It was a good day for Humboldt-Del Norte League wrestling on Saturday, with two schools placing in the top three at the 2019 North Coast Section Division-II Redwood Empire Dual Team Championships, hosted by Eureka High.

The Fortuna Huskies took third place for the second consecutive year, showcasing how far the program has come in recent years, with their only loss coming against eventual champion Ukiah.

The No. 1 seed Wildcats swept all three H-DN opponents on their way to the title, beating Eureka in the quarterfinals by a score of 69-12, Fortuna in the semifinals (46-24), and Del Norte in the championship (50-30).

The Warriors’ second-place was their highest ever finish at the NCS meet.

The Huskies had several strong performances, including Andrew Hansen, Levi Nyberg, Joey Pontes and Adam Medeiros, each of whom went 4-0.

The No. 4 seed Fortuna boys defeated Casa Grande in their opening match by a score of 43-25, before falling to the eventual champions.

The Huskies, however, respomded to the loss with two straight wins to clinch third place, defeating Redwood by a score of 59-23, and then knocking off No. 2 seed Petaluma 50-30.

Del McKenzie and Asa Mckenzie each also big days for Fortuna, with both finishing 3-1.

No. 3 Del Norte also knocked off the higher-seeded Petaluma boys in the semifinal by a score of 47-30.

Earlier Del Norte defeated No. 6 Redwood 54-30.

The No. 9 Loggers, meanwhile, knocked off No. 8 Sir Francis Drake 40-26 in their opening match, before falling in consecutive matches to Ukiah and No. 5 Casa Grande (71-12).

All the local schools will be back in action next Saturday at the league championships.

Eureka also hosted the Redwood Empire Division-III championships, which was won by Willits, with Healdsburg second and Middletown third.

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Ray Hamill writes at humboldtsports.com, where you can read lots more about sports in Humboldt County.