Wrangell 2A wrestling champions in Ketchikan tournament

The Wrangell Wolves wrestling team was the 2A champion of the Bill Weiss tournament in Ketchikan this past weekend. The team made 157 points over the weekend, with the second place 2A team being Petersburg, with 100 points. Wrangell took third place in the tournament, overall, but Assistant Coach Jack Carney said it was impressive that they were able to be the 2A champions with such a relatively young team.

"We've only got four returning wrestlers this year," he said. "The rest are freshmen."

Three wrestlers took first place in their weight brackets. Jonah Comstock, Hunter Wiederspohn, and Liana Carney all came out on top in the 112, 152A, and 119G brackets, respectively.

The rest of the team performed well, also. Ryan Rooney came in second place in the 103 bracket. Logan Larson came in fourth place in the 119 bracket. Fenton Jim came in third place in the 135 bracket. Rowen Wiederspohn came in third place in the 160 bracket. Jake Eastaugh and James Shilts came in fifth and sixth place in the 171 bracket. Dillon Rooney came in second place in the 189A bracket. Elizabeth Johnson came in third place in the 145G bracket.

A particular match that Carney pointed out was Ryan Rooney's. The fight was against Degan Linne of Ketchikan High School, with the match going to the ultimate tiebreaker. While first place went to Ketchikan, Carney still pointed out that it was hard fought and impressive.

"Ryan and Dillon were in the finals, but Ryan's went to the ultimate tiebreaker, which is triple overtime," Carney said. "There were some controversial calls, but it was such a good match."

The wrestling team will be heading to Metlakatla this weekend for another tournament. Carney said that the team will be focusing on having better positioning for future matches, and to be continuously working on getting more physically fit.