By Kary Booher (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Walk into the wrestling room of the Carl Junction Bulldogs, and it’s clear that second-year coach Ty Jaquess isn’t finished decorating the place.
See that empty wall? To be showcased there are all of Carl Junction’s teams that finished in the Top 10 of state tournaments. And notice that area near the listing of all 12 state champions he erected last year? That’ll be home to all 63 state medalists who has come through here.
“We were able to find photos of all but two, and we tracked them down on Facebook,” Jaquess said. “And it’s not so much for them but our guys now to look up there and want to be on that wall.”
Hey, why not? Jaquess inherited a program last year that had somewhat faded but has begun to rebuild – and may have some momentum already.
You see, Zeke Wall tore through last year with 40 wins, finishing as the runner-up in Class 3’s 285-pound weight class, and returns for his senior season. He also earned a new award cooked up by Jaquess – the Hammer Award, given to the guy who has the team’s most pins. Wall? He had 35 of them.
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But he wasn’t the only positive statistic for the Bulldogs. They also won 14 of 23 duals and finished 17th in Class 3 – their highest finish since February 2001. Just as notable, some 22 eighth-graders turned out for the junior high school program.
Jaquess, who is expecting about 32 wrestlers in opening week, clearly brings a lot of energy into the room. He’s a former coach in Kansas, having helped football-mad Pittsburg to fifth- and fourth-place finishes when he was there and was part of Chanute’s best four-year stretch.
“We’re going to be two-deep in every weight class and three-deep in some,” said Jaquess, who teaches in Carl Junction’s junior high school. “But the best recruiting will be our guys. What they do will carry more weight than me (recruiting hallways).”
Wall should set the tone. His main setbacks last year were to Neosho’s Adrian Hitchcock, a state champion. In the finals, their match was scoreless entering the second period.”
“We felt like we were closing the gap every time,” Jaquess said of Wall against Hitchcock.
Sophomore Holden Hughes (132) is a returning state qualifier who put the onus on himself over the summer, even competing in a camp in Kansas City. He was 2-2 at state last year.
“He does everything to prepare himself,” Jaquess said. “Any open mats we had, he was at every single one.”
The rest of the lineup likely will include: Kendyn Bennett and Skylar Lumpkins at 106, Noah Carpenter and Chris Gordon at 113, Cody Burchett and Logan Carnes at 120, Cole Stewart and Logan Eck at 126, Dalton Honey and Colby Nace at 138, Brooks Neria and Ethan Hall at 145 and Isiac Shields and Hunter Richards at 152.
In the upper weights, look for Jackson White (160), Kobe Maxwell and Cory Barker (170), Tyler Benifal and Jesse Cassatt (182), Keegan Bennett and Noah Southern at 195 and Micah Lieberman at 220 and Ethan Howard at 285.
The goal is to finish in the top 10 at state. That’s why the schedule calls for two trips into Oklahoma and four big events before Christmas.
“I think our schedule is going to help us out,” Jaquess said.
