HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLING STATE TOURNAMENT

Southside Batesville’s Noah Woolery looks toward an official while trying to pin Glen Rose’s Adrian Shurtleff during the early rounds Friday in the 1A-5A state tournament at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock. Competition continues today with the semifinals starting at 9 a.m. and the finals scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m.
Southside Batesville’s Noah Woolery looks toward an official while trying to pin Glen Rose’s Adrian Shurtleff during the early rounds Friday in the 1A-5A state tournament at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock. Competition continues today with the semifinals starting at 9 a.m. and the finals scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m.

Maumelle lives up to its billing

Maumelle entered the Arkansas high school wrestling state tournament as the defending Class 1A-5A champion, and with seven No. 1 seeds the Hornets were a heavy favorite to become the first team to repeat as champions.

That didn’t change after the first day of competition.

With 12 of its wrestlers advancing to today’s championship semifinals, including all four of the team’s individual state champions from last year, Maumelle holds a 155-113 lead over Bismarck and sits comfortably in the driver’s seat.

Things aren’t so clear in the Class 6A-7A division.

Springdale Har-Ber, Little Rock Catholic and Bentonville were separated by seven points when the quarterfinal round began, but things changed in the quarterfinals when Catholic advanced nine to the semifinals while Har-Ber and Bentonville managed to advance only six each.

Catholic leads with 142.5 points going into the final day of competition, with Har-Ber trailing with 136.5 points.

High school wrestling coverage on Page 5C.

Sports, Pages 21 on 02/15/2014

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