When Mike Barnes decided to get his children involved in peewee wrestling, he didn’t anticipate the sport would take hold of his entire family.

“It started when the kids were small,” Barnes said. “I took Vanessa and Cody to wrestling to keep them active and keep them busy, and things just took off from there.”

Vanessa Barnes graduated from Wrangell High School in 2024 and had a very successful wrestling career, with younger brother Cody right behind her and their younger sister Kourtney already a rising star.

Dominate in all groups

According to Mike, Cody’s journey started at the age of 4, when Vanessa started wrestling at the age of 5.

“I coached them in peewee wrestling, and Cody loved it from the start,” Mike said.

Cody soon found himself with a significant strength advantage over other wrestlers in his age group.

‘Cody was throwing kids around and just absolutely dominating his age group,” his dad said. “So I started signing him up in the next level age brackets at the same weight so he could increase that level of competition. That’s how you learn and improve.”

Though the family’s wrestling journey started in Sitka, by the time they moved to Wrangell Cody was well into his love of the sport and had started forming bonds with classmates and fellow wrestlers like Jackson Carney, Ben Houser, Ian Nelson and more.

Mike and his wife, Yolanda, said this year is emotional — it’s Cody’s senior year.

“So many of the team members have been like members of the family for such a long time,” Yolanda said. “This is a pretty emotional time.”

Cody continued to work and grind out wins against elite competition throughout his high school career. Early in his senior year, he made the decision to change weight classes and go from heavyweight to the 215-pound category. That was a decision that required losing about 32 pounds.

“It was rough. I basically just ate yogurt and a banana each day,” he said. “I was constantly in the gym each day and in the evening, running each day, doing practice. It was rough.”

Within a short period of time, though, Cody was down to 215 pounds and started slinging around the competition on the mat. His senior year successfully culminated with a second-place finish at the state tournament in Anchorage on Dec. 20. His win and the points he earned played a significant role in the team’s first ever state title.

Her love for wrestling
keeps her motivated

Having two kids active in wrestling was challenging and time consuming, and Yolanda wanted her youngest daughter

Kourtney to stay away from the sport. But the wrestling mat called and Kourtney couldn’t help but step into a pair of wrestling shoes.

“Her mom wanted her to be a little girly girl. She wanted her to be a princess,” Mike said with a smile. “But Kourtney wasn’t having that.”

Kourtney smiled as she recalled getting into the sport, and said she never once thought about quitting.

“At first, I wasn’t happy about it, but I think by her second tournament I was excited for her and it was obvious how much she loved it,” Yolanda said.

While she acknowledges there is a certain level of sibling rivalry at play, Kourtney said her genuine love for the sport keeps her motivated to continue achieving different goals.

Like her brother, Kourtney finished the year with a second-place finish at state. The fact that she didn’t take first has her hungry for more.

“I think I might go up to the 132-pound category next year,” Kourtney said. “And then in my senior year, I’ll go up to 138 pounds.”

“We’ll need to talk about that,” Mike cautioned.

Like her older brother, the sophomore wrestler has a high degree of focus when she wants to do something. During her freshman year, she fractured her hand early in the season. That injury severely limited her mat experience, and that was something she wasn’t going to accept.

“Two weeks later, she was back out on the mat,” Mike said. “It was against doctor’s orders, but she wasn’t going to sit out any longer. There wasn’t any stopping her.”

Looking ahead

Graduation looms in four months, and Cody said he isn’t sure of his plans. While at least one college has expressed interest in having him wrestle, he doesn’t know that he wants to continue.

“I still love wrestling, don’t get me wrong,” he said. “But the season just ended. A lot of wrestlers will tell you that they need time off after the season ends. So, I just don’t know what I’m going to do for sure.”

Kourtney said the opposite is true for her.

“I’m not going to stop,” she said. “I’m just going to keep on going until I can’t anymore.”

And while the sibling pair will be separated after graduation, the youngest family member, Michael Barnes, will move up to high school as a freshman for 2026-2027.

“Michael is lacking experience, but he’s got what it takes,” his dad said. “He is the type of kid that just doesn’t give up. He’ll push himself until there’s nothing left in the tank.”

That means for two more years, the Wrangell Wolves will have two Barnes kids training and competing together.

“It has been expensive. We travel to every competition and there have been multiple wrestling camps,” Yolanda said. “But it’s been a great experience, and we’re excited to see how things continue to go in the future.”