BOYS TEAM
McDonald County boys wrestling graduated a pair of all-time program greats in Sam Murphy and Jayce Hitt from last season’s team. Murphy was a four-time placer and one time state champion. Hitt earned three state medals with one state championship.
“Samuel and Jayce were great wrestlers to come out of our program and their accomplishments, obviously, speak for themselves,” McDonald County boys wrestling head coach Josh Factor said. “As for the legacy they leave in our program, it makes more of our wrestlers want to work harder and to go out there and compete for an individual state title.”
Malosi Sosef returns after earning a sixth place finish at 190 pounds last season.
“As for expectations from Malosi in terms of leadership, he is going to have to step up and lead by example to our younger wrestlers in the program who are now counting on him to lead by example. This means anything from work ethic to character on and off the mat,” Factor said.
Adam Bogart qualified for state at 106 pounds as a freshman.
“Adam has competed in a lot of off-season events since last year’s state tournament, and his level of commitment is probably the biggest area of improvement he has made as a wrestler,” Factor said.
Eberson Perez earned his second state qualification as a sophomore. Last season, he wrestled at 113 pounds.
“This was Eberson’s second time competing in the state tournament and I think he has learned just because you get there or because you have been there before doesn’t guarantee you success,” Factor said. “He knows what it takes to qualify, now he just has to figure out how much he’s willing to put in to get on the podium.”
Robinson Yoshino is also a two-time state qualifier entering his junior season. He wrestled at 120 pounds last season.
“Robinson is also now a two-time state qualifier without a state medal, but he has really stepped up in being a team leader,” Factor said. “Robinson is very well capable of reaching the podium, he just needs to maintain his focus and continue to push himself.”
Reyes Mendoza (sophomore), Paden Vance (junior), Landon Vick (sophomore), Ethan Jones (junior), Andrew Bogart (sophomore), Leo Soas (sophomore) and Alex Bogart (senior) also return.
“I would say the three wrestlers in our boys program who have put in the most time in our off-season are Adam Bogart, Robinson Yoshino, and Alex Bogart,” Factor said. “Their commitment to the sport has been good and has definitely shown in the confidence they bring to the mat when they compete.”
Seniors Miguel Melendez and Anthony Ocampo along with sophomores Landen Obed, Damen Solomon, Roland Wardlaw and Tanner Casey will compete for varsity time.
“All of our incoming freshmen and last year’s JV wrestlers will have a legitimate shot at competing in this year’s varsity line-up as we expect to have a competitive practice room with this year’s team,” Factor said.
The coaching staff is comprised of several former McDonald County wrestlers including Tinker Kinser (girls head coach), Oscar Ortiz, Jack Teague and Daniel Sumler along with Andrew Miller who was a two-time state qualifier in Kansas during his high school career.
GIRLS TEAM
A pair of state qualifiers return for the girls team including Ellysia Wasson and Anjelika Alacorn.
Wasson qualified for state at 105 pounds and will wrestle in the 100 to 105-pound range this season.
“Her style of wrestling is more of a scrappy wrestling style,” Kinser said. “What I mean by that is she is not afraid to grab anybody in the room that will push her to make her better, doesn’t matter boy or girl in the wrestling room she’s always looking to be that 1% better.”
Alacorn qualified for state at 130 pounds as a freshman. She will be at 125 or 130 this season.
“A lot of her success (came) from wrestling in the off season, wrestling Freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling and putting in the work in the weight room as well,” Kinser said. “I would say her confidence to compete against the more challenging opponents whether in competition or practice (is an area she has improved). She constantly challenges herself to improve or close the gap on competition.”
Jazmynn Brewer (junior, 170), McKenzie Lechlider (sophomore, 105) and Kaitlyn Parra (sophomore, 135) also return.
“Looking at the team as a whole, I feel we will be pretty solid from the 100 pounds all the way to 235 pounds,” Kinser said. “The reason why is this year when everyone settles into their weight classes we should only have two open weight class.”
The balanced roster will look to bring home the first state medal in girls program history.
“For this year, my goal for our team is to contend for a conference championship, and get our first state placer this year,” Kinser said.
