Houston believes it can contend

HOUSTON — A lot has changed in the past year for the Houston wrestling program.

In addition to making the move to the 4A division — the largest enrollment classification in the sate — the Hawks also have a new conference (Mid Alaska), and a new coach, Brad Drake.

What hasn’t changed, however, is a solid corps of returning wrestlers that could help the Hawks make a splash in their first year of 4A competition.

Four of seven state qualifiers from last year’s 1-2-3A championships are back, including sophomore Rachael Shannon and seniors Justin Crowley, Cass Melin and Garrett Mooney.

Shannon qualified at 112 pounds last year, while Melin made state at 140, Crowley at 160 and Mooney as a heavyweight.

Also back is heavyweight Lucas Castle, who won the season-opening Houston Invitational last weekend.

Drake said he thinks the Hawks can wrestle with anyone in the state, but the team could suffer in the depth department.

“I think one of our biggest problems is just the numbers,” Drake said.

While most class 4A teams typically field more than 30 wrestlers — and top programs often get 80 or more — Drake the Hawks will have to make do with around 20.

The first-year Houston coach — who coached for several years in the Bush and Outside before coming to Houston — said he hopes to make up for a lack of numbers with attitude and hard work. The Hawks have spent extensive early-season time trying to get stronger and leaner in preparation for the season.

“We’ve been spending a lot of time in the weight room,” he said.

The attitude among Hawks athletes, as well, has been overwhelmingly positive heading into the year.

“I don’t know if I could ask for anything better,” Drake said.

If the Houston Invitational is any indication, the jump to the 4A level hasn’t hurt the Hawks, which placed 17th out of 47 teams at last year’s 1-2-3A championships. At their own 11-team meet, the Hawks won three individual titles and placed second to East Anchorage in the team standings.

Drake said he believes Houston has the talent to send a decent-sized team to state this year.

“I’d be disappointed if we didn’t have four or five kids there,” he said.

Houston’s Cass Melin, who won the Houston Invite at 152 pounds, said he thinks the jump to 4A could be a blessing in disguise. Although 4A schools have higher enrollments, Melin said he believes the smaller schools actually have tougher athletes because there’s less to do in small towns.

“I think it’s going to be easier,” Melin said. “At all the small schools, that’s all they have to do.”

Melin said he believes the Hawks will do just fine when they start mixing it up with the 4A schools.

“I think if our kids start focusing and get in there, we’ll do good,” he said. “We’re all out here to win.”

Contact Matt Tunseth at 352-2265 or matt.tunseth@frontiersman.com