Eighth grader Arabella Nore surprised herself while wrestling on the mat during the 49th Annual Tanana Invitational Wrestling Tournament. She pinned her opponent in the final, even though she was losing by one in the third round, ultimately leading her to return back to Wrangell as a first-place state champion.
“I just wasn’t expecting it at all,” she said. “I was like, ‘Wait, did they say my name or something like that? It was just really overwhelming, because there’s a lot of people.”
Coach Jack Carney said there were about 2,000 people in the gym. With all that pressure, he said Nore did a really good job against a really strong girl.
“It was a really exciting match, because she was down by one point in the third round, and the girl chose top so Arabella was on bottom, so she had to get up and out, and while she was getting up and out, she flipped the girl over and pinned her,” he said. “She won by pinning the third round, and the crowd went crazy. She was the first match of the night, so everybody was really excited to see that.”
From the smallest to the largest schools, this year had the biggest turnout
He said this was the biggest turnout at the Tanana tournament so far with about 800 students participating from the whole state. Carney said it’s tricky to place because the wrestlers are competing against everybody from the biggest to the smallest schools.
“Some of the grandfathers in the crowd had wrestled in this tournament back in the 70s. Right? I wrestled in it back in the late 90s,” he said. “It’s kind of nostalgic for everybody. That’s why they don’t want to move it. But it’s kind of getting to the point where they’ve got to find a new venue.”
Another Wrangell wrestler, sixth grader Jonah Hurst, is in his first year wrestling in middle school and placed sixth in the tournament.
“It was packed full of people and just screaming nonstop, because people are all excited,” he said. “I don’t even know how many people were watching the matches online.”
“it just gives you confidence and adrenaline”
He said he loves wrestling so much that he plans on continuing the sport through high school and maybe even college.
Hurst said, “When you get out there on the mat and you know lots of people are watching you, it just gives you confidence and adrenaline.”
Hurst said no matter if you’re a wrestler or if you’re watching from back home, the Tanana Wrestling Tournament is no small ordeal.
“It’s either they got first, last or somewhere in the middle,” he said. “No matter what, you’re gonna celebrate because it’s state and you got to compete, and it’s just a really big deal. Also, it’s really expensive to get up there.”
Wrestling is about focus and no surprise moves
Another teammate is sixth grader Mariah Carney who placed 11th. After eighth place, the tournament doesn’t keep track anymore though. But that didn’t stop her from being excited about wrestling. She said the sport is all about focus and she wants to continue wrestling in college. As the benefit of being the coach’s daughter, she’s been wrestling since she was four years old.
“I just like wrestling,” she said. “It’s mostly the same, no matter if you’re in the finals or if you’re just wrestling a match, your goal is to win.”
Although the goal is to win, their method is to compete the same way each time. They try to stay focused throughout both the toughest and easiest matches. So there’s no surprises.
Aside from wrestling, the group visited ice sculptures, the Trans-Alaska pipeline, the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the Museum of the North.
Seventh grader Tommy Rohr-Wickman placed second, eighth grader Jenna Meisner took third, eighth grader Clara Carney placed seventh.
