By Kary Booher (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
The Glendale Falcons wrestling team may be a sentimental choice for many fans this looking to pull for a hard-working program.
Tragedy struck on Oct. 14 when junior Cole Tedford died in a car accident in Springfield.
“He was a real likeable kid,” Glendale coach Bud Donnell said. “I always make my seniors team captains and picked a younger one, too. But we have only three returning varsity guys, and he was going to play a major role on the team as a leader.
“We’re going to miss his leadership and his humor.”
Donnell said the team will honor Tedford with a plaque in the wrestling room.
This season, the Falcons return three starters, including a state qualifier. However, they recently graduated nine starters. In early October, he spoke about the outlook.
“We hope to be competitive,” Donnell said. “I want our conditioning and work ethic to show when our wrestlers are on the mat.”
This year marks Donnell’s ninth as coach and, in that time, the Falcons have 102 dual wins and have had several state qualifiers.
The coach is expecting up to 60 on the roster at the beginning of the season, and among them is 182-pound junior Colman Ebish, who won 26 matches last season and qualified for the state tournament. He also will be a team captain this year.
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“He decided not to play football this season and focus on wrestling,” Donnell said. “He has competed in multiple offseason tournaments and attended several wrestling camps. He has hit the weight room and put on quite a bit of muscle since last season.”
Keep an eye on 113-pound senior Kyle Justice. He was 17-6 a year ago and won the Truman Tournament. He also will be a team captain.
“Kyle started wrestling as a freshman,” Donnell said. “He is a very versatile wrestler. He took first at the Truman Tournament in Independence, but his season got cut short. He had the potential of being a state qualifier last season.”
Another key senior is Javen Letterman, who will fill the heavyweight role. He has missed two of the past three seasons.
“Javen wrestled in middle school and a football injury kept him from wrestling his freshman year,” Donnell said. “He had a good sophomore year and pinned a state qualifier from Grandview High School. He had an injury that ended his sophomore season. He was unable to wrestle as a junior but is excited to get back on the mat for his senior season.”
The rest of the projected lineup could look like this: junior Isaiah Turner (106), sophomore Christian Roudebush (120), sophomore Patrick Waterman (132) followed by juniors Devon Ramos (138), Grafton Miller (145), Jeremiah West (152), and Josh Shockley (160).
The rest of the upper weights could be Tanner Fick (170), sophomore Ben Davis (195) and junior Josh Moore (220).
Miller and Davis could be sleepers.
“Grafton earned a medal at the JV conference tournament and stepped up and wrestled varsity multiple times last season,” Donnell said. “He is a great athlete and a hard worker. He was behind one of our team captains last season.”
And Davis?
“Ben has wrestled in an off-season program throughout the summer,” Donnell said. “Last year his practice partner was the OC runner-up.”
For Glendale, there is always motivation in the room, considering the names of state qualifiers are posted on a board for all to see. And, if they medal, they receive a banner that hangs from the rafters.
“This will be a new team with a fresh outlook on this season,” Donnell said. “They are excited to get on the mat and show what they can do.”
Girls wrestling
Glendale ordered new singlets for its girls wrestlers, who had worn the two-piece uniforms.
The Falcons’ key wrestlers will be junior Taidym Harden, seniors Tiffany Burnett, Gabrielle Burns, Victoria Burns and Rileigh Hutchens.
Burnett, who may wrestle in the top weight class, won the Truman Tournament last year. The Burns twins will compete at 125 and 130, respectively and combined for 17 wins last season. Hutchens likely will wrestle at 135.
Expect Harden at 110 pounds.
“She is our top female wrestler,” Donnell said, noting that she finished 12-12 last year. “She has spent her offseason doing workouts with the United State Marine Corps. She is looking to show what hard work can do this season.”
