By Pat Dailey (For OzarkSportsZone.com)
COLUMBIA — Eli Zar added his name to Neosho’s list of state champions by capturing the Class 3 170-pound championship Saturday.
Zar (50-4) capped his junior season with a 7-2 victory against Hannibal’s Trevor Wilson in their title tilt.
“I knew this would happen. I worked for it,” Zar said of his first state championship. “I trained so many years for this, it feels so good to accomplish it. It’s good to carry on the (program’s) legacy.
Neosho placed third in the Class 3 team standings with 122.5 points. Bolivar was fifth with 100.5. Whitfield won the team title with 181.5 points.
Zar won by a comfortable margin, but won without comfort. He and Wilson banged heads in the second period, leading to Zar falling on his back and to the feet of Hannibal’s coaches.
Zar reported he was nearly knocked out.
“I got hit really hard. Head to head contact kind of on the temple,” Zar said. “I remember seeing the lights. Then, everything came back to me, my parents and my team. I was like, ‘I’ve got to get up.’
“I’ve never had that feeling before. It was weird,” he added. “I didn’t really know where I was. I stood up and was super out of it, but had to push through.”
It was the first meeting between Zar and Wilson. But Zar felt well prepared.
“He’s wrestled a couple of my friends,” Zar said. “A couple of kids in my bracket, the Platte County kid (Blaine Keuhn) and Reese Callahan from Whitfield had wrestled him, so I knew exactly how he wrestles.”
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE TITLE MATCHES
Moore claims second title
Bolivar’s Tyson Moore outdueled Willard’s Gary Walker 3-1 in overtime in the 160 championship match.
Both Moore and Walker gave up penalty points, with Moore called for grabbing Walker’s singlet and Walker called for throwing Moore out of bounds.
Moore (39-2) otherwise kept Walker (46-3) scoreless, in part, by denying him escapes.
“I was very confident,” Moore said. “My bottom work is excellent. I don’t think anyone has held me down this year. I was confident on top, too.”
Two years ago, Moore won a Class 1 state title as a sophomore at Lexington.
“Honestly, the Class 1 bracket, I think, was the toughest bracket I’ve had at State,” he said.
The Liberators’ Blake Goodman (38-6) placed second at 195. He lost 8-2 to Platte County’s Jaydon Walls.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE THIRD & FIFTH PLACE MATCHES
Rolla’s Fane outlasts foe for title
Hayden Fane is ready to begin a new tradition at Rolla for the Bulldogs’ state champions, after he joined that company with a win by fall in 4:26 against Whitfield’s Chase Brock in the 182 final.
“I get to hang my shoes on the ceiling,” Fane said, referring to Rolla’s practice room. “Coach said if I want, I can hang my shoes. There have only been three (Rolla state champs), so there will only be three sets of shoes up there. Our kids club coach is mad about it because he says he will have too many questions from kids asking about the shoes.”
Fane (41-1) and Brock were locked in a scoreless tie prior to Fane’s pin.
“I think I was able to stay in good position, catch him a little bit out of position and capitalize on it,” Fane said.
Fane did his best to entertain himself during the day leading up to his match.
“Usually, I like to have one match as a little bit of a warmup,” he said. “We weighed in at 8 this morning, so it was a long day. I took a nap, we went and got Shakespeare’s Pizza, we went to the Hearnes (Center) and watched Arkansas cheerleading and we jumped on the high jump mat. Then, we got ready to go.”
CJ’s Melton falls in final
Carl Junction sophomore Sam Melton (40-6) finished runner-up at 113, after dropping a 9-4 decision to Farmington’s Dayton Boyd in their 113 final.
