Wrestling team sporting lots of talent this year

While the Wrangell Wolves wrestlers do not have their first meet until mid-October, they have already been hard at work getting ready for the new season. Both wrestling coaches, Jeff Rooney and Jack Carney, said that they are looking at a very talented team this year and are looking to build off of previous successes.

"We won a Region Championship with eight scorers in 2016," he wrote in a Facebook message. "We also took second for 2A at State that year.

This year, it looks like we'll have 13 of the 14 weight classes filled for the Men's team alone. This is the largest team we've had since I've been here."

More recently, in the 2018 season, the Wolves took 4th place in the 2A division at state and 10th place overall. Carney said that he is very excited for the state tournament this year. There are several returning players that Carney pointed out. Ryan Rooney and Liana Carney were both finalists in last year's state tournament, he said. Another wrestler he mentioned was Jonah Comstock, who took 6th place in state as a freshman wrestler.

"A handful of kids went to summer camps, several are running cross country, and many are enrolled in strength training class," Carney said. "Preseason isn't mandatory, but our kids are showing up consistently to prepare for the upcoming season. The kids are putting in work early with both training and fundraising."

Both coaches also gave some recognition to newer wrestlers on their team. Rooney said that the new wrestlers are showing a lot of heart, and he has high expectations for the upcoming season. According to the school district's sports calendar, the wrestling season opens on Oct. 2, with Wrangell's first meet being the Tom Sims Tournament on Oct. 18 and 19 in town. Carney also said that community members can come out and support the team at their annual halibut dinner on Oct. 12.

He also mentioned that since it's still the preseason there is plenty of time for more students to join the team.