Wrangell’s Jacob Marshall does his best to get away from Craig’s Joshua Kerstein during the tournament in Haines last weekend.
Led by two of the heartiest wrestlers in Southeast Alaska, the Wrangell Wolves wrestling team traveled north last weekend to take part in the 2011 Haines Invitational tournament.
Junior Tanner Thomassen and Sophomore Devon Miller held more than their own during the event – and walked away with a pair of championships in the 145- and 170-pounder classifications, respectively.
Thomassen came out on fire as he defeated four competitors from Craig, Pelican, Haines and fellow Wolves wrestler Jordan Veele before taking on John Smith of Hoonah in the finals.
Before facing Smith in the championship round, Thomassen made light work of Dalton Tuohy of Haines by a taking down the Glacier Bear by a pin in less than a minute.
“Tanner came out in force,” said head coach Jeff Rooney. “He made all the right moves and came out on top after five victories.”
The win for Thomassen came on a pin against Smith at the 1-minute mark of the second period.
“It was a fantastic effort by Tanner,” Rooney added.
Miller also dominated in his class – and faced off in a rematch with a Petersburg wrestler from earlier this month.
The rematch came in the form of Viking wrestler Cody Seaman and saw Miller make the pin with 39 seconds remaining in the second period.
“It was a complete domination of Seaman,” Rooney said. “It was a borderline throw and the kid’s feet went above his head, but Devon did the right thing and went to mat first. After that he brought it back around, rolled him and pinned him.”
Nine Wrangell wrestlers made the trip to Haines, and covered seven of the ten brackets. Eight of the Wolves finished in 3rd place or higher.
“Our boys got to see some good competition and some new faces at the tournament,” Rooney said. “We got the opportunity to compete with some of the other northern Southeast schools that we don’t usually see otherwise.”
The Wolves will travel to Anchorage this weekend for a tournament at Anchorage Christian School. The annual tournament at ACS is the largest in the State of Alaska.
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