Wrestlers bring techniques to the mat in Juneau meet

"Guys! Stop real quick! We need to make one adjustment because I'm seeing people get behind them," Jack Carney broadcasts to the room as he weaves about the grapplers engaged in practicing moves.

He scans each pair, somehow seeing every athlete, every stance all at once.

He stops to give them direction and they all focus intently on his instruction.

"See this shoulder? You're going to punch it right here. Boom. I punch him. All my weight's on him, then I can block his spin. Push, snap and then punch. Right here."

Carney, the program's new head coach, has wasted no time getting his returning wrestlers and new team members refreshed and up to speed on what it takes to take on an opponent. Since training began in September, the Wrangell High School wrestling squad was preparing for its first competition last weekend in Juneau.

Results of the training have so far paid off, with Wrangell taking second place as a team in Juneau last Friday and Saturday. Randy Churchill, Ethan Blatchley and Della Churchill all won first place in their weight classes. Teammates Boomchain Loucks and Elias Decker placed third in theirs, while Lucas Schneider and Jackson Powers both placed fourth. Steven Bales and Devlyn Campbell placed fifth.

Ketchikan, a 4A team, won first place with 229 points, while Wrangell, a 2A team, scored 169 points, placing second ahead of Juneau's Thunder Mountain, another 4A team, with 161 points.

Wrangell's wrestling comes with high expectations and yields exceptional results. Last year, seniors Liana Carney and Ryan Rooney, children of Carney and former head coach Jef Rooney, won their weight classes at state. Ryan is a two-time state champ and Liana is a three-time state champ. Most kids in Wrangell start wrestling in the Wolfpack wrestling club in elementary school, continuing through middle and high schools.

That journey typically culminates in an athlete's senior year competition.

"I've got a tough group of seniors this year," Carney said. "They're no slouches. We have a finalist, Ethan Blatchley, who lost by points in the state final as a junior to a senior last year. We've got Steven Bales. We got senior Devlyn Campbell; freshman year was the last time he wrestled, but he wants another title. I think that state title for cross country got him excited. Senior Elias Decker, he wrestled his freshman and sophomore years. He's a tough kid for the weight he's at. He's going to be 140-pounds. He's tall. He's a logger. He's a fisherman. He's got that arm strength."

Campbell hasn't wrestled since his freshman year, but he made a promise to his friend and cross country teammate Blatchley that he would wrestle this year.

"Ethan said he'd do track if I did wrestling because we're going to try to get a track program," Campbell said. "I'm pretty sure we have a good chance at winning regionals as a team and maybe even state for wrestling."

Even though there are many incoming freshmen and sophomores, Carney said they've got the experience to move the program forward.

"They were some of the toughest in the state as middle schoolers," he said.

Carney has been focusing mainly on fundamentals to avoid any injuries that might come with training too hard.

"My elite guys, we weren't letting them train hard during cross country because we wanted that state title really bad," he said. Six of the seven cross country boys have joined the wrestling squad. "Anything that compromised their knees or their ankles, I didn't let them do. We were just doing remedial stuff, but fundamentals are good. I think we're going to do just fine. We are going to take our lumps."

Both Carney and new assistant coach Rolland Wimberley wrestled at college, plus Wimberley is trained in mixed martial arts. "He's a two-time state champ. I'm just really excited to have him. He's a technician. ... He knows how to compete. He knows how to win," Carney said.

As for coaching, Carney has years of experience but said he still relies on Rooney.

"Those are big shoes to fill, obviously," Carney said. "I kind of got dependent on him. I was trying to keep him around a couple more years. He's been helping us out. He's giving me pointers. I'm going to rely on him probably more than he wants me to."

Carney is focused on his present crew but he's got his eyes on the next three years as well.

"The next three years, I predict we are going to be team state champs, and that's beating all the 3A schools as well," Carney said.