Chad Bottorff was a man of few words. That much never changed during his six years at the helm of a Shiloh Christian wrestling program he helped establish.
Had he witnessed Friday's events, perhaps he would've celebrated the Saints' landmark victory with jubilation. Or perhaps he would've reveled with the same humility as his son, C.J.
No one will ever know for sure. Bottorff, 50, died Dec. 24 from complications related to covid-19.
But as Shiloh Christian -- which topped three-time reigning champion Pulaski Academy 190-187 for the 1A-4A state wrestling title -- celebrated Friday inside the Jack Stephens Center, Bottorff's legacy was ever-present.
"Everything [Coach Bottorff] wanted for this program is happening, but he didn't get to see it," Saints Coach Brad Widger said. "He's looking down on us from above and everything he built is coming to fruition."
Senior Gavin Goddard, capturing his third consecutive individual title, set the tone for Shiloh Christian, winning an 11-3 major decision against Pulaski Academy's Joseph Osment at 170 pounds. The Saints won two more individual crowns thanks to pins from freshmen Preston Katzer (113 pounds) and Cameron Arellano (182 pounds), and sent five of their other 11 wrestlers to the semifinals.
Shiloh Christian assistant coach C.J. Bottorff, Chad's only son, took home coach of the year honors to cap a banner day for the Saints in Little Rock.
"It's a long time coming from the last few years being so close," C.J. Bottorff said. "I knew my dad was with me the whole time. Even though we had another coach with us, I knew he was behind me. He was with us every match and our guys were wrestling for him.
"We just wrestled our hearts out and when we realized we were going to be close ... he just gave us a little more motivation."
Coming into the day, Shiloh Christian trailed both Arkadelphia and Pulaski Academy 42-38 and then entered the finals down 13 points to the Bruins. By the time Goddard finished off his final, the Saints had pulled to within 181-180 with four weight classes remaining.
Arellano vaulted Shiloh Christian into the lead with a victory in the next championship bout.
But it was senior Wyatt Graves' fall in the third-place match at 195 pounds that gave the Saints an insurmountable advantage as they ended the third-to-last round of bouts up 190-187 with no Pulaski Academy wrestlers remaining.
"I had no clue [where we stood], but I knew we needed points because PA was right there with us," said Graves, who admitted he was "bored" and thus decided to join the team just a month ago. "I didn't want to lose."
Pulaski Academy, which finished in the top two for the seventh consecutive season, set the bar high for Shiloh Christian. And the Bruins showed why they remain a force as senior Bauer Stafford, junior Josh Cady and senior Josiah Johnson won at 132, 145 and 195 pounds, respectively, tying Pulaski Academy with the Saints at three individual titles.
It wasn't enough to extend the Bruins' run of team titles to four.
"It just broke my heart when [Chad] passed," Pulaski Academy Coach Bruce Dickey said. "And to be honest, it's kind of poetic justice that his son could take over with those kids and come here and win. It probably sounds ridiculous for a coach to say that, but it pleases me that they have risen to the occasion."
Dickey, 70, added that this may be the last of his 49 seasons coaching wrestling, but he has yet to officially decide whether he'll return for another go-round with the Bruins.
"The last six years we had it pretty good," Dickey said. "We had a couple of kids [this year] that would've been state champions but they decided not to wrestle, so that really hurt us. So we had to suck it up and get after it, and we still had opportunities to win."
One of those opportunities was the critical 170-pound final that went the way of Goddard and Shiloh Christian. Goddard, with the chance to join the rare club of three-time winners, controlled things the whole way.
"It's something I never expected," Goddard said. "The work pays off, and just to do it for Coach was amazing."
As a senior, Goddard had spent as much time around Bottorff as any Saint.
"I miss him so much," Goddard said. "Obviously, it's awful not having him in the room every day. He always gave the message about being tough and that definitely came back with the team this year."
