Rooney takes 5th at state wrestling tourney

Early defeats resulted in a somewhat disappointing finish for the Wolves.

At last weekend’s state meet in Anchorage, Jeffrey Rooney, Jr. secured a fifth-place finish. Rooney was the only wrestler to place, and the five Wolves wrestlers ended up in 22nd place overall among 49 teams represented.

“We lost a couple early matches and that really didn’t help our cause,” said head coach Jeffrey Rooney, Sr. “It was a really tough competition, obviously. We didn’t perform quite as well as I thought we were gonna.”

Seeding may have contributed to some uneven matches. The ASAA employed a new seeding system this year based on data entered on the http://www.trackwrestling.com website.

“It was a quick tournament,” he said. “The data is only as good as the people who enter it.”

“It was just a different format than we’re used to,” he added.

In the 106-pound bracket, freshman Sig Decker pinned Seward freshman Nic Woodard at 3:33, only to fall to Skyview junior Austin Craig by pin in under a minute and then Johnathan Nelson of Barrow at 4:32.

132-pound wrestler sophomore Roger Miller beat junior Gavril Kalugin of Voznesenka before losing to Aaron Olsen of Bethel in a 3:02 pin to land in the consolation bracket. He beat Craig junior Hunter Fitch on a 5-2 decision, before his elimination at the hands of Homer freshman Timmy Woo.

Sophomore Chet Armstrong went out of the 152-pound bracket on straight losses to Kotzebue senior Koy Johnson and senior Blair Walker of Haines. Johnson beat Armstrong by technical forfeit 20-4. Walker won on a 4-2 decision.

The younger Rooney’s fifth place in the 170-pound bracket came after a 48-second pin of Skyview junior Ashton Mahan. His next match resulted in a 2:44 pin at the hands of Anchorage Christian junior Brian Nicholson.

Rooney then pinned Nome senior Danner Shreve at 1:28, Skyview senior Cajewl Musgrave in 3:24 before eventually losing to Bethel junior Patrick Francisco. His two previous wins qualified him for the fifth place match, which would have pitted him against ACS’s Nicholson a second time. However, Nicholson suffered an injury in a semifinal match against Hoonah senior Torst Skaflestad, meaning Rooney earned his place by default.

182-pound wrestler Senior Devon Miller lost his opener to Glenallen freshman and eventual fourth-place finisher Joseph White. He went on to pin Sitka freshman Josh Goeden in under a minute before losing to Nome senior Grady Austin.

While the exits may have been early, the Wolves can walk off proud, the elder Rooney said.

“They wrestled a good season,” he said. “We had a lot of fun. Every coach wants just a little bit more. I’m happy of what they accomplished and I’m very proud of them.”