At a lean 220 pounds and well over six feet tall each, Karl Tupou and Cody Weldon are imposing figures on the mat.
Weldon, a Juneau-Douglas High School senior, and Tupou, a Thunder Mountain junior, grappled with each other during a Tuesday evening wrestling practice at Thunder Mountain High School, practicing takedowns and defenses while coach Jason Boyer gave pointers and exhortations to athletes paired off by weight.
In a sport that prizes pound-for-pound athleticism, Weldon and Tupou stand out among their 39-member squad: they’re both outliers as naturals in their weight class. At a glance it’s clear that only a sizeable student body could produce talented athletes with, well, such sizeable bodies.
Two of a kind, Weldon and Tupou both count themselves lucky to have one another at practice this year. It’s the first time Juneau’s two prep wrestling teams have combined into one since Thunder Mountain founded its athletics program in 2010. In May, the Alaska School Activities Association granted a one-year waiver for Juneau to combine four sports and activities for the 2016-2017 school year, something ASAA has never done before.
“We have a lot more bodies than we would if we were separate, which means we get a lot better practices in,” Weldon said. “He’s (Tupou) a real big, strong kid, so it’s good to have somebody to practice with like that when I (go against) somebody like that on the mat.”
Tupou couldn’t agree more.
“Oh, it’s been really good, It’s been nothing but positive, honestly,” he said of the teams’ merger. “We’ve gotten along, everybody is working together. Cody is from the other school but we’ve gotten along just fine, everyone’s happy. Cody is a great wrestler. He’ll no doubt be my toughest match this season.”
The waiver will act as a trial period. If Juneau wants to continue with a combined program, or possibly expand to other sports, they will have to reapply next season. For now, Juneau’s wrestlers are reaping the benefits.
Previous to this year, neither Weldon nor Tupou had true practice partners. Many wrestlers had to grapple with partners above or below their weight class.
“Last year, I had to wrestle with Tyler (Cole) and he was about 20 pounds heavier than me,” senior Alex Ocana said. “We’re Juneau wrestling this year, we’re not Thunder Mountain and JD. There aren’t any downsides. We’ll get more rounded wrestling time, with people at your own size and skill level.”
When asked, teammates from both schools the same thing. Without somebody to practice against in their weight class, both the Falcons and Crimson Bears wrestling programs suffered midseason attrition, with TMHS starting with 23 athletes and finishing with just 13 (roster numbers for JDHS weren’t available at press time, but were lower than TMHS’ numbers).
The combined program boasts 39 athletes this year, with 13 Crimson Bears joining 26 Falcons on the mat. In his second year with the program, coach Jason Boyer expressed excitement for the future of Juneau wrestling.
“This is by far the biggest roster we’ve had since Thunder Mountain has been around,” he said. “The culture of the room’s changed, the energy has changed. It increases the intensity and ensures that each wrestler has somebody close to their weight to practice with, whereas before, neither team had enough kids to fulfill the weight classes, so somebody was always wrestling somebody bigger or smaller and they weren’t getting as much out of practice. Because of the amount of kids it keeps the level of competition higher.”
What to expect on the mat
The Juneau wrestling team rosters five wrestlers who qualified for last year’s state tournament: Connor Norman, a sophomore at 98 pounds; Caleb Deer, a 126-pound junior; Sam Nolan, a 125-pound senior; Alex Ocana, a 152-pound senior; and Cody Weldon, a 220-pound senior.
Boyer hopes to take as many as 12 wrestlers to this year’s state tournament, which takes place Dec. 17-18 at Bartlett and Chugiak High Schools. Two wrestlers from Region V, which now consists of just Juneau and Ketchikan, will qualify for the state tournament in 15 different weight classes. To do so they’ll have to win or place second at the Region V tournament Dec. 9-10 in Sitka.
As last year’s state runner-up, Weldon leads the pack as a title contender. He lost to Ketchikan’s Nate Fousel last year by a 6-3 decision after splitting two matches with his rival in the regular season.
With Fousel graduated and out of the picture, Weldon, a junior national champion in Judo, expects no less than a state championship, though he stressed that he isn’t taking anything for granted.
“I hope to win state, that’s the big overlying goal as a wrestler. As a senior, I just want to finish strong, not have senioritis.”
Weldon’s at 220 this year, up from 195 last season.
“For Judo, the weight class was 210 and I wasn’t quite making 197 so I bumped up to 210 and put on some muscle for that. It won’t go away so here I am at 220. I feel a little bit slower just because it’s more weight than I am used to but I will figure it out.”
“Cody is always in shape, and with his balance from his judo program, it’s hard to take him down,” Boyer said. “He always has throws available to him. Just overall he’s a tough kid and he has the desire to do well so he works hard.”
Nolan and Deven Mason (145 pounds), two good friends and practice teammates, are leaders for the team in work ethic. Boyer expects big things out of both of them as they hope to separate in weight classes to both qualify for the state tournament.
“My goal this year is to be on the top of the podium at regions and definitely be on the podium at state,” Nolan said. “Deven and I have been best friends for a long time and wrestling together, he’s definitely gotten a lot better because of the camps he went to over the summer. We’re kind of neck-and-neck but he’s a bit better than me right now.”
Nolan lost a 10-3 decision in the second round of the state tournament last year. He says his strengths are his speed and his skills from a top position. Mason started the year at 160 but hopes to drop down to 152 for the rest of the season.
“My main goal is just to win the home tournament, maybe to place at state,” Mason said.
Connor Norman, a veteran of the team Alaska wrestling, is a promising sophomore. Boyer hopes to separate Norman, who wrestles at 106, from freshman Jahrese Mays, who’s already a highly-decorated club wrestler with state championship ambitions at 98 pounds (Mays currently wrestles at 106).
“Jahrese is the first kid ever to be a three-time Tanana champion,” Boyer said, referring to the annual middle school Tanana Invitational Tournament. “There’s a good chance he could take state. Connor Norman has all the ability to do it, it’s all now on his shoulders to work hard in practice and pick up what he needs to. He’s a natural athlete, always comes in in great cardio shape. I told him he could potentially be my first Thunder Mountain state champ.”
The Juneau wrestlers will have a chance to prove themselves this weekend during the Brandon Pilot Invitational tournament at Thunder Mountain High School from 4 to 10 p.m. Friday and from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday. Championship rounds are slated for Saturday.
Nine schools are sending 138 athletes, including No. 1-ranked Colony High School. Coaches from Juneau are excited to face some Anchorage competition, which they expect to be an “eye opener” for their athletes.
Schedule
Oct. 21 – 22 Brandon Pilot Tournament At TMHS
Oct 28-29 Ketchikan Invitational
Nov 4-5 Colony Invitational
Nov. 18-19 Haines or Lancer Smith
Dec. 2-3 Wrangell
Dec 9-10 Sitka – Region V Tournament
Dec 16-17 Anchorage – State Tournament
Chase Foster, right, attempts to stop an escape by teammate Conner Norman during wrestling practice at Thunder Mountain High School on Wednesday.
