2021-22 Winter Preview: Hillcrest Wrestling

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By Kary Booher (For OzarksSportsZone.com)

You have to admire Hillcrest High School wrestling coach Kris Wood for soldiering on and continually trying to keep up interest in a basketball town.

Improvements were made last year, and he hopes that continues.

Last winter, the Hornets had seven dual wins, the most in Wood’s time there.

“It really showed these guys that, as much as wrestling is an individual sport, we all wrestle better when we are cheering each other on as a team,” Wood said. “My heavyweight, now a senior, has been on varsity since he was a freshman and hasn’t had a lot of team achievements to hang his hat on.

“But I’ve never seen him as dominant in a match as when a dual came down to him. It makes this insanely difficult sport that much more fun when the entire team is cheering you on, and I think we’re going to hold each other more accountable in the classroom and practice room knowing that we can have those opportunities to win duals.”

Projected roster

Hillcrest may have 25 wrestlers on the roster at the start of the season. That includes eight returning starters. The Hornets graduated their only state qualifier.

The projected roster could be junior Gavyn Walker or senior Blake Maggard at 113 pounds, followed by sophomore Trey Pilkinton (120), sophomore Sam Humphrey (126), senior Alex Glanden or Skylar Auten (132), junior Isaac Hann or sophomore Jack Daugherty (138) and junior James Porter (145).

In the upper weights, look for Immanuel Jackson at 152 pounds, followed by senior Jackson Moritz (170), junior Zander Rodgers (182), senior Nathan Berg or sophomore Anthony Harris (195), freshman Andrew Neer (220) and senior Jacob Gott (285).

The team is seeking to fill the 106- and 160-pound weight classes.

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Of note

Walker and Gott both placed fourth at sectionals. Walker was fourth at the Ozark Conference Tournament and finished with a 19-16 record.

“(Walker) is a kid that just keeps getting better and better and really focuses on what he’s good at,” Wood said. “He’s a defensive wrestler that stays in good position in neutral. He’s also one of my most coachable wrestlers and is willing to put in the work in practice and in weight management in order to win.”

Gott was 23-15 last season.

“He’s big and strong, he’s always playing a sport (football, wrestling, and track) and is able to out-muscle a lot of kids bigger than him,” Wood said, noting Gott weighs about 230-240. “When he’s right, he can get those throws, but needs to work in more of those shots and be athletic, which involves conditioning that is going to be his focus during practice.”

Sleepers?

Humphrey had 13 wins last season.

“He’s one of my few all-year wrestlers who I have to tell to take a break every now and then or he just burns out,” Wood said. “As a freshman, he felt that burnout for the first time with a longer season against some great competition at 126. I expect him to shake off those freshman jitters and start to use his great athleticism and wrestling in order to make a big jump this year.”

Rodgers finished with a 15-11 record a year ago.

“I just love coaching him. He’s fun in the practice room but is serious on the mat and thinks he can beat anyone if he wrestles his match,” Wood said. “He gets too cute sometimes with some moves he’s seen on FloWrestling.com or YouTube, but I love his feel for wrestling and his athleticism. He’s another where conditioning will be big for him, and needs to be mentally tough against the great wrestlers in our conference and district.”

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Any motivators?

Hillcrest practiced in the cafeteria last season as the school underwent a renovation, and Wood hopes the team takes pride in the new look.

“I think a lot of the new construction that is done, though, is amazing to these kids,” Wood said. “They’re getting a new building essentially, and I think they want to represent it more.”

The goal, of course, is to qualify more wrestlers for the state tournament. That could resonate well with the current team as well as some students who may be thinking of joining.

“Last year I wanted to be competitive in duals, and I think we were able to accomplish that in the first half of the year,” Wood said. “I think this year we have the talent to accomplish this, but I also understand that (other) programs are going to be tough. We have to earn it.”

Girls team

Hillcrest returns only one girl in Hannah Gott, who was 9-13 last year. She is now a sophomore, though, and ready to apply what she’s learned.

“I think she wrestled (state champion) Catherine Dutton about seven times last year,” Wood said. “She was a great kid to have in the room, but just really new to the sport and obviously couldn’t hang very well with the eventual state champion. But I’ve talked to about four or five different girls who have expressed interest, so looking forward to more.”

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