PREP WRESTLING NOTEBOOK: Sophomore Continues To Dominate

Moving to a new school and moving up in weight class hasn’t slowed Springdale High wrestler Joey Adams.

The sophomore moved across town this year, after winning the 6A-7A state title at 106 pounds as a freshman at Springdale Har-Ber.

Adams is currently 24-1 with is only loss coming by decision to a wrestler from Blackwell, Okla., which won the Class 3A state team title last season. All of his wins have come by pinfall this season except one.

On The Mat

Fayetteville, Bentonville, Rogers High, Rogers Heritage, Springdale High at Seneca (Mo.) Invitational; Springdale Har-Ber at Greenbrier Invitational.

He claimed his first individual tournament of the season, winning the Bentonville Tiger Classic at 119 over the weekend in dominating fashion. Adams pinned Gaven Long of Rogers Heritage in 18 seconds in the finals.

Springdale coach Jamie Stalling has nothing but great things to say about Adams on and off the mat. He said Adams, despite being a sophomore, was named a team captain. And that was a first for Stallings’ team.

“No doubt, he’s one of our hardest workers,” Stallings said. “It’s also been good for my other kids to see someone who knows what it takes to be a state champion.”

Har-Ber Opts To Leave Early

Har-Ber coach Nika West was pleased with his team’s effort at a 16-team dual tournament in Justin, Texas, this weekend even though their competition was cut short.

The Wildcats went 5-2 and finished third in their pool in the tournament held at Northwest High School near Fort Worth. They had five duals on Friday, then had two more matches on Saturday.

However, Har-Ber’s bus driver became ill on Saturday. That normally wouldn’t be a big deal since West has his CDL license, but he did not bring his glasses, which he needs to drive at night.

West said there was no hesitation. He made the decision to forego three more matches and leave the tournament early in order to make sure he wouldn’t have to drive much in the dark.

“The safety of the kids was the number one thing,” West said. “We got home about 6 or 6:30 Saturday night.”

Individually, Nick Smith and Ty Harrison showed well against opponents from Texas and Louisiana. Smith went 7-0 at 195 pounds, while Harrison went 6-1 at 285.

Young Pioneers Performing Well

Gentry coach Beau Collins knew this season would be a learning experience with just one senior in his varsity lineup, but he’s been pleased with the progress several have made.

Sophomores Cody Watson and Zach Ellis have done particularly well. Watson, who finished sixth at the 1A-5A state tournament as a freshman, finished third at 160 pounds in the Tiger Classic in Bentonville last weekend. He was second a week earlier at the Berryville tournament.

Watson also won the 170-pound weight class at Gentry’s tournament before Christmas.

Collins is not surprised by Watson’s success and he expects more.

“He works really hard to do the little things right,” Collins said. “He’s also patient on the mat, not trying to win a match in one move.”

Ellis has also been coming on strong, finishing second at Berryville at the heavyweight class.

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