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After a long trip up and down the Lynn Canal, the Mt. Edgecumbe wrestling team returned to Sitka Tuesday afternoon. The Braves left town last Friday morning, and spent Saturday and Sunday wrestling in round-robin matches in Skagway. They returned to Sitka on the ferry.
MEHS Coach Mike Kimber took only a few varsity wrestlers on the trip, but said that some of his second- and third-string grapplers got valuable experience. For some, it was their first trip to a regional wrestling tournament.
``Everybody got out there and learned about competing,'' Kimber said. ``They got some wins and they got some losses.''
Kimber said he liked what he saw from Nelson Kanuk, a freshman who competed at 119 pounds. Kanuk battled hard against Jufer Librando, and experienced wrestler from Juneau-Douglas, and despite losing managed to avoid a pin.
Kimber said Kanuk would likely bump up into the Braves' varsity roster, possibly as early as this weekend. Kanuk will wrestle at 119 or 125, Kimber said.
Daniel Villasenor, Edgecumbe's varsity 119-pounder, had some tough matches in Skagway, but seemed to learn from the experience, Kimber said.
``He had more losses than wins this weekend, but each match he did something new and better,'' Kimber said. ``He's catching up and reeling them in.''
Ian Sia, a senior captain for Edgecumbe, wrestled at 135 and was 5-1, Kimber said.
Donovan Gurule, a freshman wrestling in his first tournament, competed at 119, and Kory Joe wrestled at 112 for Edgecumbe in Skagway.
Chris Journey, a freshman from St. Mary's, competed at 160.
Kimber said that ``Just about everybody on the team won a match.''
The Braves will host dual matches Thursday night, as Hoonah, Haines, Ketchikan and Sitka are expected at B.J. McGillis Gymnasium on the eve of a regional tournament that SHS will host Friday and Saturday.
Sitka and Edgecumbe are scheduled to face off on Friday night at SHS in a battle between two of the region's top three 3A teams.
Edgecumbe came from behind to beat Sitka 33-30 earlier this month. Sitka took an early 27-3 lead, dominating the lower weights. But the Braves stormed back and Jaylin Prince sealed the win with a pin in the 285-pound match.
Kimber said he'll use his varsity roster this weekend. The Sitka tournament, which opens Friday afternoon, is a ``dual format,'' meaning teams will go head-to-head in a series of matches.
A tentative schedule released today shows Sitka and Mt. Edgecumbe facing off at 7 p.m. Friday. Mt. Edgecumbe also will also take on Petersburg at 4 p.m. Friday, while Sitka will wrestle Juneau-Douglas at the same time.
Mike Vieira, the Sitka High activities director, said SHS will set up three mats for the tournament -- two in the main gym and a third in the back gym where the Sitka High wrestlers typically practice.
Wrestling will begin at 2:30 p.m. Friday, with the final matches of the night scheduled to start at 7 p.m.
Wrestling will begin again at 8 a.m. Saturday. At 7 p.m., the tournament will close with an ``all-star dual.'' Vieira said the top two wrestlers in each weight classes will be placed on two teams that will battle it out.
Also Saturday, Sitka will meet Craig (8 a.m.), Kayhi (11 a.m.) and Wrangell (2:30 p.m.). All of those matches will take place on the west mat in the main gym. The Mt. Edgecumbe varsity will wrestle Kayhi (8 a.m.), Thunder Mountain (11 a.m.) and Juneau (2:30 p.m.). All of the Edgecumbe matches are scheduled for the east mat in the main gym.
At 5:30 p.m. Saturday, both Sitka High and Mt. Edgecumbe will be in action. The winner of the dual between the two local squads Friday will take on the top-seeded team, while the loser of the Friday dual will face the two seed.
The wrestling schedule is expected to be posted on the Sitka High Web site by Thursday.
In addition to Sitka and Edgecumbe, Haines, Wrangell, Thunder Mountain, Ketchikan, Hoonah, Kake, Hydaburg, Juneau-Douglas, Yakutat and Skagway are expected to bring wrestlers to the SHS tournament.