LITTLE ROCK — At about 6:45 p.m. Saturday, Tyler Kurz was finally able to crack a faint smile.
The 182-pounder from Cabot spent the past 12 months trying not to think about the position he had put himself in. Then he spent the final week of the season downplaying the achievement he finalized Saturday night during the state high school wrestling tournament at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock.
Kurz, who started wrestling when he was 7 years old while growing up in the Atlanta area because his older brother was doing it, beat Rogers’ Edwin Santos 9-6 in the Class 6A-7A 182-pound final.
It capped a 27-1 season, making him the state’s first four-time individual champion since the Arkansas Activities Association sanctioned wrestling in 2008.
He might not hold the distinction for long.
Little Rock Central junior Tyler Mann could be in line to become the second to accomplish the feat next season.
Mann capped his 40-0 season with a pin of Bryant’s Connor Goshien in 1:30 for his third state title.
“It’s exhilarating,” Kurz said. “There’s not much to say, just creating a legacy everybody can chase after.”
In the Stephens Center halls Saturday afternoon, following his semifinal victory over Conway’s Ben Hughy, Kurz tried one final time to dismiss the impending accomplishment.
“I try not to think about it as much as I can,” he said. “Just going in there like it’s my last match.”
Even his coach, Jason Rogers, said he hadn’t heard Kurz, who has signed to wrestle at Ouachita Baptist next season, mention making history.
But those that know him Kurz could tell otherwise.
“I think it’s been on his mind since he was 7 years old,” said his father, John Kurz, a Cabot assistant coach who has coached Tyler since he was 7. “He set a goal to be a four-time state champion when he was a little kid, and he’s worked his butt off.”
Tyler Kurz didn’t get there, though, without some struggle.
Wrestling four weight classes up from where he won last year’s state title at 145 pounds, Kurz breezed through the tournament with four first-period pins, the mostly lengthy match coming in 1:29 over Hughy in the semifinals.
His only loss this season came when he wrestled a match at 195 pounds. Only one of his matches at 182 pounds had gone past the first period all season.
Saturday’s final looked like it was heading that way. Kurz took Santos down 28 seconds into the first period and scored a near fall to go up 4-0. But he couldn’t close out with a pin on the edge of the mat.
Kurz ended the second period leading 5-0, then was taken down by Santos once in the third period. Santos later scored a reversal before Kurz scored one final take down to secure the victory.
Kurz smiled, slapped hands with his coach and then jumped into his father’s arms as the crowd applauded his accomplishment.
“Every year, it builds up,” John Kurz said. “One-time, two-time, three-time. Now everybody knows who he is. Somebody gets a take down on you, it’s a big deal. We’re very proud of him.”
After winning the 2012 state title, he wrestled at the freestyle nationals at 152 pounds last summer before beginning a more rigorous weightlifting program to prepare for college wrestling. When the season started, he was at about 180 pounds. Rather than cut weight, he kept it because he fit better in Cabot’s lineup at 182 pounds.
Sports, Pages 34 on 02/24/2013