Bentonville coach Jason Adams was hoping to give his son, Jake, a little more time in the practice room before his first action of the season, but a rash of illnesses forced his hand a bit on Tuesday night.
Jake Adams, the defending Class 6A-7A state champion at 120 pounds, has been sidelined because of an injury and was only recently released by doctors. But he picked up a pair of wins for the Tigers.
At A Glance
Tuesday’s Prep Wrestling Results
Bentonville West 49, Rogers High 21
The Wolverines picked up the dual win over Rogers High.
170: Colby Higginbott, Rog., def.Joshua Poyfair, West, 4-0. 182: Nathan Hahn def. Zack Nichols, West, by fall. 195: Jacob Mounce, Rog., def. Joshua Beesley, West, by major decision, 12-4. 220: William McSpadden, West, def. Jose Ruiz, Rog., def. by fall. 285: Gunner Coppinger, West, won by forfeit. 106: Jamon Ireland, West, won by by forfeit.113: Charles Easterling, West, def. Bach Mach, Rog., by fall. 120: Tyler Holmes, West, won by forfeit. 126: Gunnar Woods, West, won by forfeit. 132: Zackery Ireland, West, def. Alexis Perea, Rog., by major decision, 17-4. 138: Daryl Easterling, West, def. Mykha Hunter, Rog., 7-0. 145: Jake Turner, Rog., def. Oliver Doctorello, West, by technical fall, 15-0. 152: Brady Stafford, West, def. Josh Zuniga, Rog., by fall. 160: Joseph Castro, Rog., def. Michael Kirmer, West, 7-1.
Bentonville High 58, Rogers Heritage 24
The Tigers downed Rogers Heritage in a dual.
170: Liam Neal, Bent., def. Jose Orellana, Hert., by fall, 1:34. 182: Elijah Rawson, Hert., won by forfeit. 195: Charlie March, Hert., won by forfeit. 220: Chris Pointer, Hert., def. Malachi Goforth, Bent., by fall, 1:47. 285: Edwin Sandoval, Hert. def. Tyson Wimbley, Bent., by fall, 4:31. 106: Tristan Stafford, Bent., def. Edgar Banuelos, Hert., by technical fall, 18-2. 113: Cruz Guillermo, Bent., def. Zachery Johannsen, Hert. by fall, 1:42. 120: Quinn Graves, Bent., def. JC White, Hert, by fall, 3:16. 126: Walker Fox, Bent., won by forfeit. 132: Jacob Adams, Bent., won by forfeit. 138: Raphael Marascio, Bent., def. Jaxon Davis, Hert., by fall, 0:37. 145: Connor Kneeshaw, Bent., def. Trenton Jackson, Hert., by fall, 1:17. 152: Gabe Holley, Bent., def. Kadin Leach, Hert., by fall, 2:37. 160: Garrett Hill, Bent., def. Zane Gardner, Hert., by fall, 1:26. Bent. minus 1 penalty, straps down.
Bentonville West 57, Rogers Heritage 9
160: Joshua Puente, West, def. Zane Gardner, Hert., 6-1. 170: Joshua Poyfair, West, def. Jose Orellana, Hert., 4-0. 182: Elijah Rawson, Hert., def. Zack Nichols, West, by fall, 1:16. 195: Charlie March, Hert., def. Joshua Beesley, West, 9-5. 220: William McSpadden, West, def. Chris Pointer, Hert., by fall, 5:14. 285: Gunner Coppinger, West, def. Edwin Sandoval, Hert., 5-0. 106: Jamon Ireland, West, def. Edgar Banuelos, Hert., 8-3. 113: Tyler Holmes, West, def. Zachery Johannsen, Hert., by fall, 1:02. 120: Charles Easterling, West, def. JC White, Hert, 15-11. 126: Gunnar Woods , West, won by forfeit. 132: Zackery Ireland, West, won by forfeit. 138: Daryl Easterling, West, def. Jaxon Davis, Hert., by fall, 0:28. 145: Oliver Doctorello, West, def. Trenton Jackson, Hert., by fall. 152: Brady Stafford, West, def. Kadin Leach, Hert., by fall.
"I wasn't gonna wrestle him," Jason Adams said. "But we had another kid at that weight get the flu. I was planning on letting him wrestle next week when we have four duals. We had three guys out of the lineup with strep and the flu that's been going around.
"The first few practices we just drilled, but he's been going hard with no pain. So we turned him loose."
Adams dealt with injuries last season, too, missing about six weeks. But he came back late in the season to finish 20-0 and earn the state title as a freshman. He won't wrestle this weekend when the Tigers head to Branson, Mo., but will be in action next week in conference duals.
Jason Adams said his son's first out-of-state action will come in the Paul Post Invitational in Sallisaw, Okla., on Jan. 19.
Bentonville West
The Wolverines picked up a pair of dual wins against Rogers High and Rogers Heritage and surprised coach Aaron Wise a bit.
"It's not much of a secret our tougher wrestlers are in the lighter weights," Wise said. "If you looked at Rogers, Heritage, Fayetteville, Har-Ber and those other schools, it seems to me their tougher kids are the upper weights. That's where we've struggled a little bit.
"But we had some guys wrestle really well. I was worried about some of those upper weights against Rogers. We lost matches, but we kept them close at 160 and 170 with decisions, and that helped us win the dual."
West also benefited from getting heavyweight Gunner Coppinger, the defending 6A-7A state champion, back in the lineup. He was academically ineligible first semester.
West will head to Catoosa, Okla., this weekend for a tournament that will be as tough as any event it will attend, Wise said.
"I said if we combined every single kid in Arkansas into just one state tournament, it still wouldn't be as tough as Catoosa," Wise said.
West also had some good individual performances last weekend at the Monett (Mo.) Invitational, picking up two second-place finishes and a third against some stout competition.
Zack Ireland (126) and Daryl Easterling (132) each finished second, while Charles Easterling (113) took third.
Wise said each of those wrestlers lost to Missouri state medalists.
"I try to tell these kids they aren't just good for Arkansas," Wise said. "You're pretty good wrestlers, and you could place in other states. That speaks to how far we've come as a state and especially here in Northwest Arkansas in tournaments out of state."
Odds and Ends
Springdale Har-Ber and Greenwood had two wrestlers each who medaled at the Larry Shelley Invitational in Jenks, Okla., last weekend.
Greenwood's Colton Tuck went 5-1 and finished third at 145, while Ty Moose (20-3) was fourth at 126. Har-Ber's Britton Bowman (17-2) took third at 170, while teammate Max Salinas (26-3) was fourth, losing 2-1 in overtime in the third-place match at 160.
Sports on 01/10/2019