By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Coming into last season, the Webb City wrestling program had to replace more than half its lineup from the year prior and the inexperience showed, with the Cardinals going 2-7 in duals and not qualifying anybody for state.
This year, Webb City has just three seniors to replace. Gone are Brantley Carter (19-6 at 152), Javon White (11-7 at 195) and Buddy Belcher (10-5 at 220). New head coach Jamie Williams said the trio really brought the team together.
“That’s probably the hardest thing to replace is that leadership role they all took because they all had their own style,” Williams said.
As for Williams, he takes over for Larron Hurst after spending the last decade as an assistant, first at Webb City and then at Seneca. He’s a Seneca graduate who wrestled in college at Lindenwood University.
“It’s awesome,” he said. “What I love about it is being able to see these goals, whatever they want to achieve, and I have the ability to help them achieve that. That’s the best part of the job.”
The Cardinals had 10 wrestlers win at least 10 matches last year and seven were juniors or younger. They return junior Colt Taylor, who wrestled at 126 and went 19-8. He earned a bye at the district meet and then split his final four matches with two wins by fall. He dropped a 6-5 decision and was pinned in the consolation semifinals.
Senior Aiden Moore wrestled at 138 and went 17-14. Junior Carson Farmer was at 145 and went 10-11, and senior Liam Taylor was at 182 and went 13-15 with a season-ending loss in the consolation round three at districts. Junior Cooper Heilbrun went 11-16 and wrestled at 160 but will miss at least part of the season as he recovers from an injury.
They also return sophomore Trenton Ogle, who wrestled at 113, and senior Aiden Rose, who was at 170. Ogle advanced to the consolation semifinals at districts but lost by fall in 3:45.
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Williams said the team will likely be strongest in the middle weights.
“That’s where our most experience is and most of the kids are right in that group,” he said. “Maybe up to 170, 182, that’s where I’d say our power is at.”
“Then we’ve got a bunch of freshmen coming in, a lot of great kids,” Williams said. “I’m excited, it’s a lot of good stuff to build on.”
Williams expects 15 to 20 freshmen to come out this winter.
“Every kid is going to set his goal and it’s my job to help them hit that goal,” he said. “As far as expectations, it’s too early to tell. The biggest thing is we show up and work our butts off and we’ll be all right. I think we’re going to make some noise. The kids are committed to putting in the work right now. Hopefully it will pay off come February.”
The Webb City boys open the season at Joplin on Nov. 29. They’ll travel to the McDonald County tournament, CJ Classic and Harrisonville tournament in December and the Monett tournament, Rockwood Summit tournament and Paola tournament in January. The Kinlock tournament in Springfield Dec. 29-30 is a new addition to the schedule.
The Cardinals had two girls wrestling last year and Williams expects as many as five to compete this season. Sophomore Laney Taylor went 9-4 at 130 pounds, and sophomore Natalie Maynard won four matches at 195. Taylor was the only district wrestler and she lost 5-3 and by fall in 4:38.
Williams said senior Kylie Jennings and freshman Layla Espinoza have been active in the preseason.
