The Greenwood High School wrestling season is now underway. Head Coach John Kincade and his Bulldogs wrestling squad opened their 2015 campaign last weekend with a dual meet at Van Buren, then followed up with wins over Fort Smith Northside and Southside this past Tuesday night.
Greenwood defeated the Northside Grizzlies by the lopsided score of 56-18. In the same meet on Tuesday they also beat the Southside Rebels, 47-29. The Bulldogs were also able to use several football players who recently joined the team.
"It was great getting four football players into the line-up," said Coach Kincade. "They all won their debut matches. Bryce Allen went 2-0; Kenny Wood went 2-0; Jon Womack went 2-0, and Donald Faulkenberry [won by] forfeit against Northside."
This past weekend the Bulldogs wrestled in the Van Buren Dual Tournament, taking just 10 athletes to the meet. Greenwood forfeited matches in four weight classes due to a shortage of competitors, because football players had the week off before reporting to wrestling practice.
However, the Bulldogs still won five of their eight matches, despite being short handed. These are the results of the duals:
GHS 42, Quinton (OK) 18
Van Buren 48, GHS 36
GHS 43, Southside 42
Bryant 48, GHS 33
GHS 36, Conway 34
GHS 50, Northside 18
Greenbrier 58, GHS 11
GHS 39, Rogers 36
Coach Kincade offered the following remarks about his team's performance. "It would have been a good dual between Greenbrier and us if we were at full strength. They had some tough kids. Most of our wrestlers were also wrestling up a weight [class]," said the coach.
"Alex Nolen (113 lbs.) and Jadrien Flores (152) went 8-0 in the duals, and finished in 1st place in their weight categories. Two freshmen, Dylan Wilson (138) and Isaac Johnson (145) both went 7-1 and finished in 2nd place. Dustin Williams (126) and Clay Watts (132) finished in 3rd place with 6-2 records.
"Those wrestling varsity for the first time were Matthew Smith (120), Wade Motley (160), James Shoemake (170), and Aaron East (195)," added the coach. "They did an excellent job of competing.
"It will be great to get back Jacob Barker, Jacob Dewey, Braxton Horne, Bryce Allen, Bailey Rodgers, Brice Owen, Sam Haest, Mason Deleon, Donald Faulkenberry, Kenny Wood, Austin Collins, and Jon Womack," said Kincade. "It will help us to fill all of our weight classes and be very competitive."
The Bulldogs wrestle again on Thursday at home against Checotah, Oklahoma, starting at 6 p.m. in the PE gym on the GHS campus. They will compete in the Border Tournament at Poteau on Friday and Saturday. Wrestling starts at 5:00 p.m. on Friday and at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday.