Mother Nature turned a Western Alaska high school wrestler’s journey to state into a ‘nerve-wracking’ adventure

High school wrestlers in Southcentral Alaska had their preparation and transportation for the 2022 state championship tournament disrupted by a series of recent snowstorms that limited their ability to travel and practice.

Four hundred miles west in the small village of Tuntutuliak, a different force of nature nearly cost one wrestler a chance to compete at the tournament and honor a lost loved one in the process.

Chandra Stone was scheduled to take a flight to Bethel to catch a connection to Anchorage at 3 p.m. with her coach and chaperone on Thursday afternoon, a day before the tournament started.

Unfortunately, it was canceled because of dense fog and the evening flight was full.

“When we got that call that our flight had got canceled, we were obviously devastated,” Tuntutuliak first-year teacher and coach Hailey Schatzmann said. “A couple hours passed, and we saw that the evening flight was actually going to come in even though the fog was happening.”

The sophomore from a program of just 12 wrestlers and school of just 170 students took to social media in a last-minute attempt to appeal to her fellow community members in her time of need.

“I posted on Facebook saying I needed a seat for the evening flight right now for state wrestling,” Stone said.

Luckily, two passengers didn’t show up for the evening flight, but her chaperone couldn’t make it because there were only two seats available. However, the challenges didn’t stop there.

They found out that there were going to be a pair of open seats just one hour before the flight was scheduled to take off. Given the terrain in their village, they had to hop on a four-wheeler and hightail it to the airport.

“The agent told us that we had to be at the airport by 7 (p.m.) because the pilot isn’t going to wait,” Stone said.

Once they got to Bethel, they had to run to catch their next flight to Anchorage on Alaska Airlines, and that plane was ready to take off by the time they got there.

“We made it to Bethel just in time to catch the jet that was delayed luckily by an hour and 20 minutes,” Schatzmann said.

They were in such a rush that they didn’t have time to load their luggage on the plane, so they had to shove their essentials into their carry-on bags.

“I was going to take my suitcase, but they wouldn’t let us take our suitcases,” Stone said. “All we had was our carry-ons, so I grabbed what I needed, like my clothes, my singlet and my wrestling stuff.”

Stone said they were just grateful that it all worked out in the end and that she was going to have a chance to compete.

“Honestly, it’s unbelievable because Chandra has a great energy,” Schatzmann said. “I couldn’t bear to not have her get to compete, so us having that opportunity was shocking but also so nerve-wracking to get on the plane in the village and on the jet to Anchorage.”

[Highlights from the first day of the Alaska state wrestling tournament and what to watch for in Saturday’s finals]

She made the most of her first opportunity to represent her team and community on mat with a first period pin of Audrae Charles of Akiachak in the preliminary round for the 185-pound girls division.

Her father, Jimmy Stone, who was also her wrestling coach, passed away last year, and she cherishes all the time they spent together on and off the mat.

“It’s great,” Stone said. “I just look up to the sky and see if I can see anybody like my dad.”

After losing all of her matches as a freshman, Stone recorded her first career win at regions and her second in the first round at state.

“She’s so mentally tough, and that’s just evident throughout, and she’s only gotten stronger from there,” Schatzmann said. “I’m really proud of her.”

Stone would go on to fall in the quarterfinal round to Colony’s Gia Jones via a first-period pin later Friday. Even though she won’t be the first state champion in program history, she knows her father is still looking down on her with pride.

“My dad would’ve been so proud of me,” Stone said.