By NATHAN WHALEN

Special to The Record

With months of repairs complete, South Whidbey High School gets to host home basketball games and wrestling matches at its home gym.

Work crews finished replacing the gym floor and the bleachers. The first varsity game in the renovated gym took place Dec. 21 when the Falcons hosted Tyee High School. The Falcons won 60-18.

During a weekend in August, a pipe burst adjacent to the school’s gym and flooded the room and damaged the maple floor, said Kristina Macarro, communications director for South Whidbey School District, in an email.

Insurance paid for replacement of the gym floor and the district used levy dollars to replace the bleachers and repaint the gymnasium. Macarro said the bleachers were original from the early 1990s and not ADA compliant.

Home games for volleyball, as well as boys and girls basketball took place at the South Whidbey Community Center while repairs were made.

The Falcons boys and girls wrestling teams have been traveling during the first weeks of the season. Wrestling mats couldn’t be moved off site to the community center.

South Whidbey has two home matches on the schedule in the coming days. The Falcons hosted Sultan Jan. 7 after the News-Times went to press. They’re scheduled to host Darrington, Granite Falls and Concrete Jan. 15 for a four-team scramble, Macarro said.

A grand re-opening of the gym will take place Jan. 24 and is open to the public. Doors open at 4:30 p.m. South Whidbey’s girls basketball hosts Granite Falls at 5 p.m. and the boys game takes place at 6:45 p.m.