The Wrangell Wolves boys wrestling team won the Division II sportsmanship award at the 2024 state championships Dec. 20-21. Team members: (from left) Jackson Carney, Cody Barnes, Everett Meissner, Ian Nelson, Jackson Powers and Boomchain Loucks. Carney was the state champ in his weight class.
Cody Barnes tries to pin Nikiski's Rex Wittmer in their 215-pound match for third place during the state championships in Anchorage Dec. 20-21.
Wrangell's Jackson Carney is a state wrestling champion. The sophomore finished atop the podium in the boys 140-pound bracket after beating Glennallen's Jake Stockhausen in a 7-1 decision.
Carney was not the only Wolf with a strong showing at the high school state Division II championship in Anchorage on Dec. 20-21. Della Churchill finished fourth in the girls 120-pound division and Cody Barnes finished fourth in the boys 215-pound bracket. Everett Meissner finished sixth in the 152-pound bracket.
Wrangell wrestlers weren't just noticed for their performances on the mat though. Not only did Cooper Powers and Vanessa Barnes win individual sportsmanship awards, but the boys team won the sportsmanship award, voted on by tournament officials. This is the fifth team sportsmanship award for the Wolves boys and girls squads in the past five years.
Head coach Jack Carney described the award as a "testament to the type of competitors they are."
On the mat, the boys finished in 11th place with 57 points, while Mt. Edgecumbe High School's 212 points were enough to clinch first - comfortably ahead of second-place Homer. On the girls side, Wrangell finished 17th out of 29 teams, with Soldotna winning the state title.
"State tournaments always leave you wanting more," Carney wrote on Facebook, "but we are thankful for another season competing together."
However, the highlight of the tournament (for Wrangell) was, of course, Jackson Carney's state title. In route to his championship, Carney couldn't stop pinning people. After a first-round bye, he pinned Bethel's Keegan Thompson after just over a minute. Then in the semifinal match he pinned Blake Bailey of Cordova in three minutes.
Two down. One to go. Enter Jake Stockhausen.
Earlier this season, Stockhausen delivered to Carney his only unavenged loss of the year. In the biggest match of his career, Carney had a chance to enact some revenge.
And so, he did.
"It means so much, man," Carney told the Juneau Empire. "I've been working on this for a long time and we set up a game plan ... and I went out there and it went perfect. I got scored on once the whole tournament. I gave up one point, and I won, and it was the most amazing thing."
Senior captain Della Churchill placed at the state tournament for the third year in a row, after finishing third last year. She started this year's state tournament by pinning Danielle Steiner of North Pole in just 53 seconds before doing the same to Michaela Spencer in 2:37 minutes. After dropping out of the winners bracket in the semifinal round, Churchill was forced to settle for fourth after dropping the third-place match to Braelyn Troxell (Kodiak).
The fourth-place finish capped an illustrious high school career for Churchill. The senior placed at state in three of her four years (and beat a previous state champion as a freshman, the only year she didn't place).
After a second-place Southeast finish her freshman year, Churchill never looked back. She conquered Southeast wrestling, winning her weight class regional title for the past three years.
"We're inspired by how hard young people are willing to stay disciplined and put in the work," coach Carney said. "I hope the seniors take lessons they learned with us on with them in life. The future for Della and Vanessa is bright."
Though the state tournament demarcates the high school season's finale, middle school wrestling gets underway this month. Preseason practice begins Thursday, Jan 2.
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