Skagway and Haines high school wrestlers made a strong showing last weekend at the Region V tournament, which was hosted in Haines. Both schools will send their winning competitors to Anchorage on Wednesday for a chance to become state champions.
Skagway Panther and Division II regional wrestling champion, Brendan Moncibaiz, took the top spot in his weight class. Moncibaiz is a junior and weighed in for the event at 119 pounds.
“It went pretty good,” Moncibaiz said. “So the first guy that I wrestled, I actually lost to twice in previous tournament. So it was pretty much an upset when I beat him, and then my second match for the finale went pretty good.”
Seven other wrestlers from Skagway joined Moncibaiz and first-year coach Tyson Ames for the 15-mile trip across the Lynn Canal to the event, which was hosted in Haines.
Coach Ames said that Moncibaiz was the most seasoned wrestler on the team and that every team member improved during the season while fighting hard at the tournament. He added that the six freshmen and two juniors represented the largest team fielded by Skagway that he could remember.
“I’m proud of all the kids,” Ames said. “The most important thing to me is that the kids have fun, work hard, and improve.”
Haines assistant wrestling coach, Jake Mason, also expressed high praise for his team.
“We did fantastic, really,” Mason said. “We had our six finalists, the five boys and one girl, make it to the finals, five of which took first place, and we entered eleven kids into the tournament. So really, we put over 50% of our team into the finals, which I think is a really high percentage.”
Taking first place in the tournament were Haines seniors, Hayden Jimenez, Camelia Bell and Dalton Henry along with junior Colton Combs and freshman Finn Crowe. Junior James Stickler took second. The showing was a strong one for Haines, garnering the school the third-most team points of any school at the tournament.
Mason said that the showing was strong for a community the size of Haines.
“Haines is kind of on the rise,” he said. “We took second at State as a team last year, which was something that Haines has never done before.”
There has never been a Skagway state wrestling champion and the last time Skagway sent a wrestler to the state championship was in 2016. That wrestler finished third in their weight class. On Wednesday, regional winners from Skagway and Haines will head to Anchorage and compete for a chance to be named the best in Alaska.
With top wrestlers from all over the state in attendance, many from Alaska’s largest schools, competition will be fierce. For Moncibaiz, the possibility of tougher competition is welcome.
“I hope it’s tough,” Moncibaiz said. “Honestly, I’m looking forward to getting up there and wrestling some good guys.”
Regardless of the outcome, Moncibaiz is proud of what he and his teammates were able to accomplish this season.
“The guys, they came, like, a long way this season,” he said. “We didn’t start off the season too well, but they really came along and they really improved.”
Moncibaiz, who’s been wrestling since fourth grade, also expressed appreciation for his coach.
“He’s a great coach,” Moncibaiz said.
Ames said that all of his wrestlers are eager to return next year and he’s hopeful that the Skagway Panthers wrestling team will grow and continue to improve in the coming years.
Mason expressed similar thoughts about the Glacier Bears wrestling program and is hopeful for a strong showing at the state competition. He said that he considered the Haines Region V tournament a success.
“Everyone just competed really well, even our kids that weren’t able to place battled hard,” Mason said. “And I think we definitely made our community proud.”
