By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Carl Junction wrestling coach Mike Frizzell has been looking forward to the upcoming season since last March, and for good reason.
The Bulldogs sent seven wrestlers to state last winter and came away with two state placers – both of them are back, as are six of those seven qualifiers. Overall, Carl Junction returns five wrestlers who won at least 30 matches last year, and a sixth who won 29.
“We’ve got everybody coming back plus we’ve got a couple junior high kids coming in that have been youth state placers,” Frizzell said. “We’re looking forward to a good opportunity this season to step up and do some damage at state.”
Senior Lukas Walker returns after going 39-4 and placing third at 106 pounds. He suffered a 3-2 loss in the semifinals and beat the eventual runner up earlier in the season. Junior Sam Melton returns after going 37-5 and finishing as the state runner up at 113 pounds.
“Both of those guys are on a mission this year,” Frizzell said.
The other returning qualifiers are junior Max Matthews, who was 21-19 and qualified at 120; sophomore Tony Stewart, who was 34-15 and qualified at 170; senior Chance Benford, who was 38-10 and went to state at 182; and senior Cayden Bollinger, who was 35-15 and went at 220.
“Max has hit a growth spurt so we’re not sure what weight he’s looking at,” Frizzell said. “Tony Stewart was one match away from placing. Chance Benford is recovering from an injury from football but we should have him back the end of December. He lost in the bubble round at state last year when he was winning 10-3 and got pinned. I think he’s learned from that lesson. Cayden Bollinger was one match away from placing last year and he’s looking forward to getting back on the mat as well.”
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The Bulldogs also return sophomore Carter Foglesong, who wrestled at 106 before Walker made his drop down and beat Foglesong in a wrestle off. Frizzell said Foglesong very well could have been a state placer last year if he’d been in the lineup.
Freshman Cole Beezley comes in with state experience as a youth wrestler, and freshman Marcus Lopez will wrestle after placing third at youth state last year. Senior Donnie Keith could take over at heavyweight with some wrestling experience in the past. He played defensive tackle in football.
Carl Junction had just two seniors in its district lineup last winter: Lucas Watkins at 160 and Kameron Bennett at 285. The rest of the lineup featured five juniors, five sophomores and a freshman.
“It’s a good, tight-knit group,” Frizzell said. “I’ve had this senior class since they were in seventh grade and the five or six years I’ve had them they continue to improve every year. It’s going to be an exciting year for us.”
Carl Junction opens the season at Carthage on Nov. 29 and will host the CJ Classic in December with Blue Springs, Willard, Nixa, Seneca and Monett scheduled to attend.
The girls team had four wrestlers on last year’s roster and returns one of them, junior Bryanna McCabe. She won seven matches while competing at 125 pounds.
“She came on strong at the very end of the year and really started to grasp the concepts of wrestling and asking the right questions,” Carl Junction girls head coach Greyson Broce said. “Unfortunately she had a rough bracket in the district but still came away winning a couple matches at districts which is awesome for a first year wrestler. She’s got a goal of going to state this year and is willing to put in the work to get there.”
Broce said up to a dozen girls will be wrestling this winter. Two of those newcomers are freshman Bella Montez and junior Addison Carroll.
“Bella is going to be our first female wrestler who’s come up through the youth program and junior high,” Broce said. “She has already had a very strong showing in our practice room over the summer. We’re looking for big things out of her as a freshman. Addison came into the room last summer just mildly interested in what was going on with wrestling and really warmed up to it over the summer and she’s retained a lot of the stuff we’ve given her. We’re anxious to see what she’s like against competition other than our room.”
While the Bulldogs are still in program-building mode, Broce said the experience on this year’s roster could provide the pieces to start making some noise in the district.
“This is the third year we’ve really had girls wrestling at Carl Junction,” he said. “We know what to expect now and the girls have some pretty significant goals moving forward. Last year was just getting our feet wet but this year we’re ready to jump in.”
