Juneau-Douglas grapplers ready to take down Alaska opponents
- Klas Stolpe
- Oct 16
- 11 min read
Updated: Oct 21
Unlimited mat potential for defending Region V champion Crimson Bears
By Klas Stolpe
Juneau Independent
The two-time defending Region V Division I wrestling champions, the Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears, are back and stronger than ever as they look to bring state glory to the capital city.
"The competition at state last season was beyond what I imagined,” senior team captain Alex Marx-Beirely said. He finished with a 16-7 record at 160 pounds. “This year I know what to expect. I know the level of competition I will be up against and I am expecting to do way better this year —100% each match, don’t let up, just constant action and motion.”
Last season, the team qualified 23 boys and one girl out of a possible Southeast Conference limit of 28 for the state championships in Anchorage. With 64 grapplers who have made practice appearances this season — 81 initially signed up to wrestle — the potential for greatness looms.
“The goal is to take all 28 this year,” JDHS coach Adam Messmer said. “And for years to come. So with the size of our team and the depth of each of our weight classes, I don't think that's an unreasonable goal…I think our momentum is still gaining every year and for the next three to four years it is going to be hard to catch up to us.”
There are 14 weight classes for DI schools JDHS and Ketchikan to battle in for boys. Two grapplers earn state bids at each weight.
JDHS’ total qualifying number last season was third most among the 19 DI boys teams attending state, yet they placed ninth, the result of youth and a ranking system that traditionally gives Region V teams harder opening matches due to strength of schedule.
Junior co-captain Camden Messmer had a 25-3 record last season at 119 pounds and placed fourth at state.
“I feel like we have less inexperienced kids this year and we are already stepping up from this time last year,” C. Messmer said. “The past two years I got fourth at state. This year I want to focus on being a good team captain to the rest of the team and leave everything on the mat when I compete.”
The girls have 12 weight brackets and all divisions are combined. The Crimson Bears qualified one girl among 29 schools at state (Mt. Edgecumbe 8, Wrangell 4, Kayhi 3, Hoonah 2, Hydaburg 2, Metlakatla 2, Kake 1). For DII boys, MEHS won the state title among 30 teams with 14 qualifiers (WRG 6, Haines 5, Sitka 3, Petersburg 2, Skagway 1, HNH 1, Kake 1, MET 1).
“I am really working on my mindset,” sophomore Nixie Schooler said. She had a 21-4 season record at 107 pounds and placed third in the girls’ state tournament. “Last year I was very weak in my mind. I was prone to giving up when I got put in tough positions. But this year I’m going to work on getting out of my head and not giving up when it matters most. I know I’m physically there and mentally, it is challenging, but I think I am there now…We have a lot of girls returning and coming in, the team is getting stronger. I really like seeing new girls here, I like seeing them try. I know a lot of them sometimes don’t really like it, but they are here and they are doing it and they are going to be really good.”
JDHS sees its future changing via the increased popularity of wrestling in Juneau and by scheduling more tournaments in Anchorage, something which will have a trickle-down strengthening effect on its Region V opponents as well. Coaches Messmer, Jason Hass and Dan Ondrejka are assisted by Alonzo Leisholmn and Paul Davis and see the talent flowing into the Juneau Wrestling Center.
“For the most part, everybody in this room has wrestled before, whether it was last year or middle school,” coach Messmer said. “So for our preseason and the start of the season, we've been able to just dive right into stuff instead of splitting the group up and working on advanced stuff with some and then kind of teaching basics for others. We can now skip over a lot of those basic things so the energy in the room has just been pretty intense.”
JDHS will take that intensity up north to Houston this weekend, the Mountain City Classic in Anchorage (Oct. 31-Nov. 1) and the Lancer Smith Tournament in Palmer (Nov. 14-15). They will also take grapplers to Metlakatla this weekend, Skagway next weekend, host a meet (Nov. 7-8), and travel to Ketchikan (Nov. 21-22) and Wrangell (Dec. 5-6). The Region V Championships are at Mt. Edgecumbe High School (Dec. 12-13) and the ASAA Championships are at Anchorage’s UAA Alaska Airlines Center (Dec. 19-20).
“In Southeast, our only other division team is Ketchikan,” coach Messmer said. “So we go up north to a big Lancer Smith meet every year. That's kind of an off week for the rest of the region and the rest of the state, so everybody in the state goes there, regardless of division. But when we've been going to state, they seed your wrestlers. And we've been getting the short end of the stick on the seeding because they say our strength of schedule is not as strong as up north. So this year we're going to a couple of other tournaments up north, sending kind of our top-tier wrestlers up there to get better seeding criteria for state. That is pretty much what it comes down to.”
