Wrangell Sentinel -

Five Wolves qualified outright for state, and a sixth is an alternate after the Southeast Region V tournament last weekend.

Freshman Sig Decker, sophomores Roger Miller and Chet Armstrong, junior Jeffrey Rooney, Jr., and senior Devon Miller each reached fourth or higher – the qualification minimum for state – and will wrestle in the State tournament. Senior Alex Cano reached fifth, and will stand in if one of the higher wrestlers in his weight bracket becomes incapacitated.

"It was a great tournament," said head coach Jeffrey Rooney, Sr. "I can't ask for any more. They gave me everything we had. A couple-three wrestlers really came out of their shell this tournament."

Decker pinned Ketch Jacobsen of Haines at 1:03, then took Timber Burnham of Craig in an 11-6 decision before losing to Daryl Toyomara of Petersburg in a 3:19 pin. His second place finish in the 106-pound bracket makes him the lone freshman to qualify for state.

Cano lost his inaugural match to Petersburg's Nathaniel Lenhard, then beat Wrangell freshman Sam Armstrong in a 9-3 decision and Harry Hartzog in an 8-2 decision, only to lose to eventual third place finisher Jeremy Roberts of Mt. Edgecumbe. That set him up for a match against Patrick Nick of Mt. Edgecumbe, whom he pinned in 5:15 to secure his alternate status.

The younger Miller pinned Petersburg's Ethan File at 1:03, Mt. Edgecumbe's James Simeonoff at 1:59, and Timothy Mack at 1:45 to land in the finals. Once there, Miller lost to Hunter Fitch of Craig in an 8-6 decision, qualifying for state in the 132-pound class.

Chet Armstrong pinned Mt. Edgecumbe's Jason Creasey at 1:16, then lost to second-place finisher William Ware of Petersburg 13-2, landing in the consolation bracket. He eliminated Petersburg's Gus Peterson at 1:46 and Sidney Warren-Edenshaw of Hydaburg at 0:35. A 10-5 decision landed over Walker Blair of Haines, securing a third place finish in the 152-pound bracket after Jason Young of Mt. Edgecumbe sustained an injury while pinning Craig's Roy Burnham.

"We've been pushing him (Armstrong), and ... he peaked at just the right time," the elder Rooney said. "This is exactly what we do, he cut it all loose, he left it all out on the mat and he really took it to those guys. I don't think they know what hit 'em."

The younger Rooney pinned Brenton Byayuk of Mt. Edgecumbe at 0:23 and Tyler Murphy of Haines at 0:29 before beating Craig's Patrick Marshall by technical fall and pinning Hoonah's Torsten Skaflestad at 4:27 to seize the regional championship in the 170-pound bracket and a state appearance.

The elder Miller pinned Petersburg's Kirk Evens at 0:23 and Sitka's Josh Goeden at 1:53 to secure the regional championship and state appearance in the 182-pound bracket.

The season ends here for the other Wolves, but they've all demonstrated remarkable improvement throughout the season, the elder Rooney said.

"We're going to look into some more weight training," he said. "Some of 'em we need to pick up the pace a little bit. Unfortunately, a couple of freshman there got hurt or sick ... they didn't get as many matches as we anticipated them having this season, and the matches they did get they continued to excel all the way through, and if we could have got those middle matches in there, I think we'd be in a whole different ball park."

For the inexperienced members of the team muscle memory is critical, the elder Rooney said.

"It's our theory, you know, if you do a move a thousand times you know the move, and if you do it a thousand more times, you're good at the move," he said. "If you do it a thousand more times after that, you can do it without thinking about it, and that's what we need. We need those three thousand times when you're on the mat and it just happens."

Freshman Alisa Heller lost on straight decisions, 4-0 to Sitka's Curt Bartlett and 8-6 to Kendrick Hoblet of Mt. Edgecumbe to finish out the season, but was among the few wrestlers to have attended every meet this season.

"Our young lady that was on the team, she (Heller) had 34 matches this season, compared to the dozen, half a dozen in middle school seasons," Rooney said. "She really excelled, did very well, was right on the fringe of being a top-end finisher. She was one match away from being that girl. It was so close, and she wrestled her heart out and I am so proud to have worked with her."

Freshman Sam Armstrong lost his first match to Mt. Edgecumbe's Jeremy Roberts on a 1:20 pin, then lost to teammate Cano.

Senior Darren Shilts lost to Craig's Hunter Fitch in a 12-0 decision, then eliminated Petersburg's File, only to fall to Skagway's Trevor Cox at 4:44.

Senior Luke Gunderson fell to Craig's Wyatt Patten at 1:24, then lost a 14-6 decision to Mt. Edgecumbe's Julian Andrew to conclude his high school wrestling career.

The last large state tournament was the Anchorage Christian Schools tournament in early November, which resulted in three injuries among the Wolves' perennial contenders.

Rooney isn't afraid.

"I think it's going to be a fantastic tournament," Rooney said of the upcoming tournament. "We're pumped up, we got some adrenaline going."

The Wolves closed out the last regular-season meet in fourth place overall with 126.5 points and second for the 2A division. The state championship tournament is next weekend in Anchorage.