ROGERS -- Rogers High will field an inexperienced team when the high school wrestling season starts this week as only a handful of Mounties have state tournament experience.
But Mounties coach Ken Simmons is optimistic that a host of new varsity wrestlers with junior varsity experience and three key move ins will make a big impact by the time the state tournament rolls around.
2014-15 Rogers High Wrestling Schedule
Date^Opponent^Time
Dec. 2^McDonald County, Mo/Seneca, Mo. at Heritage^6 p.m.
Dec. 5-6^Jay, Okla. Dual Tournament^TBD
Dec. 9^at Berryville/Gentry^6 p.m.
Dec. 12-13^Van Buren Tournament^TBD
Dec. 20^at Gentry Holiday Tournament^TBD
Jan. 6^at Fort Smith Northside/Southside^6 p.m.
Jan. 10^at Butler, Mo. Tournament^TBD
Jan. 13^Bentonville/Fayetteville^6 p.m.
Jan. 16^at Republic, Mo./Raytown South^6 p.m.
Jan. 17^Berryville Varsity Tournament^TBD
Jan. 20^Greenwood/Van Buren at Heritage^6 p.m.
Jan. 23-24^at Greenbrier Tournament^TBD
Jan. 27^at Springdale Har-Ber/Springdale High^TBD
Jan. 30-31^Seneca, Mo. Tournament^TBD
Feb. 3^Webb City, Mo./Tahlequah, Okla.^6 p.m.
Feb. 7^at Van Buren Dual Tournament^TBD
Feb. 10^at Rogers Heritage^6 p.m.
Feb. 13-14^Big West Tournament at Greenwood^TBD
Feb. 20-21^State Tournament at Jack Stephens Center, Little Rock^TBD
The Mounties top two returnees are Heath Henman at 138 and Madison Montgomery at 145. Both wrestlers finished fourth at the state wrestling meet last winter. Montgomery has medaled at state three times in his career while Henman has medaled twice.
Max Wester and Wyatt Steiner both also return after participating in the state tournament last year. Chris Alanis and Josh Lee also bring experience to the team.
"We are actually pretty young," Simmons said. "We have two guys back that were state medalists. We have some (junior varsity) guys coming up to fill some varsity spots. We are going to have to make progress in our duals and tournament. We don't have a whole lot of depth, so staying healthy is going to be important for us.
"We basically have a bunch of kids that haven't been tested yet."
Simmons expects both Henman and Montgomery to have strong seasons. Henman was a No. 1 seed last year at state while Montgomery earned a No. 6 seed.
"The experience will really help those guys confidence-wise," Simmons said. "Henman probably should have won the state tournament last year, and he is capable of winning it this year. Madison was the No. 6 seed last year and came back and got fourth."
Simmons also has welcomed three move-ins in Christian Brummett (170), Ray Brummett (285) and Hunter Dyer. The Brummett's, who are both juniors, moved in from Broken Arrow, Okla., but neither has wrestled since junior high. Hunter Dyer (126) also moved in from Oklahoma and has varsity experience.
"You can tell that they have wrestled before because they have some skills," Simmons said. "We had a (junior varsity) tournament and all three of those guys looked good. Christian has only been with us for a couple of weeks because of football but he is starting to come around. Ray is very agile for a big guy."
Simmons is hoping that Stephen Waterhouse (106) will bounce back from missing almost all of last year with a concussion. Cade Farmer is another wrestler that has shown progress, Simmons said.
"He looked good at the (junior varsity) tournament, he dominated everybody," Simmons said.
Sports on 12/01/2014