The large man sporting the magenta hair at the state wrestling tournament in Nikiski this weekend is Mike Kimber, coach of the Mt. Edgecumbe wrestling team.

Kimber’s Braves won the 3A Region V wrestling tournament on their home turf in Sitka over the weekend.

Kimber’s pride in his team’s performance came at a small cost to his dignity.

“Danny Villasenor said, Coach can we dye your hair if we win Regions? I said, Oh yeah, win by 50 points or more, and you can dye my hair.”

Villasenor came in second at 132 pounds, one of fourteen Edgecumbe wrestlers to qualify for the state tournament this weekend. Villasenor was pinned by Sitka High’s Will Patrick, who will be headed to Nikiski as the top seed in the weight class.

Patrick, joined by Darin Davis who won by a tech fall at 106, Jaren Sumauang who won by pin at 126, and second-place finishers Jake Licari at 145, and Mitchell Boord at 170, were able to edge the Sitka Wolves into second place over Craig.

But no 3A school had the depth to make it close with Mt. Edgecumbe. In fact, Kimber credits the depth of his team for the big win.

“I was really surprised by the spread. Usually a 10- or 12-point win is pretty big, but 81-and-half points at the regional tournament is huge. And we had a lot of kids that stepped up, even if they weren’t point scorers, they were blocking by beating other teams. That allowed for that spread to happen.”

Michael Matthew, a junior from Quinhagak, won at 170 pounds. He says he got a boost from wrestling at home.

“One of my goals was to never lose in my home gym. I kept it going for the region title, and I’m pretty happy.”

Matthew beat Sitka’s Mitchell Boord in a one-point decision, 3-2. Boord had beaten him earlier in the season in a Sitka-Edgecumbe dual. Matthew says he learned from the experience.

“The first time we wrestled he beat me. I thought about it, and told myself I had to keep up my tempo, and keep myself wrestling the whole match, instead of just waiting for him. I had to keep pushing myself.”

Paul Johanson says he also learned a lot in earlier matches. The 220-pound regional champion is a freshman from Hoonah. He beat Metlakatla wrestler Tristan Alexander in the finals, but he learned to take nothing for granted.

“The finals was a little tougher than I thought. I went all three rounds with him and won by points. Last time I wrestled him I pinned him in the first round. So it was a little unexpected going all three rounds with him.”

Former Sitka High wrestling coach John Hedden returned to town for the regional tournament, and sat on the seeding committee. His old team is in a rebuilding year, but Hedden says the “quality is still there.”

Sitka wrestlers were in some of the most exciting matches of the tourney – Jake Licari, in particular.

“The semi-final match on Friday against Kerstein of Haines, which Jake won by 2 points, 14-12, and then the final match against Thomassen of Wrangell, which he lost by one point. I’m sure he’s disappointed with the loss, but it was a great match. When you get done with a match like that you’ve got to say, I feel bad I lost, but god I wrestled a great match.”

Hedden will travel with the team to Nikiski for the state tournament, where Southeast wrestlers often set aside their differences and support each other as a region. Last year, eight Southeast wrestlers came home with state titles, and this year their prospects are nearly as good.

Some wrestlers to watch are Mt. Edgecumbe’s Jaylin Prince, a two-time heavyweight state champion vying for a third title; Sitka’s Will Patrick, who lost in the title match last year at 126 pounds and is undefeated this year at 132. Both these wrestlers are top seeds at state. Number two seeds heading north from Sitka this year include Mt. Edgecumbe’s Paul Johanson and Shyler Johnson, and Darin Davis from Sitka High.