Wrestling: Bentonville off to strong start

Bentonville High wrestling coach James Rappe couldn't be more pleased with the way his team performed over the weekend in the ultra-tough Kinloch Classic in Springfield, Mo.

The Tigers finished fourth in the 25-team event, even without regulars Gabe Holley and Isaiah Yorba (illness). Two-time 6A-7A state champion Cash Jones was Bentonville's top finisher, taking second at 170 pounds. Jones (32-1) absorbed his first loss in the finals. Bentonville had seven medalists including Jeremiah Fry , who was third at 195, while Nathan Desler (160) and Josiah Scates (106) were both fourth.

"I think they did fantastic," Rappe said. "I think we won a couple matches we weren't supposed to, which is what we challenged them to do. We took away some matches from some guys who were probably better wrestlers than us. We lost some matches and got pushed.

"We've had to go to three different states to find somebody to give Cash a match. He had to take on a three-time All-American up there. That's the caliber of the tournament. It was the toughest tournament I've been to in the past four or five years."

Rappe praised the work of Scates, a sophomore who struggled much of last season wrestling at just 86 pounds, but has matured physically and is now winning matches.

"I think I can count on one hand the number of matches he won last year," Rappe said. "This year, he's just been a man on fire and really grown into that 106-pound weight class. He was one of the guys that won some matches he probably shouldn't have. But he's 104 or 105 pounds now and that's made a huge difference. He's just a super kid and I'm fortunate to get to coach him.

Holley, who is still working his way back into shape from football, will likely be one only a few varsity wrestlers who will participate in the Fayetteville Invitational.

Springdale Har-Ber

The Wildcats lost just two of eight duals to finish fourth in the Diamond State Duals over the weekend, but coach Eric Nolan said his team learned plenty from the eight duals.

Har-Ber lost a tight 36-33 dual to Nixa, Mo., which ultimately won the 16-team event. Nolan's team lost 34-24 in the third-place match to Carthage, Mo., on Saturday, but he saw improvements.

"I felt like we learned lessons from the loss to Nixa," Nolan said. "Even though we lost to Carthage, I saw kids staying in matches. They were trying to not get pinned, which ultimately was a big factor against Nixa. I think we showed a lot of toughness."

Nolan said since Arkansas has a Dual State tournament, it's important to learn different lessons from an individual tournament.

"Missouri doesn't have a dual state where I was previously and it's nice to have those ways to learn lessons, too. All in all, it was a good measuring stick for where we're at."

Senior Ben Fears along with teammates Trevor Davis and Max Salinas all enjoyed big weekends. Fears and Davis both went unbeaten and Salinas lost just once.

"Ben did well, he was kinda dinged up previously with a knee issue before Christmas," Nolan said. "We didn't take risks with him. Trevor as a little sick and we weren't sure if we would use him or not. But he stepped up and scored and played a big part in a couple of those wins.

"Max showed a lot of toughness, lost just one to a ranked kid out of Missouri. Jackson Nichols lost one, but came back and had a little fire, a little edge to him."

Rogers Heritage

The War Eagles had a pair of wrestlers get second over the weekend in Springfield, Mo.

Senior Chance McCrary, the defending 6A-7A state champion at 152, wrestled strong throughout and ended up second at 160, while sophomore Charlie March shook off an early loss to take second at 195.

McCrary could wrestle as low as 145, Heritage coach Doug Freeman said.

"He's wrestling way up for team purposes," Freeman said. "He does give up some strength, but his technique's really good. The finals was the first match where it really cost him. That guy was just much bigger and stronger.

He had a great match in the semifinals where the Raymore Peculiar kid shot and got in real deep in the last seconds. It look like the official was going to give him the two, but Chance did the splits and the official waved it off."

March, the defending 6A-7A state runner-up at 182, finished strong after getting pinned in his first match of the tournament.

"He looked horrible in that first match and he was the number one seed," Freeman said. "But after that, he came back and wrestled really good. He's not as strong as the big kids, but he's a good technical wrestler. When he stays in good position, he's really good defensively."

Bentonville West

Wolverines coach Aaron Wise saw tangible results over the weekend of how much his team has improved over a year ago.

Bentonville West went 5-3 and finished seven out of 16 teams in the Diamond State Duals, after going winless and finishing last year.

"The big thing is we did with the same group of kids with Jake (Adams) out hurt," Wise said. "The big thing, I think, comes down to maturity and confidence. But the one thing we're trying to work in is I feel like we're too passive.

The thing we're working on in practice this week is to pull the trigger. If you make a mistake, we'll work on that. But you've got to be willing to take a chance."

Connor Klein went 8-0 over the weekend and is coming back, after missing most of last season with an injury. Stephen Fox, a 6A-7A state medalist, lost twice to a pair of state champions, but wrestled well all weekend, Wise said.

"Connor had a big match against Cole Hatfield of Seneca," Wise said. "The match against him last year was the one that he broke his thumb and ended his season. It was the fourth time he wrestled him and previous three he lost. He pinned him and that was a big thing for him.

"Stephen took Michael Crockett into overtime and I thought for the first period and a half was controlling the match against Max Roark of Seneca.

Sports on 01/04/2018