That travel and continuing to still honor Southeast commitments to other Region V teams takes a funding toll. The Crimson Bears are aided by high school and middle school parents, and fans through the Bears Falcons Wrestling Booster Club, in addition to the team’s various fundraising efforts.
“We are trying to get more parents involved as their kids come through the programs,” coach Messmer said. “To get Thunder Mountain Middle School parents to volunteer during high school tournaments and vice versa. So they don’t miss their kid wrestling.”
A key part of representing the team's numbers is in leadership.
“It is a great honor to be team captain,” Marx-Beierly said. “I am very excited about it, and it means being a leader both on and off the mat, so that is cool. I am always trying to help out the little guy, I am not trying to take advantage of my position and be like, ‘Hey, do push-ups’ or ‘Hey, do sprints.’ I am just trying to help people out as much as I can and be a good role model for the team.”
That involves improving on his own weaknesses.
“I do have stamina problems,” he said. “Like in the third period I do get kind of tired, but I always end up pulling through, usually. I also need to work on my bottom position. My neutral position is my strongest point, when we are both standing up, but I would love to work more on my top and bottom, just stuff like that, just fundamentals mostly.”
Team co-captains with C. Messmer are juniors Jed Davis and Landon Dunn, and seniors Oliver Abel and Marlon Cox.
“One new thing we have been doing this year is every Monday we bring all the captains upstairs with the coaches for discussion,” coach Messmer said. “We kind of go over how they feel practices are going, what they think we should work on a little bit more and what we can glean over a little quicker. It has been helping and they have been great with their interactions with the kids on the mat, keeping everybody on track and working in a positive way.”
For state returner Davis, 24-5 at 145 pounds last season, this is a retribution year.
“At state last year I had a tough match in the second round and got beat up pretty bad,” Davis said. “I worked all summer, took three months and traveled to camps and saw new stuff and I am bringing new stuff that I saw from all around the country, bringing it back home, hoping I can do something with it. My strong point, my style, is I have heavy hands so I am on everyone’s head. I’m kind of short, kind of stocky so I just try and make your neck sore, beating on your neck.”
Sophomore Joshua Beedle (19-10 at 112 pounds) placed sixth at state and returns this season at 130 pounds.
“I don’t think I did as well as I should have,” Beedle said. “I’m working twice as hard this year just to try to fix my placement, to place higher. My strong point is the front headlock. I really like being able to hit the front quarter and if I don’t get that I can just toss them by and spin…I didn’t necessarily want to gain weight. I wanted to go 119 this year, but it didn’t work out, nature I guess.”
Senior returner Kyle Carter (3-9 at 285 pounds) went into state last season less than 100%.
“Last year I was injured,” Carter said. “But I did watch a bunch of our guys wrestle after I failed in both of my matches. State is the real deal. Unlike Lancer Smith, which is kind of like state talent. But state just has a different atmosphere to it, just a totally different vibe than anything else in the season…This year I am going 215, I think it is going to be more beneficial for me and the past four years coaches have been telling me to go there. I am already at that weight at the end of practices… We took a massive team up to state last season, more than expected, and it is nice having that many people supporting you up there.”
Junior state returner Ethan Van Kirk (14-10 at 152 pounds) suffered a football injury and will miss this season, but has stepped up in other duties.
“It is definitely hard not wrestling,” Van Kirk said. “It is just hard not to want to be able to show up and have that drive to be here and help the team, but in the end it is really about the team. It is about Juneau and helping out the community and so that is why I still come. I am kind of helping the manager (Riley Mulkey). My goals were to really work hard in the off-season with football and come back for wrestling so it sucks not being on the mat, but at least I can help these guys.”
Van Kirk has been wrestling since kindergarten and the years of mat exposure have ingrained significant knowledge.
“Whatever I can do to get them to state, I will,” he said. “If anything, it is work ethic and conditioning. Those are the two biggest things in wrestling in my opinion. It’s just being able to finish those last reps of sprints at the end of practice and always going hard, living and practicing how you think you are going to play. It is hard to stay positive, but it is about the community of wrestling, not just about the sport. So that is what really keeps me positive, being able to be around my peers. Every one of their successes, every win, is a little win for me too.”