Walking off the arena floor, C.J. Bottorff did his best to soak in the moment. He was quiet, much like his father, yet managed a smile when asked what Chad would've thought about it all.
"He wouldn't say much," C.J. Bottorff said, his words trailing off. "He'd take this with a grain of salt and just enjoy a state championship."
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1A-4A TEAM SCORES
TEAM SCORES
CLASS 1A-4A
Shiloh Christian................................................... 190
Pulaski Academy................................................. 187
Arkadelphia.......................................................... 165
Bauxite................................................................. 130
Gentry .................................................................. 102
Berryville................................................................ 98 tie. Batesville Southside............................................ 98
Ashdown................................................................ 77
Valley View............................................................. 70
Glen Rose............................................................ 59
Maumelle Charter................................................ 42
Central Arkansas Christian.................................. 16
Joe T. Robinson............................................... 15.5
CLASS 5A
Greenwood.......................................................... 293
Mountain Home................................................... 172
Lake Hamilton...................................................139.5
Russellville........................................................... 139
Searcy...............................................................138.5
Van Buren............................................................ 138
Greenbrier............................................................ 115
Sylvan Hills.......................................................... 103
Lakeside.............................................................. 93.5
Beebe................................................................... 87
Little Rock Christian............................................ 64
Sheridan........................................................... 63.5
Jonesboro......................................................... 41.5
Maumelle............................................................. 32
El Dorado............................................................. 11 tie. Little Rock Hall..................................................... 11
Batesville.................................................................8
CLASS 6A
Bentonville........................................................224.5
Cabot.................................................................... 201
Bentonville West...............................................161.5
Little Rock Central............................................157.5
Rogers Heritage.................................................. 141.
Springdale............................................................ 129
Springdale Har-Ber...........................................122.5
Rogers................................................................. 106
Little Rock Catholic............................................... 81
Fayetteville........................................................... 80
Fort Smith Northside........................................... 77
North Little Rock.............................................. 63.5
Conway................................................................ 42
Fort Smith Southside.......................................... 31
Bryant.................................................................. 25
