By Kary Booher (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
A year ago, all the excitement around the Kickapoo High School wrestling program centered on a remodeled wrestling room – a room that years ago was the practice area but had been unavailable because of basketball bleachers.
This year? The newness hasn’t worn off, but the roster certainly piques the interest of longtime coach Billy Buckley.
At one point, he was asked about even the potential sleepers his team may have this season, and Buckley responded in a way that signaled an interesting year.
“It’s hard to tell right now. We have a bunch of freshmen that will be coming in fighting for some of our varsity spots,” Buckley said. “With the returners we have, our room should be very competitive when it comes to how our lineup shakes out.
“I’m excited about the season. We had one of our largest freshman classes we have had last year, and this year I think will be even bigger, so the higher level of kids we get in the room really tends to push the returners to fight for a spot.”
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Projected roster
The projected roster could see David Duer at 106 pounds, followed by Beau Benton (113), Mitchell Lambert and Brian Hill at 120, Chase Haase (126) and Theo Holleman (132).
In the upper weights, look for Quinton Papa or Maddox Lambert in the 152-pound weight class, followed by Harrison Holt and Daniel Clark (160), Paxton Wehner, Holt and Josh Tofflemire (170), Tai Koyama (182) and Jaxon Glenn (285).
Up for grabs are starting spots at 138, 145, 195 and 220 pounds.
But you figure those will be filled somehow, considering Kickapoo anticipates having 50 on the roster at the start of the season. Buckley did say that he anticipates a full lineup.
Overall, Kickapoo features 10 returning starters, including a state qualifier in Koyama.
“He had a great season last year but had an injury at state that took him out of the tournament, so he is hungry to get back,” Buckley said. “He is our main leader on the team. He is a mat rat, always working to improve on his skills. And he works year-round, leads by example. We are looking for him to lead our team again this year and make our team better with his leadership.”
Fortunately, the new practice room should enhance the development of all of Kickapoo’s wrestlers.
“The space is great,” Buckley said. “It allows us to have more kids on the mat at one time and has been a big benefit in how we can structure our practices.”
Kickapoo finished fifth in the Ozark Conference last year, and an additional year with several wrestlers should help the team compete even more.
“Our conference schedule is always tough. We have some of the higher-tiered teams in the state in our conference, so we have to be prepared each time we step out,” Buckley said. “We go to a couple of tournaments, Neosho, Lee’s Summit, and we have added the Branson tournament this year, so we will see plenty of the best teams in the state at those.”
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Girls wrestling
Keep an eye on Wendy Washington, who transferred in this year. She has an extensive background on the mat and has been training already.
Beyond her? Buckley hopes more will join.
“I’m not sure how many girls we will have for this year,” Buckley said. “We have had a lot of girls attending our fall practices, but we will have to wait and see how many of them come out once the season starts.”
