By Kary Booher
When Kenneth Brown took over as the wrestling coach at Carthage High School, only 17 students turned out. In mid-October this year, some 64 already had signed up.
Call it Brown’s good work of recruiting the hallways and now he has another selling point. You see, the Tigers get to move into their own wrestling room next season after spending the past seven years sharing a gym split between wrestling mats and basketball practice.
“I can’t wait,” Brown said.
In the meantime, Brown is eager to see whether anyone among the projected Carthage lineup can push on to win a state championship. After all, he has coached only one in his time there, Austin Heidlage at 189 pounds in 2008. That was back when Carthage finished sixth in Class 3.
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One of Carthage’s best contenders this year should be Markkel Moore, a senior who was a runner-up at 145 pounds last season and placed fifth at 138 in 2015. He lost in the finals against Platte County’s Ethan Karsten, now wrestling for the University of Missouri. Moore finished with a 40-11 record.
“Markkel, he got stronger over the summer,” Brown said. “He’s a real strong kid, and I’m looking for him to make some noise at the state tournament.”
Sophomore Dalen Moore (fifth at 106) and juniors Nick Norbury (at 113) and Corben Pugh (at 120) also qualified for state last season, with each likely moving up at least a weight class in the early going this season.
Dalen Moore is intriguing because he gained so much varsity experience as a freshman. He won 39 matches and wasn’t far from being in the mid-40s.
“He did a great job for us last year,” Brown said. “He had a few matches where we lost but should have won.”
The rest of the projected lineup is: freshmen Kolbe Jones and Tanner Russow at 106, junior Elder Reyes at 126, juniors Phillip Taylor or Jacob Harden at 132, juniors Leevon Harrison or Ymbar Polanco at 152, junior Dillon Lancaster at 160, senior Kale Vogt at 170, seniors Gage Bloomer or Brycen Cartwright at 182, junior William Prince or sophomore Josue Gonzalez at 195, senior Justin Davis at 220 and either senior Yeizon Cifuentes or freshman Brener Ocan at 285.
While the team graduated Edxel Morales, a state qualifier at 152 last season, Carthage could be aided by the large roster. Brown figures that, of the 64 who signed up, attrition will likely leave the team with 50 wrestlers in the room.
That’s enough for three teams, proving ample depth should someone suffer an injury or an unforeseen circumstance factors in. Carthage experienced that first hand last March as the curtain rose on the district tournament.
“It definitely gives you competition in the room and gives you depth,” Brown said, noting that a staph infection late last year led to eight starters missing the district tournament. “Hopefully that depth will come in handy.”
