By Pat Dailey (For OzarkSportsZone.com)
Ozark repeated as Class 4 District 3 champions Saturday with an almost entirely new lineup than a year ago. The Tigers had 11 wrestlers who made their post-season debut this weekend.
The combination of three individual champions, one third-place finisher and three fourth-place finishers helped Ozark total 176 points. Runner-up Nixa had 160 points and third-place Lebanon had 155.5.
“I’m proud of this team,” said 152-pound junior Braxton Strick, who collected his third District championship. “A lot of our kids had never been to Districts before. They showed what they can do. It’s crazy to see what our younger guys are capable of doing.
“They asked me what this was going to be like,” he added. “I told them that it’s going to be like any other tournament, except the stakes are a little higher. At the end of the day, it’s a wrestling match and the goals are the same.”
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Lucas Campbell won the 145 title in his first taste of the postseason. He said nerves never got the best of him, thanks to the presence of his teammates cheering him on.
“Wrestling for the team title helped me get my mind off of wrestling as an individual,” Campbell said. “It’s a huge morale boost knowing you have so many dudes who have your back, no matter what is going on in the match. It’s a great feeling when you’re tired and you look over to see your teammates and know what you’re wrestling for.”
Ozark perfect 3-for-3 in final round
Strick, Campbell and 106-pounder Damien Moseley all won championships for Ozark as No. 1 seeds.
Strick improved to 42-3 with a 5-4 triumph over Trey Robinson, of Lee’s Summit North, in the 152 title tilt.
Campbell (32-9) breezed to the 145 championship with three pins and a win by a majority decision. He pinned Ray-Pec’s Eli Van Trump in 3:12 in the final round.
“Looking at the bracket, I knew I could do it,” Campbell said. “I had to show up and get it done.”
Moseley (36-8) recorded two wins by fall and one win by technical fall. He pinned Republic’s Phillip George in :39 in their title match.
“The biggest part of getting the pins was the team,” Moseley said. “I knew it was a close tournament with Lebanon and Nixa right on our tails.”
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Trio of champions for Nixa
Host Nixa unveiled a rather new 285-pounder in senior John Gholson. He made the move from 220 to 285 for the postseason, after competing at 285 for only seven regular-season matches.
Gholson (35-5) responded to his new surroundings by capturing the 285 title. He beat Lebanon’s Zachary Smith 5-2 in the final round.
“It’s all about smart wrestling when you’re underweight,” said Gholson, who gave up 25-30 pounds on average to his foes during the weekend. “I waited for (my opponents) to make a mistake and I countered off of it. I think that’s going to win me a lot of matches at State.”
The Eagles also received firsts from Zan Fugitt at 120 and Peyton Moore at 126. Fugitt has won three District titles in as many years and Moore has won three championships in four years.
Fugitt (43-1) pinned all four of his opponents and needed only a combined time of 4:12 to do so. He pinned Lee’s Summit’s Cooper Nally in :38 in the final round.
Moore (34-4) downed Lebanon’s Davis Joiner 13-6 in their title tilt.
Fugitt and Moore were appreciative of wrestling on their home mats.
“It’s a cool environment to have all of our home fans here and we were able to utilize our wrestling room and everything we have here,” Fugitt said.
“It’s sad that it’s my last match here,” Moore said. “But it’s a pretty good way to go out, winning a District title. I’m happy with the way it finished.”
Pair of champions for Yellowjackets
Lebanon’s Colt Heisz wouldn’t have guessed at the beginning of this season he would be headed to State. Back in November, he was simply trying to earn himself a spot on the Yellowjackets’ varsity.
Now, Heisz (22-14) is a District champ. He picked up four pins at 220, including a fall in 1:55 in the final round against Lee’s Summit North’s Hank Natali.
“This was a long shot for me,” Heisz said. “I was on the jayvee when I started out this season. I got thrown in there and here I am. I have to thank (my coaches) a lot.”
Lebanon 132 champ Andrew Bowling is also a bit of an unlikely District champ in that he was competing at 106 at this time a year ago. Bowling (31-11) received confirmation that he made the right call to jump four weight classes by beating Nixa’s Aidan Ward 6-1 in their title tilt.
“It was a big difference at first, but throughout the season I’ve gotten more used to it,” Bowling said of his added weight. “We were all kind of worried about my strength because I made such a big jump. But I’ve got stronger and worked at it. I’m happy where I am now.
“I’m glad I made the jump,” he added. “It’s nice to be able to eat more. I don’t have to cut.”
Bowling reports passersby who haven’t seen him in a while give him a second look. In addition to putting on 25-30 pounds, he’s grown by four inches.
“Everyone says I’ve changed a lot, that’s the biggest (reaction) I get,” he said. “I didn’t really realize that I had grown so much until I started seeing some 106’ers and I thought, ‘Wow, I can’t believe I was that small last year.’”
Redemption for Republic’s Sandridge
There wasn’t a more relieved champion than Republic’s Connor Sandridge (37-4). He was crowned the 170 champ after pinning Lee’s Summit West’s Ruben Miller in 3:12.
Last year, Sandridge entered the post-season undefeated. But he finished second at Districts and did not place at Sectionals. As a freshman two years ago, he was a COC Tournament champion, but also did not make it past Districts.
Sandridge received a scare in the second round Friday, but pulled out a 7-5 victory against Ozark’s Eric Shephard. He would not be denied this time around.
“The past two years have been really hard for me,” Sandridge said. “My freshman year, I came up short and my sophomore year I came up short again. I was prepared for the worst. But I went out and took care of business. I finally did it as opposed to the previous two years. There was a lot of internal motivation. After last year ended horribly for me, it definitely motivated me.”
Sandridge was in catch-up mode early on this season. He missed a month of practices due to a broken foot he suffered during football season.
“As soon as I got cleared, I jumped right into it,” Sandridge said. “I was walking around at 180-ish. But as soon as I got back on the mat, all that weight came off quick.”
Carthage’s King a repeat champ
Carthage’s Davion King had to fight off a bloody nose while edging Lee’s Summit’s Jackson Jones 3-2 in the 160 final.
It was a familiar sight. Last year, King won District and Sectional championships while having his matches repeatedly stopped due to a bloody nose.
“I usually have a lot of them, but they slowed down this year,” King said of his penchant for having a bloody nose. “Other than the very first tournament we had this year, this tournament is the only other time I’ve had one. This whole week during practice, my nose was bleeding. So, I was thinking, ‘I already know it’s going to bleed during Districts.’”
King (35-4) was proud to bounce back from a loss in the final round of the COC Tournament two weeks ago.
“It humbles you and makes you work harder in practice,” he said. “I was kind of not feeling like myself. But during practice this week, I got back into it and now I feel more like myself.”
