By Pat Dailey (For OzarkSportsZone.com)
A handful of state champions from southwest Missouri return this season to try to win more hardware and assume their deserved spots as the area’s top wrestlers to watch out for:
Brady Roark, Seneca
Roark tops this list based on winning two of three matchups against Nixa’s Zan Fugitt during the first two years of their careers. They split their matches last season, with Roark rebounding from being pinned by Fugitt in early December to beat him 4-3 in late December. Like Fugitt, Roark was a state runner-up as a freshman and a state champion in Class 2 at 106 last season. He was 43-1.
Zan Fugitt, Nixa
Two years into his Nixa career and Fugitt has lived up to all the hype that preceded his arrival as a six-time youth state champion. He was a dominant Class 4 113 state champion last year, pinning his way through the state tourney. He was 42-1 following a freshman season in which he was 45-5 and a state runner-up. His lone loss last season was to Roark, after Fugitt had pinned Roark in 1:22. Fugitt is fresh from a third-place finish over the summer at the USMC 16U Junior National Championships in the Greco-Roman bracket.
Ethan Umfleet, Monett
Umlfeet pinned his way to a Class 2 state title at 182 to cap his 42-5 season. He will move to 195 this season.
Braxton Strick, Ozark
Strick breezed to 44 straight wins without a serious challenge, before falling 3-1 to Liberty’s Kage Lenger in the Class 4 138 title tilt. They could be in line for a rematch, as Lenger also returns. Strick will likely move to 145.
Tyson Moore, Bolivar
Moore made a name for himself by finish as a Class 3 state runner-up at 160 in his first season at Bolivar. He also gained respect by giving Rolla state champion Nathan Pulliam a battle in the final, falling 10-6. Moore, a transfer from Lexington, posted a 23-1 record.
Dakota Davis, Camdenton
Davis topped all area wrestlers in wins while going 56-2 and being the Class 3 285 state runner-up. His only losses were to state champions.
Kyshin Isringhausen, Branson
Isringhausen was 34-3 and a Class 3 state runner-up at 126 last season.
Blaine Ortiz, McDonald County
After being the Class 3 state runner-up at 113 and posting a 33-3 record last season, Ortiz is moving to 132. He will try to join his older brother, Oscar, as a state champ.
Harrison Merriman, Monett
Merriman is a three-time state placer who has won 123 matches in his career. Merriman won the 285-pound state title as a sophomore. He finished third in the weight class last year despite posting the best record of his career at 43-2.
Gabriel Commons, Seneca
Commons is poised for a run at a state championship during his senior season. He was a state runner-up while going 44-4 at 170 last season.
Simon Hartline, Monett
Hartline lost to Roark in the Class 2 106 title tilt. Hartline, who was 35-9, will go to 113 this year.
Eli Zar, Neosho
Zar has grown enough after finishing second at state at 145 last season that he is expected to make a jump to 160 or even 170. He’s coming off a 36-8 junior season.
Raymond Hembree, Neosho
A state runner-up while finishing with a 41-7 record at 106 last season, Hembree is moving to 120.
Peyton Moore, Nixa
One of the area’s best wrestlers not yet to win a state championship, Moore’s three state medals include a runner-up finish his freshman year and a third-place finish his junior year. He is moving up to 126 after going 40-2 at 120 last season.
John Gholson, Nixa
Gholson didn’t have much mat time at state. He won his Class 4 220 third-place match with a :32 pin, after falling to the eventual state champion in :20 in the semifinal. Gholson was 38-3, with two of his losses coming to state champs.
Andrew Bowling, Lebanon
Bowling added 25 pounds to his frame over his freshman and sophomore seasons. After being 44-4 and finishing third at state at 106 last season, he will be at 126 this winter.
Canon Roark, Lebanon
Roark enjoyed a freshman season that saw him go 43-4 and place third at State in Class 3 at 120.
Hayden Crane, Neosho
Crane will either stay at 132 or jump to 138 following a 39-10 record and third-place finish at state last season.