Also returning from last season’s state tournament are seniors Oliver Abel (12-12 / 130 lbs), Richard Tupou (4-4 / 285 lbs); juniors Felix Hesson (7-10 / 135 lbs), Jaxin Jim (11-10 / 171 lbs), Tristan Ridgeway (8-8 / 119 lbs) and Joseph “Max” Webster (9-11 / 125 lbs); and sophomores Carson Kautz (5-11 / 103 lbs), Michael Carson (3-7 / 112 lbs), Caleb Aube (10-9 / 130 lbs) and Hugo Rank (8-13 / 189 lbs).
Graduating state participants were Justus Darbonne (26-4 / 5th 152 lbs), Hayden Aube (11-6 / 160 lbs), Colton Cummins (28-5 / 135 lbs), Carvin Hass (10-12 / 171 lbs) and Denali Schijvens (6-6 / 215 lbs).
Talented returning grapplers Xavier Thibeault (5-5 / 140 lbs) and Darren Foster (15-10 / 189 lbs) have moved, and an off-season injury will also take talented freshman Maddox Scott off the mat.
“Ethan (Van Kirk) still wanted to be involved and he has been around the mats forever,” coach Messmer said. “And he loves being around it. He has already been helping out greatly with this number of kids. And Maddox has been here every day too. And they have been handing out singlets to people and just keeping track of kids at the end of practice, it can get a little wild so they are going to be really nice to have during our home tournament...The youth coaches are getting our wrestlers to the point that when they come in here they are ready. It used to be half our team had not wrestled and we spent half the season getting them up to speed, now I feel we were there a month ago during preseason.”
Among the many wrestlers to watch this season, coach Messmer noted the co-captains and returners and various newcomers.
“All the captains are going to do great,” he said. And Wyatt Kenney (senior) he was injured before the season last year and missed most of the season, but he is going to shock some people up north..Beedle got huge and he just won a wrestle-off yesterday, and has had to change his style but is looking good…Kyle (Carter) and Ricky (Tupou) are pretty locked in as big guys…Landon Hill has had great middle school and club seasons, he’s one to watch for and will do big things in the state. Jayden Frickey, our 103-pounder, is looking good, William Hulson is doing well, and Matthew Shockley. We have a big freshman class and more girls. Last year we had four girls and this year we have nine. And Nixie (Schooler) has a fire under her, she’s excited. Fiona McFarlin is a firecracker, she has had to wrestle bigger girls in practice and is taking it to them, she is going to be fun to watch. Junior Toriana Johnson has put in a lot of work in the off-season so she will do some things and Maddie Dale is one to watch for sure.”
Following is the JDHS wrestling roster. Weights are listed if available and will be in flux throughout the season.
Seniors:
Oliver Abel (140), Noah Ault (160), Alex Marx-Beierly (171), Sam Buttner (160), Marlin Cox (145), Kyle Carter (215), Hyrum Fish 205), Wyatt Kenney (171), Jace Kihlmire (210), Elias Lowell, Jonah Mahle (189), Quintin McCoy (140), Richard Tupou (260).
Juniors:
Jed Davis (160), William Dapcevich, Landyn Dunn (140), Tyler Garrison (125), Felix Hesson (135), Jaeger Hubert, Jaxin Jim (180), Toriana Johnson (126), Gage Keller (140), Elliot Klinger (145), Tyler Oudekerk (170), Camden Messmer (125), Orrin Noon, Tristen Ridgeway, Joseph ‘Max’ Webster (135).
Sophomores:
Caleb Aube (150), Joshua Beedle (130), Michael Carson, Odysseus ‘Orion’ Drake (140), Sunny Dutton (120), Sean Fairchild (230), Jonah Lane (135) Carson Kautz (112), Hugo Rank (189), Nixie Schooler (107), Ivan Shockley 175), Brody Vavalis (171), Lacie Whitehead (120).
Freshmen:
Adriana Blanton, Madelyn Dale (114), Luke Darbonne (125), Carter Day (165), Caleb Demmert (125), Ciara Dutton (138), Jayden Frickey (103), Landon Hill (119), William Hulson (119), Byron Jack (140), Phoebe Martin (165), Fiona McFarlin (107), Thomas McMillan (140), Jack Pegues (130), Beckham Selvig-Baker, Madox Scott, Matthew Shockley (112), Hendrik Van Kirk (140).
• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@gmail.com.
