Wrangell tied for first place overall at the Rich Hofacker Wrestling Invitational at Mountain City Christian Academy in Anchorage over the weekend, achieving key goals and surprising their coach in the process.

The high school tournament ran Friday and Saturday, Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, and featured another win for Jackson Carney at 145 pounds, along with first-place finishes from Ryder Ritchie at 103 pounds and Kourtney Barnes at 125 pounds.

“I said I wanted an overall win, and we got that. Ryder really stepped up in a big way and got every point he could, and Michael Cook (at 140 pounds) also really stepped up and took second place,” coach Jack Carney said.

“We tied for first place with Kenai at 164.5 points, and we also blew away the competition to win first place for the small-schools championship for schools under 80 (students).”

Carney said Wrangell has won that small-schools award four of the past five years.

He added that the event drew about 40 boys teams and 50 girls teams, with nearly 1,000 matches wrestled. Carney brought 17 of his 29 athletes but said the Wolves still outperformed the rest of the field. Of their wins, 32 came by pin.

“I was very surprised and impressed to see some of my inexperienced wrestlers really step forward and perform better than expected,” he said.

“I would say the team is beating my expectations,” he said of the high bar he set for the season. “This outcome is better than I could have imagined. And I think that is all reflected in the work ethic these kids have.”

The coach said discipline is central to the team’s success.

“When you look at the gym full of other athletes and they’re just looking at their phones, but you look at Wrangell and our kids are watching the matches and studying their opponents — that says a lot,” he said. “I tell them ‘no phones,’ but the group almost leads itself because they’re all so determined to be the best.”

He said everyone on the team shows a high level of discipline and dedication.

“How many other teams can you think of where the athletes are closely watching their nutrition, staying focused on good grades and getting up for 6:30 a.m. practice?” Carney said. “I tell each and every one of these kids that if they want to stand out and be better than the rest, they need to be different and do the things the other kids aren’t willing to do.”

He credited parents and community support for helping drive results.

“It really is a community effort at the end of the day,” he said. “These parents sacrifice their time and money to make sure their kids can compete. I just want to thank the parents and the rest of the community.”

The next tournament is the Southeast Showdown in Juneau, scheduled for Friday and Saturday, Nov. 7-8.

“I know I’m going to sound like a broken record, but we’re going to keep doing what we’ve been doing and drilling the fundamentals and working on everything we can,” Carney said. “We’re going to keep following the timing we have right now to make sure everyone peaks at the right time.”