By Kary Booher (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
All eyes have been on the Lebanon High School girls wrestling program in recent years, and for good reason.
The program has won state championships in four of the past five seasons, and it stands to reason – from looking at the roster – that the Yellowjackets would be strong favorites again this season.
The community certainly believes, too, as the booster club raised funds for new mats in the girls wrestling room.
“This is a great addition to the program and will help them train more efficiently and safely,” coach Matthew Neely said. “We are grateful for that support from the boosters.”
Roster
Neely anticipates 24 wrestlers on the roster. That includes nine returning starters, five who advanced to the Class 1 state tournament last season. Four of them earned medals.
The projected roster could be sophomore Lacey Malonson and junior Kiera Bragg at 100 pounds, and senior Lillian Cottongim or freshman Jordan Orcutt at 105. At 110 or 115, it could be junior Jessa Joiner, senior Brooklyn Butler, or freshmen Kaylee Herd or Kapri Nichols.
Competing at 120 and 125 could be sophomores Baylyn Williams, Jalyn Malonson, and junior Kylie Jemes. Look for senior Halea Bartel, sophomore Alyssa Dawson and freshman Samantha Campbell covering the 130- and 135-pound weight classes.
Sophomore Andrea Childress, freshman Harmony Wade, junior Dakota Jenkins and freshman Emily Mallot could compete at 140 and 145. Look for sophomore Kalyn Brumley, senior Kiernan Admire, senior Reagan Waters, or junior Ashley Shelly at 155 or 170.
Senior Mariyah Brumley and freshman Natalie Schmitt are listed at 190 pounds, and sophomore Sophiea Quinn and Mia Gladden are at 235.
Joiner won the 110-pound weight class and finished 50-1 last season. She wrestled freestyle and Greco in the offseason for Team Missouri.
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“Jessa’s hard work, technicality and ability to push her opponent for the entire six minutes make her a tough competitor for everyone she wrestles,” Neely said.
Mariyah Brumley was 48-2 and the 190-pound state champion. She earned All-American status for the fifth time at the Women’s Freestyle Junior National Championships in Fargo, N.D. this summer.
“Mariyah wrestled freestyle and Greco in the spring and, through the summer, in individual and dual tournaments for Team Missouri,” Neely said.
Cottingim placed fifth at 105.
“Lil spent a lot of time on the mat in the offseason and looks to finish higher this year,” Neely said. “She puts a lot of effort into being one of the hardest workers in the room.”
Bartel placed third, her third medal in as many seasons.
“Being a state runner-up as a freshman, Halea is looking for a return to the state finals in February,” Neely said. “She’s spent her offseason training hard to reach her goal.”
Sleepers?
Malonson and Williams are sophomores after being brand new to the sport last season, when each earned at least 20 wins and were a win away from earning a state berth. Brumley and Dawson both had 30 or more wins as freshmen last season and earned all-conference honors. Butler competed on junior varsity last year but gained experience in practice against two state medalists.
Quinn, up from JV at times, placed at the Wonder Woman tournament and won the Ozark Conference last year, earning 24 varsity wins.
Expectations
Some of the girls attended camps at Iowa, Missouri, the Purler Academy and BullTrained.
“Winning state always motivates the team,” Neely said. “For the girls that competed at state, they want to go back and improve on their finish this year. For those that had to watch the state competition, it motivates them to work hard in the offseason so they can be wrestling in Columbia this February.”
Goals
Neely has set six goals: Improve mastery of technique, ensure the wrestlers are conditioned to wrestle for eight minutes straight, be mentally tough, embrace the grind, raise their wrestling IQ and have run.
“If we focus ourselves on accomplishing those primary goals to the best of our abilities, the secondary goals of winning matches, conference, district and state titles will happen,” Neely said.
Lebanon Boys
This marks the second year for Nathaniel Rogers to coach the Lebanon Yellowjackets, and he has quality talent to work with.
In fact, of the nearly 70 wrestlers expected to be on the roster, nine are returning starters. That includes five state qualifiers, including two state medalists.
Lebanon will be looking to build on last year, when it won the Ozark Conference and finished ninth at the state tournament.
“Success follows success and, once you have achieved a goal, it becomes an expectation to repeat,” Rogers said. “Being able to train with athletes who had high levels of success is a blessing for our room and makes it much easier to set and attain big team goals.”
Roster
The projected lineup has freshmen Kaleb Branch and L.B. Fulkerson at 106, junior Cody Jones at 113, senior Brice Helmig at 120, sophomores Kaden Branch and Braden O’Shea at 126, senior Canon Roark at 132, junior Micah Perryman and sophomore Devan Dame at 138, and junior Bodee O’Neil and sophomore Keegan Breedlove at 144.
In the upper weights, look for senior Drew Boling and sophomore Carson Hill at 150, juniors Avery Starnes and Cameron Rose at 157, senior Kieler Branch and junior Fidel Castro at 165, junior Jax Glendenning at 175, senior Ben Cooper and sophomore Eli Jackson at 190, junior Nick Allen and senior Dayln Clevenger at 215, senior Wyatt Schumate, junior Owen Rodriguez and sophomore Tommy Jennings at 285.
Roark was the state runner-up at 132 in Class 4 after winning the conference. He was 36-7.
“Canon is an elite wrestler, and he’s looking to finish out his high school career on top of the podium,” Rogers said. “He’s a hard worker, loves wrestling and always finds a way to win.”
Bowling is a two-time state medalist, at 106 and 144, and won a conference title.
“Drew is an excellent leader and wrestler,” Rogers said. “He’s one you can always count on to do the right thing. As a two-time medalist, he’s no stranger to winning big matches, and I’m excited to see what this season will hold for him.”
Helmig won the conference and qualified for state, finishing 28-15.
“Brice is someone who surprised a few people last year,” Helmig said. “He’s really scrappy and has a knack for pinning tough opponents. After qualifying last season, Brice will be looking to bring home some hardware from the state tournament this year.”
Starnes was a conference champion and state qualifier.
“Avery is looking to improve upon an impressive sophomore campaign. He’s a really tough wrestler and can beat anyone on any given day. I expect Avery to be standing on the podium at the end of this season.”
Sleepers?
Well, don’t sleep on Jones, who was a conference runner-up and finished 18-16, or Glendenning, another conference champion. Perryman was third in the conference. Branch and Fulkerson were state qualifiers in the USA Wrestling state tournament.
“We are full of potential and have wrestlers at every weight who can compete at a high level,” Rogers said.
Many competed in the offseason.
“We sent athletes to folkstyle tournaments, competed in freestyle and Greco tournaments, hosted a camp and went to the Mizzou team camp, as well as some off-season practices,” Rogers said. “I’m excited for these athletes to ‘show off’ their progress this season.”
Lebanon opens the season at the Dan Gable Donnybrook on Dec. 1-3 in Iowa City, Iowa.
