LITTLE ROCK — Bentonville High was sitting in second place at the completion of the first day of the 12th annual Arkansas High School State Wrestling Tournament at the Jack Stephens Center.
But the Tigers quickly put crosstown rival Bentonville West in their rear-view mirror and rolled to their third consecutive Class 6A crown on Saturday evening.
Bentonville placed 12 wrestlers among the top four, including five state champions, and totaled 283 points to easily overhaul second-place West’s 207.5.
The Tigers were the unquestioned favorite to win the team title coming into the weekend but trailed 98-95 after the opening date. They claimed the 6A Dual State title two weeks ago, dominating Cabot in the finals then cruised to the 6A-West Conference title last weekend.
But Bentonville coach Jason Adams said his team doesn’t mind the favorite’s role.
“Our kids, they like kinda like being the one that everybody cheers against,” Adams said. “They embrace that. We feed off of that. We know we’re gonna get everybody’s best effort.
“That’s what we want. We want to beat everybody at their best.”
The turning point was the semifinal round on Saturday morning. Bentonville advanced eight wrestlers to the finals and five of those claimed individual titles. The Tigers also won three of four match-ups with West in the finals to leave no doubt.
Bentonville held a 216-171 lead by the end of that semifinal round and 254-193.5 heading into the championship round.
Adams couldn’t have been prouder of how his wrestlers performed.
“Just really proud of the kids’ effort and just the hard work they put in this year,” Adams said. “We have these goals where we know where we should be at the end of the year and that’s what we’re working for. Not being satisfied with just winning a tournament but dominating a tournament.”
That’s exactly what happened on Saturday.
It was especially satisfying since the Tigers didn’t get their full lineup together until late in the season because of injuries.
“I just love being around as the kids grow as wrestlers and human beings,” Adams said. “We battled injuries and never got our full lineup in until dual state.”
Junior Jake Adams (53-2) won his third consecutive state title, defeating West’s Zack Ireland 11-0 in the finals. He dominated Ireland, who was the defending champion at 120.
Adams was joined atop the medal stand by teammates Tristan Stafford (106) — now a two-time champion — along with Walker Fox (126), Brody Raines (145) and Quinn Graves (120).
Adams, the coach’s son, said the coaching staff keeps them humble.
“We just always know we can always wrestle better,” Jake Adams said. “Winning state is nice, but there’s a lot bigger things waiting for us.
“It shows how much of a team we are. We came together as a team, and we put on a show in the semifinal and final round. We see it as another accomplishment.”
Bentonville West coach Aaron Wise credited Bentonville but was also pleased with his team, which came together to hold off a late charge by Cabot to claim second. The Panthers finished with 194 points — 13.5 points behind the Wolverines.
“We did not have a single kid that didn’t score team points for us,” Wise said. “We had all 14 wrestlers win at least one match. If you look at the gap between second and third, that’s the difference.
“I’m proud of them. They fought hard. Bentonville’s just really tough, tough to overcome.”
Charles Easterling (113) and Brady Stafford (152) each claimed state titles for the Wolverines. It was Easterling’s second consecutive title. Both were named Most Outstanding Wrestlers in 6A for the lightweights and the middleweights, respectively.
Paul Boyd can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWAPaulb.