The high school wrestling match last Thursday between visiting Helena and host Corner looked for all the world like any other regular-season dual match.

But it wasn’t because it was only the second home match in more than two decades for the Yellow Jackets, and the forst one ever at their new high school and on their brand-new mat.

It’s been a long process for the team, which started a few years ago with just a handful of grapplers — not even close enough to fill all 14 weight classes for a regulation match.

Experience was on the short side as well, as is still the case today — there’s just a lot more wrestlers around, and they’re improving quickly.

“We’ve got more than 30 wrestlers on our team, now, including the middle school kids,” Jackets Coach Josh Hoyle said.

Cody Deason was the lone exception. He made the Class 1A-4A AHSAA state championship final match not once, but twice in his career.

Deason, now graduated, was still around Thursday night to help a full-strength team take on the Huskies from newly-formed Helena High, most of whose wrestlers used to compete for Pelham before the latter broke away from the Shelby County Schools.

As expected, Helena dominated the lighter weights, where Corner’s lack of experience showed. The Huskies won all but two of 10 bouts at 170 pounds or less. But the Jackets excelled at the heavier weights, with pins in all of the last four bouts.

That comeback wasn’t enough, as Helena held on to win the match by a 45-36 score.

The Jackets have a brand new mat — by far the most expensive item a new team needs — and a brand new attitude as well. Their last true home match was in 2009, which took place in the “Old Barn” gym at the original Corner High. Before that, it had been since the 1980s — no one now can remember exactly when for certain — that the Jackets fielded a wrestling team.