Rogers High and Rogers Heritage have battled back and forth the past few weeks for wrestling supremacy in Arkansas' highest classification.
Heritage came from behind to defeat Rogers and won the Big West Conference tournament a week ago, and the War Eagles will need to do it again today to claim the Class 6A-7A state title at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock.
Rogers leads the team competition with 105.5 points, just ahead of Rogers Heritage (103) and Springdale Har-Ber (95) through Friday's championship quarterfinals. Cabot and Greenwood are tied for fourth with 89 points.
Rogers leads the field with seven semifinalists going into today's matches, but Cabot and Searcy have six each while Heritage and Har-Ber have five apiece.
Rogers Coach Ken Simmons said he would like see the title end up in the city.
"I'm hoping it's us and Heritage," Simmons said. "I'd like to see us come home with both trophies. We like beating them, but if my kids don't win we root for them.
"I said at the beginning of the year Heritage was the team to beat, not us. That's what we set our sights on. With the guys we started with, I'm happy to be in the picture. We're in the hunt."
Simmons said he thought his team could have performance a little better Friday.
"We had the guys win that we expected to win, but we haven't really wrestled overall as aggressively as I wanted," Simmons said. "Too many close matches. As long as you're winning those close matches, it's OK.
"The kids who are winning are doing what they've done all year."
Heritage Coach Doug Freeman had a similar assessment, but he has one big weapon back in the lineup who wasn't around last weekend. Senior Jordan Vazquez, the top seed at 182 pounds, was nursing an injury and didn't compete in the Big West Conference Tournament.
"I would have liked to have won one or two more matches, but overall we're sitting right about where I thought we would be," Freeman said. "The morning will tell everything, the kids going to the finals or not."
Heritage didn't finish Friday night strong as three War Eagles were eliminated in consolation bracket matches in the final round. Freeman said those points from the back side of the bracket could be key.
There were few upsets individually with the top three seeds advancing to the semifinals in 11 of the 14 weight classes. Bentonville's Aaron Grigsby, the top seed at 132, will try to win his third consecutive state title. Fayetteville's Jaxson Nolen (52-2) will try to go back to back after winning at 152 pounds a year ago.
Sports on 02/21/2015