Greenwood had five individual champions a year ago when it took home the Class 5A team title. The Bulldogs were a little bit better this year.
Greenwood had 12 of 14 wrestlers earn a medal, and six of nine finalists won individual titles as the Bulldogs cruised to the team title with 293 points on Friday at the Jack Stephens Center. Mountain Home was a distant second with 172.
But Coach John Kincade said the key to this season's success was great team leadership.
"I had about five seniors that held everything together," said Kincade, who has been a football coach at Greenwood since 2007 but started the wrestling program in 2012. "Practice was easy and everything was good. That was the biggest part of it.
"They were committed from the very beginning. That's what was so neat about it."
Hayden Rofkahr was the addition this year atop the medal stand. The junior never got the chance last year after he suffered a season-ending injury.
He made the most of it this year, winning the 126-pound title in overtime.
Kincade's team has sustained success, winning three consecutive conference championships and three dual state titles in a row. But there's only five seniors in the Bulldogs' lineup, which could be trouble for the opposition next season, too.
"I got several good ones coming back," Kincade said.
Superlatives
Caleb Record of Berryville, Brayden Phillips of Glen Rose and Josiah Johnson of Pulaski Academy were named Outstanding Wrestlers in Class 1A-4A.
Record claimed his third consecutive state title, winning at 120 pounds by fall in the third period. Phillips, a sophomore, won the 160-pound division. Johnson won at 195.
Greenbrier's Caleb Winston became just the eighth wrestler to win four consecutive state titles and was named the outstanding wrestler in Class 5A for the lower weights. Lake Hamilton's Justin Crutchmer, the champion at 160, and Lakeside's Austin Brooks also earned outstanding wrestler honors in Class 5A.
Brayden Cross of Ashdown and Brexton Beach of Russellville were given the Victory with Honor awards in each classification. Those awards are voted on by the tournament officials. Cross finished as the Class 4A runner-up at 120. Beach was the Class 5A runner-up at 132.
Shiloh Christian's C.J. Bottorff and Greenwood's John Kincade were named the 1A-4A and 5A Coaches of the Year, respectively.
Shaking off scare
Fayetteville's Ian Branch won a battle with cancer two years ago and endured a scare earlier this season.
But the senior finished his high school wrestling career with a state title and his fourth medal in four years Friday.
The 18-year-old was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in his left thigh during his freshman year. He had the tumor removed, but doctors were forced to do a bone graft using a bone from a cadaver. He was declared cancer-free a year ago.
He experienced some pain in the other leg earlier this year, but that turned out to be nothing major.
Branch is just thankful for the opportunity to get on the mat.
"I put in so much work, no matter the troubles I have or what's happening in life," Branch said. "I showed up for practice and got it done.
"Visiting a hospital is like going through a nightmare. You don't want to go there."
But wrestling has been his safe haven. Once a three-sport standout, he was forced to quit track and football. That's left only wrestling, and he's made the most of it.
"It's my lifestyle," Branch said. "It gets me away from the real world. It's something I need. I find it as a necessity."
Winging it
Moments after becoming only the eighth wrestler in Arkansas history to win four individual titles, Caleb Winston was posed a question: How was he going to celebrate the occasion?
"Probably go to Buffalo Wild Wings with my friends," he said while smiling.
Winston deserved to celebrate Friday, taking home the Class 5A title at 132 pounds with a 9-6 decision against Russellville's Brexton Beach. The Greenbrier senior finished his final high school campaign with a 14-0 mark and accomplished a goal he'd set for himself more than a decade ago when he began wrestling with the likes of fellow four-timers Tanner Mann and Layne Hatcher.
"It's been 11 years of work," Winston said. "I've been constantly thinking about it, just envisioning it all the time. Every practice, every move I've ever learned is for this, to be a four-time state champion."
Winston was later joined in the four-time club by Bentonville's Jake Adams, who won a 2-1 decision in the Class 6A 138-pound final later Friday. And Berryville junior Caleb Record will have a chance to make it an even 10 next year after winning his third individual title in as many years.
Record pinned Ashdown's Brayden Cross in the 1A-4A 120-pound final to put the finishing touches on a 16-1 season.
Plus, it doesn't hurt to have the same number of titles as his two brothers combined -- Garrett, the oldest of the Record brothers, won in 2016; Colton earned titles each of the previous two years.
"Wrestling is my whole life. I've been doing it since I was five," Record said. "My dad's always wanted one of his kids to win four times, so I'm hoping to do it since my brothers can't."