Little Rock Southwest......................................... 13
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
CLASS 1A-4A
106 POUNDS Championship: Jacob Angle (Valley View) dec. Reyna Rogers (Arkadelphia), 8-6 OT Third place: Austin Edwards (Central Arkansas Christian) fall Cesar Fuentes, 2:15 113 POUNDS Championship: Preston Katzer (Shiloh Christian) fall Grant Swindle (Pulaski Academy), 1:20 Third place: Faith Howerton (Arkadelphia), no opponent 120 POUNDS Championship: Caleb Record (Berryville) fall Brayden Cross (Ashdown), 4:51 Third place: Maddox Atkins (Arkadelphia) fall Thomas Gammill (Pulaski Academy), 4:18 126 POUNDS Championship: Lee Roberts (Gentry) fall Noah Bowerman (Shiloh Christian), 2:47 Third place: Colin Hornaday (Maumelle Charter) fall Cameron Graham (Glen Rose), 1:24 132 POUNDS Championship: Bauer Stafford (Pulaski Academy) fall Dominic Henry (Berryville), 5:12 Third place: Nick Williams (Arkadelphia) dec. Preston Smith (Joe T. Robinson), 10-4 138 POUNDS Championship: Dylan Sperduto (Berryville) fall Logan Fisher (Ashdown), 2:43 Third place: William Buie (Valley View) fall Zack Biagioni (Pulaski Academy), 0:42
145 POUNDS Championship: Josh Cady (Pulaski Academy) dec. Roland Pruden (Batesville Southside), 11-4 Third place: Dax Widger (Shiloh Christian) fall Casey Murry (Bauxite), 1:43 152 POUNDS Championship: Ross Womack (Arkadelphia) fall Futa Shinkawa (Pulaski Academy), 1:56 Third place: Eli Lupton (Bauxite) fall Will Brown (Shiloh Christian), 2:40 160 POUNDS Championship: Brayden Phillips (Glen Rose) fall Carter Bierbaum (Pulaski Academy), 5:41 Third place: Aidan Barron (Bauxite) fall Bo Williams (Shiloh Christian), 4:28 170 POUNDS Championship: Gavin Goddard (Shiloh Christian) major dec. Joseph Osment (Pulaski Academy), 11-3 Third place: Tun Oo (Berryville) dec. Alex Turley (Arkadelphia), 7-5 182 POUNDS Championship: Cameron Arellano (Shiloh Christian) fall Robert Lee (Bauxite), 5:58 Third place: Jonah Summers (Gentry) fall Jonathan Morgan (Batesville Southside), 2:21 195 POUNDS Championship: Josiah Johnson (Pulaski Academy) fall Jacob Dunne (Batesville Southside), 2:23 Third place: Wyatt Graves (Shiloh Christian) fall Ryan Cantrell, 1:19 220 POUNDS Championship: Alex Cooper (Batesville Southside) fall Chase Voque (Bauxite), 0:40 Third place: Max Wilson (Arkadelphia) fall Rickey Ford (Ashdown), 1:04 285 POUNDS Championship: Cole Littrell (Valley View) fall Eduardo Galvan (Gentry), 2:49 Third place: Vernon Derring (Batesville Southside) dec. Nykile Poor (Shiloh Christian), 6-0
CLASS 5A
106 POUNDS Championship: Shiloh Summers (Van Buren) dec. Jackson Witherington (Greenwood), 5-3 Third place: Matthew Kara (Lake Hamilton) fall Owen Blue (Greenbrier), 0:43 113 POUNDS Championship: Hayden Allen (Greenwood) major dec. Drue Lindsey (Mountain Home), 16-8 Third place: Wyatt Wolf (Lake Hamilton) dec. John Marpa (Sylvan Hills), 10-8 120 POUNDS Championship: Trevor Edelen dec. Keaton Wasson (Lakeside), 7-4 Third place: Antonio Martinez (Greenwood) major dec. JK Johnson (Beebe), 15-7 126 POUNDS Championship: Hayden Rofkahr (Greenwood) dec. Ethan Bittle (Little Rock Christian), 4-2 OT Third place: Brandon Abshire (Sheridan) dec. Michael Davis (Mountain Home), 6-4 132 POUNDS Championship: Caleb Winston (Greenbrier) dec. Brexton Beach (Russellville), 9-6 Third place: Taylor Smith (Van Buren) dec. Alex Pena (Searcy), 9-6 138 POUNDS Championship: Ty Moose (Greenwood) fall Aiden Vaughn (Searcy), 0:30 Third place: Titan Jackson (Lake Hamilton) major dec. Gage McCartney, 11-2 145 POUNDS Championship: Austin Callies (Mountain Home) major dec. Clay Queen (Beebe), 12-0 Third place: Plyer Oseguera (Lakeside) fall Garrett Haralson, 1:50 152 POUNDS Championship: Andrew Hare (Greenbrier) dec. Leonard Dinwiddie (Jonesboro), 7-6 Third place: Josh Handloser (Sheridan) major dec. Seth Stout (Sylvan Hills), 14-4 160 POUNDS Championship: Justin Crutchmer (Lake Hamilton) major dec. Skyler Caldwell (Russellville), 11-2 Third place: Matthew Spencer (Sylvan Hills) dec. Lawson Stockton (Mountain Home, 8-6 170 POUNDS Championship: Jason Arnold (Greenwood) dec. Carlos Gibson (Russellville), 9-3 Third place: Seth Villenueva (Van Buren) fall Brayden Daniel (Mountain Home), 5:07
