By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
A team of young Sitka wrestlers gained experience on the mat in Ketchikan over the weekend at the final meet prior to the Region V middle school championships.
Four of the Blatchley wrestlers finished first in their weight class, but the five-member team finished fifth among the five Southeast middle schools, representing Metlakatla, Juneau, Sitka and Ketchikan, at the Kurt Kuehl Invitational tournament.
With about six years of experience in the sport, Junior Jimmy, 14, took first place in the 132-pound weight class.
“I did pretty well – the first matches were easier than the finals,” the eighth grader told the Sentinel. “The final guy was really, like, an advanced guy. He had the same level of wrestling as I did. I think our team did really well overall.”
Working his way through the bracket, Junior pinned each opponent until his championship match against Dreyden Ohana, of Ketchikan’s Schoenbar Middle School.
With the regional tournament only two weeks away, Junior hopes for “a little bit more competition. There’s going to be more… teams there because it’s a regional (tournament). This was just an invitational tournament.”
After finishing middle school in the spring, he plans to continue wrestling at Sitka High. Though he enjoys the sport on its own merit, he highlighted the importance of team bonding, too.
“I just really enjoy it because it keeps me in good health. It’s fun to go over, stay with people, and have fun. Not usually too serious about what we do, and then just meeting people.”
Junior’s teammate, Gunnar Ojala, wrestled in the 140-pound weight class and took fifth place.
“I’ve been wrestling for nine and a half years, and the part I enjoy (about) wrestling is really just meeting other people from other towns and getting to wrestle them,” the 13-year-old said at practice Monday. The eighth grader, who intends to wrestle in high school, said he’s looking forward to the regional tournament later this month, “wrestling a lot more matches against different people at different skill levels.”
Blatchley wrestler Jene Keith secured the 77-pound championship, and teammate J.D. Keith took first in the 84-pound bracket. Killian Hammock earned the championship title in the 122-pound class.
Blatchley coach Mike Callahan was pleased with the results.
Blatchley’s Junior Jimmy scores in his final match in Ketchikan over the weekend. He won the 132-pound championship. (Photo provided by Mike Callahan)
“I was very proud of them. It was very unexpected, but I’m proud that they came up and showed up and wrestled as hard as they could. And that’s what Sitka tries to do – show up and do the best that we can. And we were rewarded for it,” he said.
Callahan also coaches the Sitka High wrestling squad, which competes in late fall. The Wolves took tenth place out of 49 teams at the state tournament in late December. The Mt. Edgecumbe Braves earned eighth place.
With only eight practices scheduled before regions, Callahan plans to continue training his team on the fundamentals of the sport.
“We’re just going to keep on sticking to our bread and butter and working on our moves, working on our pins, working on our conditioning,” Callahan said. “Kind of like in high school you’ve got to have gas in the gas tank and prepare ourselves for some good wrestling.”
The coach encouraged interested students to try the sport. He had high praise for the small group that competed in Ketchikan.
“The way they wrestled, they showed up (and received) lots of great compliments about their sportsmanship and their behavior… Just a really great group of kids.”
