Wrangell wrestlers face plenty of competition in Petersburg

Grapplers from all over Southeast traveled to Petersburg over the weekend to compete in the Viking Rumble tournament. Eleven different schools met on the mat, but incomplete round robins made it hard for the Wolves to earn first-place finishes.

Wrestlers from Craig, Hoonah, Hydaburg, Ketchikan, Metlakatla, Mt. Edgecumbe, Sitka, Skagway, Thunder Mountain in Juneau and Wrangell high schools competed in Petersburg across various weight divisions. Katelyn Gillen was the only Wrangell wrestler to place first in her weight class, which she won by forfeit.

The Wolves had the most pins as a team at 22 in a total of 35:30. Petersburg had 21 pins in 30:12. Ketchikan came in third with 20 pins in 46:30.

Head coach Jack Carney said the tournament was a round robin-style competition but wasn't finished.

"It was a weird weekend," he said. "They didn't finish either round robin, so the only finished brackets were those with one other person, like Katelyn."

Carney said Wrangell teamed up with Skagway as part of a dual tournament and beat Sitka 45-33. Though there was plenty of competition during the weekend, he said it wasn't any different than the squad has previously faced.

"The competition wasn't any tougher than usual," Carney said. "It's just everyone is getting aligned for the region and state (tournaments), getting their grades up and whatnot."

He added that the Wolves weren't aggressively seeking mat time, in order to risk any "last-minute injuries, so the kids got a couple matches trying something new."

Gillen didn't compete in the first round, won by forfeit in the second round against Taylor Bloomstrand of Mt. Edgecumbe and received a bye in round three.

Results

Boomchain Loucks (112) placed fourth, scoring eight team points. In round one, he had the most pins (two) with the least time (1:30). In round one, he pinned Brendan Moncibaiz of Skagway in 59 seconds. In round two, he pinned Roger McKeehan of Metlakatla in 31 seconds.

Devlyn Campbell (119) placed third, scoring two team points. In round two, he pinned Jack Styles of Ketchikan in 3:04.

Kyan Stead (119B) placed third and was pinned by Sam Davis of Sitka in 3:09.

Lucas Schneider (125B) placed third, falling in the first round to Titan Linne of Ketchikan in 5:21 and falling in the second round to Jackson Bennett of Craig in 3:51.

Jackson Powers (130) placed fourth and scored six team points. He pinned Gavin Cole of Thunder Mountain in the first round in 1:15, and fell to Kai Davis of Sitka in the second round in 58 seconds.

Ian Nelson (135) placed third, scoring two team points. In the first round, he fell to Evander Elixman of Sitka in 1:51. In the second round, he pinned Alexander Gilley of Ketchikan in 5:45.

Elias Decker (140) placed fourth and scored six team points. He pinned Peter Griggs of Mt. Edgecumbe in the first round in 1:05. He fell to Hunter Cowan of Ketchikan in the second round in 2:41.

Ethan Blatchley (171) placed fourth and scored six team points. He pinned Richard Didrickson of Mt. Edgecumbe in the second round in 2:54.

Cody Barnes (215B) placed third and scored two team points. He fell to Kyle Biggers in the first round in 1:36, but pinned Micha Bergtold of Metlakatla in 41 seconds in the second round.

In the girls division, Della Churchill (114) placed third and scored two team points. She pinned Min Thou Vo of Ketchikan in the second round in 3:25.

Vanessa Johnson received a bye in round one with a guaranteed third place.

The wrestlers are scheduled to compete at regionals in Ketchikan on Friday and Saturday.