriga and the Warriors scored 13 runs on eight hits Wednesday night in a 13-2, five-inning victory over Brookings-Harbor High. WesCom News Service / Jef Hatch

“All we did was really hitting,” junior shortstop Nathan Porter said. “We came out aggressive today. No one was sitting back.”

Seven Del Norte batters combined on eight base hits in a 13-2, five-inning rout of the visiting Bruins Wednesday evening at Del Norte High School.

“A lot of hits today — that’s what we needed, a confidence-builder,” said Warriors coach Travis Johnson of the team’s first win since May 4, 2011.

Porter was the lone Del Norte player with multiple hits, going 2-for-4 with a double and four RBI.

Seniors Lane Japp and Garrett Pease, junior Josiah Johnson, sophomores Wesley McGuirt and Cole Bellatti and freshman Austin Healy each picked up hits for the Warriors. Johnson had a two-run double; Healy, McGuirt and Steven Maready also recorded an RBI.

Brookings-Harbor drew first blood, scoring runs in the first and second innings for an early 2-0 lead. The Del Norte bats came alive in the bottom of the second inning, with back-to-back two-run doubles by Johnson and Porter capping a six-run inning.

‘Reel Deal’ to be published Sat. 

Adam Spencer’s “The Reel Deal” fishing column will run on Saturday.

DN boys golf at Bigfoot G.C. 

The Del Norte High boys golf team heads to Bigfoot Golf Course at Willow Creek Golf & Country Club in Willow Creek for a Humboldt-Del Norte League tournament today at 11 a.m.

The Warriors finished second out of nine teams at the first HDN League tournament of the season, held at Redwood Empire Golf & Country Club in Fortuna on March 4.

Del Norte High’s Kayla Costello, left, defeated teammate Katelynn Rowe, right, in the 300-meter hurdles at the Brookings-Harbor Icebreaker meet in Brookings on Tuesday. Costello clocked in at 49.11 seconds, Rowe at 49.17. WesCom News Service / Jef Hatch

Del Norte wins 11 individual events, 2 relays in Brookings Tues.

Befitting the beginning of the season, with a group of athletes new to their events, the Del Norte High track and field teams took it slow for their opening meet.

First little step: showing up to the meet. Warriors head coach Samuel Escobar had a participation list of 54 kids slated for Tuesday’s Brookings-Harbor Icebreaker meet in Brookings.

“Usually, we’ll have (some) amount of kids slated to go and at the last minute something comes up,” Escobar said. “All 54 of our kids showed up. That says something about the kids on the team.”

Next step: getting those 54 kids to compete free of expectation and worry. 

“A lot of the kids, because they are freshmen and sophomores, were fearful and anxious about participating in events they were not used to,” Escobar said. “With us coaxing them into doing something out of their comfort zone, they overcame a lot of fear, a lot of anxiety. They’re learning how the track meet progresses, the sequence of events.”

From there, natural athleticism and ability took over.

The Warriors swept the boys’ and girls’ team titles and boasted individual or relay champions in 13 events at the Icebreaker.

Swimmers ready themselves for the start of the 200-yard individual medley relay at the All Comers Swim Meet. Del Norte Triplicate / Robert Husseman

True to the meet’s name, 68 swimmers completed a series of individual pursuits and relay events over three and a half hours.

Twenty-seven of those 68 came from the Crescent City Swim Club, the youth organization sponsoring the event alongside the Promote Our Pool Foundation and the Wild Rivers Coast Masters swim club. 

“The kids were asking, ‘What are those guys in swimsuits doing?’” said Lana Walker, a parent and volunteer coach with Crescent City Swim Club.

The Masters swimmers, including 71-year-old Ralph Mohr of Coos Bay, Ore. — believed to be the oldest individual in attendance — occasionally swam in lanes adjacent to kids one-seventh Mohr’s age and younger.

“We (Masters swimmers) have a little saying we use,” Mohr said. “We’ve found the Fountain of Youth — you just have to swim in it.”

The event proved to be a local affair with surprising reach, as swimmers came from as far away as Bend, Ore. — 272 miles away.

“There are a lot of people driving down from Brookings,” Brookings resident Jodi Harvey noted. “It’s wonderful.

Harvey’s daughter Breezy, 12, and son Denali, 10, had joined Crescent City Swim Club the week before and were swimming in the first meet of any consequence in their young lives.