By Caleb Knudsen
Grapplers of the North Coast Section met for the first time earlier this month in the remodeled former Frost Gym, soon to be officially christened Drew Esquivel Hall. The most recent occasion was, fittingly, the Drew Esquivel Tournament, held on Dec. 21 in memory of Healdsburg High’s former star wrestler who died suddenly in 2016.
This year’s wrestlers are for the most part, if not entirely, first- and second-year wrestlers, and coach Scott Weidemier is careful to give them the kind of exposure that will grow their skills and enthusiasm for the sport instead of frustrate them.
“We’re holding our own,” he said, still recovering from managing two back-to-back tournaments with a total of 35 schools participating.
The varsity tournament followed by a day the Mick Tapparo Jr. Invitational JV Tournament held in the same hall, dramatically lit from above to highlight the classic forms of Greco-Roman wrestling. The JV tournament, too, was named for a former Greyhounds athlete who also died suddenly in 2016.
The relatively inexperienced Healdsburg team had their best showing in Friday’s JV tournament. “We ended up taking second as a team on Friday night, which was actually a very pleasant surprise,” Weidemier said of the Tapparo JV competition. “We were in first place up until the last couple of matches, and then Windsor won a match and won the tournament.”
The JV tournament had 19 schools, the varsity 16. They were dual meets, with the schools facing each other one at a time in an elimination, but wrestling in all weight classes—a workout for the students as well as the coaches.
Which means the size of the school’s wrestling team is a big factor in how well they compete against so many other schools in a tournament. For the Drew Esquivel varsity tournament, said Weidemier, “We didn’t have our full lineup, what with a couple people gone for the holidays. And we’re giving up a few weight classes anyways. So even with our best lineup, we’re a little bit behind the eight ball.”
Regardless, it was time well spent for the competitors. “It really was a good experience for the kids. You know, they’re starting to kind of put things together,” Weidemier said.
Though many of the matches in the huge tournaments took place in either the main Smith Robinson Gym or the smaller East Gym, the newly named Esquivel Gym proved to be the star of the show. One big reason: an overhead spot that highlighted the competitors, two at a time under the lights.
“I tell you what, people were walking in going ‘Ooh’ and ‘Ahh’ you know, just complimenting the heck out of the facilities,” Weidemier said. “And, you know, it was really nice to hear after all the work that’s been put into making that room, between architects and the school administration and the design work and everything that went into it over the years.”