182 POUNDS Championship: Austin Brooks (Lakeside) fall Lucas Honkala (Greenwood), 0:27 Third place: Landry Beeching (Sylvan Hills) dec. Ethyn Gibson (Russellville), 2-0 195 POUNDS Championship: Jordan Hanna (Greenwood) fall Tyler Cochran (Benton), 5:46 Third place: Benjamin Aksamit (Russellville) fall Grant King (Van Buren), 4:35 220 POUNDS Championship: Tyler Crossno (Greenwood) major dec. Aidan Richey (Mountain Home), 19-8 Third place: Tanner McCartney (Beebe) fall Alex Mc-Clard (Lake Hamilton), 1:49 285 POUNDS Championship: Nathan Juhl (Maumelle) dec. Jeremiah Presson (Greenwood), 6-4 OT Third place: George Garner (Little Rock Christian) fall Parker Thomas (Greenbrier), 5:21
CLASS 6A
106 POUNDS Championship: Zayne Lewis (Springdale) dec. Austin Ireland (Bentonville West), 15-6 Third place: Hudson Humphries (Catholic) fall Joshua Chester (Bentonville), 2:33 113 POUNDS Championship: Ian Branch (Fayetteville) dec. Gage Hathom (Har-Ber), 8-4 Third place: Zander Payne (Bentonville) fall Murphy Hannah (North Little Rock), 5:19 120 POUNDS Championship: Tristan Stafford (Bentonville High) dec. Tyler Holmes (Bentonville West), 10-2 Third place: Robert Pinter (Little Rock Catholic) dec. Talan Braswell (Har-Ber), 10-7 126 POUNDS Championship: Brenden Lovelace (Little Rock Central) dec. Charles Easterling (Bentonville West), 8-3.
Third place: Peter Henry (Springdale High) fall Ian Little (Heritage), 1:28 132 POUNDS Championship: Meinshu Jiang (Springdale High) dec. Lane Parrish (Har-Ber), 8-6.
Third place: Austin Calhoun (Cabot High) dec. Kade Black (Rogers High), 7-3.
138 POUNDS Championship: Jacob Adams (Bentonville) dec. Gary Walker (Little Rock Central), 2-1.
Third place: Austin Denton (Cabot High) dec. Josh Zuniga (Rogers High), 5-3.
145 POUNDS Championship: Raphael Marascio (Bentonville) dec. Gabe Stanley (Cabot High), 17-7 Third place: Bradley McDaniel (Little Rock Central) dec. Deven Speer (Rogers High), 10-6 152 POUNDS Championship: Ti Lockwood (Fort Smith Southside) fall Jaxon Davis (Heritage), 4:19.
Third place: Jackson Smith (Little Rock Catholic) 19-2, dec. Archer Torres (Cabot), 10-7 160 POUNDS Championship: Connor Kneeshaw (Bentonville) dec. Cole Eason (Cabot), 4-3 Third place: Isaac Coates (Little Rock Central) fall Marquis Roberts (North Little Rock) 4:59 170 POUNDS Championship: Brady Stafford (Bentonville West) fall Logan Eason (Cabot), 4:54 Third place: Kevin Taylor (Bryant) dec. (Conway), 14-4 182 POUNDS Championship: Vincent Bryan (Little Rock Central) technical fall Brian Wade (Rogers) 22-7 5:16 Third place: Cam Hicks (Cabot) dec. Jason Pedrus (Springdale), 7-0 195 POUNDS Championship: Gavin Reardon (Cabot) fall Devin Potter (Fort Smith Northside), 5:24 Third place: Andrew Williamson (Bentonville) fall Zane Garner (Rogers Heritage), 3:11 220 POUNDS Championship: Jamarius Medlock (Fort Smith Northside) dec. RJ Hild (Conway), 6-5 Third place: Jose Ruiz (Rogers) dec. Luke Pool (North Little Rock), 7-4 285 POUNDS Championship: Tyson Wimbley (Bentonville) fall Gage Loar (Cabot High) tiebreaker, 7:28 Third place: Micah Pinales (Bentonville West) dec. Cameron Lewis (Little Rock Central), 5-2