Sam Murphy, McDonald County
Murphy was fourth at state in Class 3 at 220 while going 38-8 last season.
Lukas Walker, Carl Junction
Walker bounced back for a fifth-place finish at state in Class 3 at 106 last season, after losing to the eventual state champ in the quarterfinal round. Walker was 41-7 at 106 and could remain at 106 or make the jump to 113 for his sophomore season.
Davion King, Carthage
The feeling in Carthage’s camp is King could have placed higher than fifth at state last season, but a bad-luck draw forced him to meet the eventual state champ in the quarterfinal round. King was 40-6 at 145 and will move to 160 this year.
Kendon Pollard, Seneca
Pollard finished fifth at state in Class 2 at 126 and was 31-3 as a junior last season.
Luke Gall, Carthage
It would be hard to argue Gall isn’t the best area wrestler yet to place at State. Injuries curtailed both his freshman and sophomore seasons. He suffered an injury last season while falling in the quarterfinal round at state and had to medically forfeit his next match. Gall was 32-7 at 182 last season, while giving Carl Junction state champion Jesse Cassatt a classic battle at the COC Tournament.
Tai Koyama, Kickapoo
Koyama was a feel-good story for the Chiefs last season while qualifying for state at 170 and going 31-7. He won 20 of 21 matches during one stretch. An injury forced him to medically forfeit at state. Koyama will jump to 182 this season.
Connor Sandridge, Republic
It will be interesting to see how Sandridge responds to missing out on a state berth last season. He was off to a 28-0 start, before running into a stacked 170 field at Districts and Sectionals finishing 29-3.
Eli Sneed, Carthage
Look for Sneed to make the same kind of late-season surge he made a year ago on his way to a 35-11 record and the 138 COC championship. Sneed will be a work in progress early on, as he recovers from off-season shoulder surgery.
GIRLS
Catherine Dutton, Central
Dutton solidified herself as one of the area’s most decorated wrestlers, boy or girl, over the past year. She posted a 36-2 record on her way to the 195-pound state title during the high school season. Dutton followed up her state championship with a national championship at Fargo in the 16-and-under division.
Ashlyn Eli, Nixa
If Dutton is No. 1 then Eli is 1A. Eli’s career includes two state championships, a state runner-up finish and a 103-3 record at 103. She was 42-0 last season.
Brenya Crahan, Nixa
Crahan put herself in position to possibly trump Eli’s career if she goes on to become a four-time state champion. Crahan won a state title as a freshman at 122 last season, while compiling a 46-3 record.
Annie Moore, Cassville
Moore became the Lady Wildcats’ first state champion while rolling to a 34-1 record at 112 as a sophomore last season.
Quincey Glendenning, Lebanon
Glendenning will look to get back to the top of the podium this year after finishing sixth at 132 pounds last year. She won a state championship as a freshman with a 12-1 record. Her sophomore year state tournament was cut short due to injury.
Skyler Maverick, Buffalo
Maverick was a state runner-up at 132 and finished 41-4 last season.
Halea Bartel, Lebanon
Bartel was the highest individual finisher at state for the state champion Lebanon girls wrestling team last year. She finished runner-up at 122 pounds with a 41-6 record.
Bailey Joiner, Lebanon
Joiner posted a 43-6 record on her way to a third place finish at state last year.
Jada Watson, Buffalo
Watson has 101 career wins and is coming off a fourth-place finish at state at 195.
Ali Haiser, Lebanon
Haiser entered the state tournament undefeated last year before finishing fourth at 159 pounds. She posted a 41-2 overall record.
Kiana Massie, Marshfield
Massie wrestled for the first time last year and placed fourth at 174 pounds posting a 35-7 record.
Mariyah Brumley, Lebanon
Brumley rounds out a deep returning roster for the Lebanon girls wrestling team. She posted a 36-4 record on her way to a fifth place finish at 235 pounds.
Jade Martin, West Plains
Martin has established herself by posting two 30-win seasons at 142.
Hailey Roark, Cassville
No list, boys or girls, would be complete without a Roark. She was 34-7 at 132 last season.
