Smithville Claims Second Consecutive Diamond Duals Title

 Staff Photo J.T. Wampler Jacob Bohlken, top, of Smithville competes against Monet’s Jacob Negre on Tuesday during the Diamond State Duels at Springdale Har-Ber.
Staff Photo J.T. Wampler Jacob Bohlken, top, of Smithville competes against Monet’s Jacob Negre on Tuesday during the Diamond State Duels at Springdale Har-Ber.

SPRINGDALE -- Taylor Middleton was pleased to see his Smithville, Mo., wrestling team claim its second consecutive Diamond State Duals title on Tuesday afternoon.

The Warriors went 8-0 over the two-day event, but he didn't like the way the Warriors finished the day.

Prep Wrestling

Diamond State Duals

Tuesday’s Results

Gold Bracket Championship

Smithville, Mo. 33, Monett, Mo. 32

Third-Place Match

Nixa, Mo. 36, Blackwell, Okla. 28

Silver Bracket Championship

Seneca, Mo. 57, Springdale Har-Ber 18

Bronze Bracket Championship

Greenwood 57, Fayetteville 17

Smithville held off Monett, Mo., 33-32 in the gold bracket finals to win the 14-team tournament at Springdale Har-Ber's Wildcat Arena. But the Warriors lost the final three matches of the dual and had to hold on, after beating the same team 42-27 a couple hours earlier to finish pool action.

"We really only won three matches," Middleton said. "They forfeited three others. We didn't wrestle very well. It was an ugly win. We lost two matches to kids we beat earlier. I wasn't happy with our effort in the last one, but we won eight duals and we move on and it's the second half of our season now."

Middleton still enjoys the dual format and believes his team benefits greatly. That's a big reason why they make the 250-mile trip to Northwest Arkansas.

"We like the chance to come down and compete as a team," Middleton said. "To see some folks we don't normally see and it's good for us to bond as a team."

The Warriors cruised through their pool, finishing 6-0 with the relatively easy win over Monett to advance to the gold bracket. They defeated Nixa, Mo., the pool two runner-up, 57-28 to move into the tournament finals.

Monett bounced back from its loss to Smithville earlier in the day to knock off Blackwell, Okla., 46-28, and advance to the finals. The Cubs went 6-2 over the two days, despite giving up three open weight classes because of an illness and an injury.

Monett coach Daryl Bradley was pleased with his team's effort.

"I thought we out-wrestled them that last round," Bradley said. "We improved from that last match and turned a couple of those around at 145 and 152."

Bradley also liked the chance to wrestle Smithville, since both teams will battle for the Class 2 state title later. The Warriors finished second in Class 2 a year ago, while Monett finished ninth.

"It's good to see them up close," Bradley said. "But our lineup will look quite a bit different when we get several certified in different weight classes. I'm not making excuses but our guy at 182 is a two-time state qualifier and he was out sick. I think he would have made a difference."

Har-Ber went 4-4 and finished sixth, but was the top local finisher in an event dominated by teams from Missouri and Oklahoma. The Wildcats lost for the second time in two days to Seneca, Mo., in the finals of the silver bracket, but coach Nika West said his team knows specific things it needs to work on to get better after facing some strong competition.

"December's kind of a time to go away and see good competition," West said. "January you come in and see your conference foes and see some common opponents and tournaments."

West singled out Coltin Morgan and Kimble Jennings for their strong performances over the two days.

"Coltin was undefeated until the last match and he went up against Will Roark of Seneca and he's very talented. He's a state champion in Missouri and I think he's going to Missouri. Kimble went undefeated on the weekend at 120.From top to bottom, I think we'll be OK. We got a lot of good experience."

Sports on 12/31/2014

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