By Kary Booher (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
While scheduling around the COVID-19 pandemic has been a challenge, another hurdle is likely ahead for the Bolivar High School wrestling program.
“Moving into Class 3 seems like a very strong possibility for us,” Bolivar coach Jeff Davis said, “and we will have to step up our efforts to be competitive as we would be the smallest school in that classification.”
Fortunately for Bolivar, it’s not as if the wrestling room is short on talent or battle-tested wrestlers. After all, this is a program that placed third in Class 2 last March a year after placing third in 2019.
Granted, two-time state champion Hayden Burks has since graduated, but the Liberators certainly have some horses in their wrestling room.
In the preseason, Davis estimated that Bolivar would have 37 wrestlers on the roster. That’s a healthy number in the Ozarks, but so are these – 8, 4 and 2. In order, that’s the number of returning starters, state qualifiers and state medalists.
Among them are Drayton Huchteman and Canyon Cunningham. Huchteman is a two-time state finalist and will spend his senior season likely in the 220-pound weight class. He also is only the fourth Bolivar wrestler to have qualified for the state finals more than once.
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“Drayton has been a Cadet dual team member and a Missouri National team member. He has also been a two-way starter on the football team the past three seasons,” Davis said. “Drayton hasn’t missed a summer workout in three years, which speaks greatly to his character and work ethic. He enjoys pushing himself and always seems to rise to the occasion for his biggest matches.”
Cunningham, another senior, is projected to wrestle at 120 pounds after placing third last March and sixth in 2019. Given he is a senior in a somewhat lighter weight class – and considering his state tournament experience – he seems poised to push through to the state finals this season.
And it won’t be without putting in the work.
“Canyon is, without a doubt, one of the hardest-working and most dedicated young men with whom I’ve had the opportunity to work,” Davis said. “He improved from a freshman on the JV wrestling team to a varsity state medalist as a sophomore. He continues to improve with his sights set on that elusive State championship win.”
The rest of the projected varsity lineup could be: freshman Forrest McMannes (106), freshman Race Clements (113), sophomore Braidyn Speigel (126), junior Tommy Pennington (132), junior Logan Rice (138), sophomore Jake Banner (145) and junior Ryan West (152).
In the upper weights, look for sophomore Trey Brewer (160), junior Jesse Fields (170), senior Andrew Bunn (182), sophomore Blake Goodman (195) and senior Jack Roweton (heavyweight division).
Pennington and Bunn qualified for the state tournament last season. Bunn has accomplished it twice.
“It is rare for a coach to have the opportunity of working with a human as amazing as Andrew Bunn,” Davis said. “Andrew was on JV as a freshman. He bumped up two weight classes to get into the varsity line-up as a sophomore. He goes on to beat a returning state medalist to get into the state meet. I couldn’t ask for a better leader on this team than Andrew Bunn.”
Spiegel, Rice, Brewer and Roweton could be considered sleepers by casual observers, but those who follow high school wrestling closely may view them through a better lens.
“I’m not sure if that term (sleepers) can be applied to these guys, but they all lost in the bubble match last year at districts, barely missing qualification for the state tournament,” Davis said. “They all have the potential to go far this year and will be ones to watch.”
Davis is like most wrestling coaches across the Ozarks in that he is concerned about the impact of COVID-19 into the winter. The pandemic led to numerous changes, right down to wrestlers not getting clearance for workouts until mid-June and even then it was limited. Additionally, Bolivar also has dropped a number of in-season tournaments from the schedule.
For Davis, he hopes his wrestlers don’t forget the bigger picture.
“Our No. 1 goal is always academic success for our athletes,” Davis said. “We would like to see our athletes succeed in the classroom so that they can attend college and live better lives, for themselves and their families. Hard work in the classroom leads to hard work on the wrestling mat.”
