Wrestling tournament courts three despite winter storms

The Stikine Middle School Wolves hosted its first wrestling tournament in three years over the weekend, with students from Ketchikan and Petersburg making the trip.

While around 60 students in all participated, the tournament was intended to be even bigger. Due to icy roads on Prince of Wales Island and rough water conditions, the middle schools at Craig and Klawock had to cancel plans to attend.

The tournament made up for their absence with additional competition, spanning from Thursday evening through Saturday night. Prior to the concluding spotlight matches, wrestlers in the tournament had by then engaged in 340 matches.

Of these, Wrangell's wrestlers participated in 130, winning 54 by pin. Coach Jack Carney said that between the Stikine MS invitational and its tournament last month in Craig, his team had racked up 77 pins so far this season.

Last year in state competition the then-Cougars wrestlers Liana Carney took first and Ryan Rooney took second, with their small team taking 16th among 32 teams overall. The coach said interest in the program has seen growth this year as a result, from 12 students last year to 18.

"We saw that success, so there's a bunch of kids," he said.

Of these, eight of Wrangell's wrestlers are girls this year, which Carney said mirrors trends statewide and nationally.

"A lot more girls than previously, and that's all come from girls wrestling," he said, citing increased exposure for women within the sport in the Olympics and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) matches on television.

With a mix-and-match against Petersburg Thursday and a pair of round-robins Friday with Ketchikan, by Saturday the teams' coaches planned out a special spotlight event to finish off the weekend that evening. Carney explained the matches weren't part of a formal tournament, but individuals were paired off by skill level for more interesting and challenging matches.

"They weren't supposed to be easy. We wanted to see good matches for the finals," he said. Like final matches in high school tournaments, the lights were turned down and a spotlight put up, with matches going one at a time rather than concurrently. "It kind of seems a little more high stakes, to get them ready for the state finals and for the big tournaments up north."

A number of the wrestlers had personal history. In the 174 pound weight group, for instance, Jake Eastaugh was paired against Tyson Fousel from Ketchikan. Fousel has a slight weight advantage over the Wrangell wrestler, and had previously bested him at their last meeting. And Jamie Early was matched against Ketchikan's Ben Tabb, who had previously won during their match against each other in regionals last year. Both Wrangell students came away with pins Saturday.

"A lot of it is goal setting, and to see how you match up against somebody that at one point was better than you," Carney explained. "That's all we're training for. We're trying to perfect our craft and do a couple things to make sure they come out on top next time."

Competition wasn't limited to intramural matches. Rowen Wiederspohn was paired with teammate James Shilts, who had beaten him during an earlier round. Wiederspohn was able to turn the tables under the spotlight, finishing with a pin.

Wrestling isn't just about winning, with each setback an opportunity to learn for next time. Stikine MS's team is a younger team, with a good proportion of sixth graders and some new wrestlers on the roster. Carney said the team had taken a number of losses at its matches in Craig, which helped them focus on areas to improve upon in training.

"We work out almost two hours a day, five days a week," he said, with their season starting back on January 8. "Once we got those losses we knew what we needed to work on."

The middles school program serves as a bridge between Wrangell's peewee league and its high school wrestling program, and Carney said the team's training regimen prepares the younger students for more challenging matches ahead. One important component of training is learning the right moves, but the other is developing the right attitude.

"Fundamentals. If they know really quality double-legs, single-legs, half nelsons, escapes, reversals – if they know the basics and they hit them really hard, once they have that it's pretty much positive mental attitude. Always setting yourself up to win," Carney said. "Anybody can beat anybody, given the right circumstances."

To wit, during his Saturday evening match-up Nate Rooney overcame an eight-point deficit to win with a pin in the third period. Age is also no barrier, with third grade elementary school students Jackson Carney and Everett Meissner each taking on and beating an older sixth grader during the weekend.

After wrapping up the weekend, Carney said the team is next preparing to head to Juneau at month's end. Due to ferry scheduling issues, the Wolves will be raising funds to fly to the meet. A .40 caliber Smith & Wesson pistol is currently being raffled off, with the drawing for that to take place during the third week of this month.