By Kary Booher (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
In any sport, but especially high school wrestling in the Ozarks, it’s not often that a coach reaches a two-decade milestone at the same school.
So it’s pretty neat that this winter marks the 20th at Kickapoo High School for wrestling coach Billy Buckley, who also is in his 22nd year of coaching.
However, Buckley will be the first to tell you that it’s not about him. After all, there is a lot to celebrate about Kickapoo wrestling as the curtain rises on this season.
Put it this way, he anticipates between 50 and 60 wrestlers on the roster as practices get under way. That’s a remarkable number for a city program, and especially considering Kickapoo has long been a basketball school.
“Our numbers have been really big the last couple of seasons,” Buckley said. “Our feeder programs and coaches have done a great job of getting kids involved and coming into our program with experience and ready to step in and fill varsity spots.”
The feeder programs have helped lessen the load, somewhat at least, for Buckley to recruit the hallways. Kids being introduced to the sport in grade school and junior high school has helped a number of area high school programs.
Projected roster
Usually, the focus in all on the boys team for most schools, but Kickapoo returns a girls state champion in Wendy Riley-Washington, ranked 11th nationally.
“She has been on the mat training all summer, competed at Fargo Nationals and wrestled in a number of tournaments,” Buckley said. “We look for her to have a strong senior season and defend her title this year. She has an unmatched work ethic that spreads in our room.”
On the boys side, the team has seven returning starters in David Duer, Beau Benton, Chase Haase, Maddox Lambert, Harrison Holt, Paxtton Wehner and Jackson Williams.
Look for Duer at 113 pounds. Benton may be at 126, with Haase at 132, Tobias Collins at 144, Holt at 182, Wehner at 195 and Williams at 220.
Benton and Holt both placed third in the Ozark Conference last season.
“(Benton) has been a mat rat all summer, has put in a ton of work, and we look for him to have a great season for us at one of our lower weights this season,” Buckley said.
Holt is a senior.
“He has been on the verge of the state tournament the last two years,” Buckley said. “He will be an important part of our dual and tournament team this year. We will look for him to get over the hump this year.”
Haas is another intriguing talent.
“He also has put a lot of work in this summer, and we will look to him to be another anchor in our middle weights this season,” Buckley said.
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Sleepers?
That designation could fall on Collins, who is giving the sport another try.
“As a freshman, he was a conference runner-up and a match away from state,” Buckley said. “But he was not wrestled the last two years but is back with us for his senior year. He will be a big addition for us in our middle weights.”
Buckley also is intrigued by newcomers.
“I think we could have some freshmen step up this year as well and fill some of our holes in our lineup,” Buckley said, “but we will wait and see how the weights shake out.”
Challenging
Buckley isn’t afraid to challenge his team.
“Our tournament schedule is tough by design. We go to Neosho and Kansas City and see top-notch teams, which prepares us for what we are going to see at districts and the state tournament,” Buckley said.
The numbers in the room will make the daily competition that much more interesting.
“We have had great numbers, which results in great competition in our room,” Buckley said. “Kids have to come ready to work each day, because we will have one maybe two or three kids behind them that could replace them at any time. That makes it fun to watch and makes our practice room very competitive.”
