IN THE GRIP Healdsburg’s Alex Francis, in red, grapples with Mingyul Kim of Maria Carrillo in a 126-pound match. Francis won on a fall at 4:55. (Michael Lucid)

With experienced soccer coach Scott Weidemier guiding a young roster of Greyhound wrestlers, the boys scored their first win in a league dual on Jan. 24, defeating Elsie Allen 33-24.

Winning matches were scored by David Campbell (in the 120-pound weight class), Alexander Francis (126), Wyatt Zbinden (138), Maximiliano Suazo (150), Milo Timmsen-Miller (190) and Eli Zepeda (285).

Subsequent duals did not see the team score as high. Against Ukiah, the final score was a lopsided 72-6 with Healdsburg’s only win coming by David Campbell (120). On Jan. 31, Maria Carrillo defeated Healdsburg 58-12, with Alexander Francis (120) winning by fall and Ulises Nunez-Roman (285) by forfeit.

“The team struggled early in the year, but they really started to come together over the last few weeks of the season and made some huge strides,” said coach Weidemier. “We defeated Elsie Allen for our first league win in a couple of years, and the scores of the Ukiah and Maria Carrillo matches do not adequately show just how competitive we were in those matches.

THROWDOWN David Campbell of Healdsburg, in red, throws Maria Carrillo’s Dante Mares in the 120-weight class at their Jan. 31 meet. Mares recovered to win, and Maria Carrillo defeated Healdsburg 58-12 in the dual. (Michael Lucid)

“They wrestled well against much more experienced kids and many put themselves in position to win their matches, but some just fell prey to ill-timed mistakes or more experience,” he said.

The season ended for two of the younger grapplers with a trip to the North Coast Section championships in the East Bay. Uli Nunez lost his first match of the day, won by fall in his second match and then lost his third to get knocked out of the tournament, going 1-2.

Freshman Serena Dimas, the only girl competing with the Greyhounds this year, advanced via two early byes in her 122-pound bracket, but then lost both of the matches she wrestled.

“It was a great experience for both of them and a nice accomplishment, as both are first-year wrestlers and it was a nice way to conclude their seasons,” Weidemier said.

The longtime wrestling teacher and coach kept his upbeat prognosis for the team and its future. “We have been super proud of how they’ve persevered and improved after the early struggles,” Weidemier said, adding that even with the departure of key seniors, the nucleus of a good team next year is in place.

“This was a fun group of kids, and their sense of camaraderie was something special,” he said.

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Christian Kallen has called Healdsburg home for over 30 years. A former travel writer and web producer, he has worked with Microsoft, Yahoo, MSNBC and other media companies, usually in an editorial capacity. He started reporting locally in 2008, moving from Patch to the Sonoma Index-Tribune to the Kenwood Press before joining the Healdsburg Tribune in 2022.

1 COMMENT

  1. Great job covering wrestling in Healdsburg! Student Athletes committed to working hard and competing – awesome!!

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