By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Entering his 20th year at Carthage, wrestling coach Kenny Brown has a 166-46 career record after the Tigers went 8-2 last season and qualified four wrestlers for state.
Two of those four return as seniors this year, and Brown has a lot to work with overall as more than 70 wrestlers tried out for the team and 56 will be on the roster.
“We did have a successful season last year but definitely came up short of where we wanted to end up,” Brown said. “We wrestle some very talented competition just within our conference. The boys know what we have returning and are looking forward to the opportunity to test themselves against those programs.”
Eli Sneed graduated after qualifying at 138 pounds and finishing 35-7, and Braxdon Tate graduated after placing fifth at 152 and going 32-8. Carthage returns Grey Petticrew and Davion King, both seniors. Petticrew was 26-10 and qualified at 145, and King went 38-5 and earned second place at 160. They may bump up to 150 and 165, respectively, this season.
“Grey did a tremendous job for us last year qualifying for the state tournament for his first time,” Brown said. “He was wrestling at a better weight last season for himself and the team. He is going to pull back down to 150 and we are looking at him with a legitimate shot at the podium.”
“(Davion) had some health issues that kept him from putting on any weight and he ended up wrestling his finals match way undersized,” Brown said. “Davion has worked hard putting on muscle this offseason and will be a tough match for just about anyone he sees this year.”
Carthage returns experience at several other weight classes, too. Junior Bradyn Tate went 31-12 at 126 last season and will likely wrestle at 132 this winter. Senior Kip Castor was 23-13 at 132 and will probably bump up to 138. Junior Dylan Huntley went 25-14 at 113 and will probably move up to 120.
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Brown said Tate qualified for state as a freshman and was consistent as a sophomore before spending a lot of time over the summer in different tournaments. And Huntley just missed going to state last year and will be looking to make the trip for the first time.
Sophomore Tanner Putt (6-4) also returns at 106, senior Gabe Lambeth (11-11) wrestled at 170/182, senior Trey Nye was 4-3 at 152 and sophomore David Recinos was 11-6 at 285.
Putt was undersized at 106, Brown said, and he’s eager to see improvement with the sophomore wrestling as a true 106-pounder. He said Nye has been stuck behind some of the team’s best wrestlers the last two years and now could earn a spot in the varsity lineup.
Juniors Indiana Gray and Alberto Sales will be in the mix at 113, several different wrestlers are competing for the spot at 126, sophomore Landyn Collins could wrestle at 190, junior Alexander Salas-Marquez wrestled one match at 285 and will probably be at 215, and junior Malachi Housh is back at 285 after missing last season with an injury. Spots at 144 and 175 are up in the air.
Recinos and Housh will be an interesting battle at 285; Housh had made big strides before his injury last season.
Carthage opens the season at Carl Junction on Nov. 29 and will travel to the Farmington duals tournament and Harrisonville Holiday Tournament in December. The schedule is especially tough in January, with the Excelsior Springs tournament, Platte County tournament and Central Ozark Conference tournament along with the annual Black and Blue Brawl at Neosho.
“We should have another successful season,” Brown said. “We are going to be a very strong dual team with very minimal holes.”
Carthage doesn’t have any girls wrestling this year.
