How the years have flown. It seems like just yesterday that Coach John Kincade started the wrestling program at Greenwood High School. But that was eight years ago in 2012, the same year the GHS athletic program moved up to Class 6A.
The classifications and conferences may have changed with time, but the Bulldogs’ wrestling program has been on a steadily upward trajectory since its founding.
“We started in 2012,” said Kincade during a recent interview catching up on early season results and the overall condition of the program as school resumes after the long holiday break.
The popular and successful coach was asked about the state of his program eight years into its existence. Not surprisingly, he expressed satisfaction with what his program has achieved to this point.
“We’re about where I expected to be,” he said. “I’m starting to get guys in my [varsity] program now who were involved in my youth program.
“Tyler Crossno is an example of that. He wrestled in my youth program, and being a big guy, that’s very beneficial, being on the mat for a while.
Wrestling is both an individual and team sport, and the competition can be fierce at times, said Kincade. Experience is paramount to being successful on the mat.
“We’ve got guys coming into the varsity program [now] who have some experience,” he continued. “You’ve got to be on the mat for a while or its going to be a tough road [competitively].”
The long-time coach and math teacher came face-to-face with a nemesis of his own in late November when he suffered an unexpected health scare while on the road during the football playoffs. But the Oklahoma native says he is doing much better now.
“Everything is going [well],” he shared. “Right now, I’m as good as can be expected. But I got more emails and things on Facebook from people who were concerned, and prayers, and I’m very thankful for that. The people of Greenwood are special, and I’m always appreciative of the support.”
Kincade also talked about his staff, which doesn’t include a paid assistant coach, but a handful of very helpful volunteers. They include David Tuck and Robert Moore, along with Caleb and Ashley Erskine.
“One of my volunteers is David Tuck,” said the coach. “His son Colton has been with me for a long time, and David has been with me since the program started in 2012.
“A new addition is Robert Moore. He used to help with [Ft. Smith] Southside’s program, and he started last year helping me in Greenwood. He’s been a great asset working with our bigger guys.
The Erskines are both very young – just 22 years old – and both are former GHS athletes. Caleb was a wrestler for Coach Kincade in the early days of the program, and Ashley played basketball.
“They not only work with the high school kids, but are involved with my youth program,” said Kincade. “They go to [youth] tournaments. It’s a great advantage having those two aboard.
“Ashley has been around the program quite a bit and picked up a tremendous amount of knowledge. With the start of women’s wrestling, she is very helpful in that area. It’s good she’s around.
This current season is the first in which the Arkansas Activities Association (AAA) has sanctioned female wrestling, and Greenwood is among the state’s pioneers in that regard.
“We’re up to six girls now, with five of those being sophomores and just one senior,” said the coach. “It looks really promising. I look for the sport to keep growing.
“There are a lot of girls walking the halls [of school] that aren’t doing anything that would benefit from wrestling. It helps with discipline and with physical and mental conditioning. I’m just a big advocate.
“They only wrestle other girls,” he said, “and they will have their own state tournament the day before boys state. It’s the third week in February.”
Kincade and his Bulldogs won the state’s dual championship last season, though it was not sanctioned or recognized by the AAA. He was asked what that victory meant for his team and program.
“It helped get the word out,” he said. “We had a lot of support from the student body and we were able to pick up an extra heavyweight – Kevin Douglas.”
A senior, Douglas also started on the offensive line for the football team last fall before adding wrestling to his athletic resume.
“He’s about even on his matches, but he keeps getting better and better,” said his coach. “I have another heavyweight in Jeremiah Presson, and they go back-and-forth.
“They’re very competitive and that helps [them and us] get better. We’ve got some guys who were state placers [last year] who are having to fight to make the lineup right now.”
Kincade was also asked about former GHS wrestlers who have gone on to compete collegiately. “I’ve had two or three who had the opportunity, but they chose not to,” he explained.
“But this year and next year I look for some of our guys to go on and wrestle in college. [Senior] Colton [Tuck] has a chance and Ty Moose next year. Those guys have been around, and [college] coaches have already talked to them. I look for that to start happening.”
While discussing the next level, Kincade mentioned some interesting facts about wrestling in the Natural State. Several schools have programs including UALR, Ouachita Baptist University, Williams Baptist College, and Lyons College, among others.
“The women’s program at Lyon’s College is ranked 10th in the nation right now,” said Kincade. “It’s growing like crazy in Arkansas. We’re the only state in the U.S. that has every division (Junior college, NAIA, Divisions 1-3, and women’s wrestling).”
Recapping the season so far, Kincade had a lot of success to recite.
“We started in December with Rogers and Rogers-Heritage and beat both of those teams. Then we went to the Van Buren tournament. It was a dual team tournament and we went 6-0 there, so we’re currently 8-0 in duals.
“The varsity team wrestled at Fayetteville (25 teams) and ended up finishing fifth. Then we went to Allen, Texas, with 34 teams and we finished 11th. We wrestled teams from Oklahoma, Louisiana, and all over Texas. It was neat deal.
“Tyler Crossno went down to Texas and won first,” said Kincade. “He beat the defending state runner-up, pinning him in double overtime.” The Texas meet was just last weekend.
Asked about competition closer to home and especially in the state tournament, the coach revealed that the actors haven’t really change that much.
“Searcy is always a team from the other side that we’re competing with, along with Hot Springs Lakeside and Lake Hamilton from our side,” he said.
The state tournament will be held in late February, with the girls slated for the 20th followed by the boys’ on the 21st and 22nd.
Both tournaments will be held on the campus of the University of Arkansas in Little Rock. The annual dual state tournament will be held on February 8th at Russellville.
“We’re kind of banged up right now, but hopefully when the time comes, we’ll be healthy and ready to go,” said Kincade.
“We finished third in the state [last year], one point behind Lakeside. Searcy won it last year. They beat us by 14 points or so. Last year was the first time we [competed] in Class 5A,” he added.
“We just keep working, trying to get to the top. Our kids are starting to see that we can wrestle with anybody. The way we work and practice is paying off for us in big dividends.”
The numbers are still there, according to Kincade, indicating that interest remains high in GHS wrestling. “We have 34 [athletes] in our high school program. We’re going to continually grow.
“I also think there’s excitement in our youth program,” he added. “I got a bunch of fourth and fifth graders who are just tearing it up all over the state and in Oklahoma. They’ve been in three or four tournaments and won first place. The future looks bright around here.”
For local fans who might want to take in a wrestling match, the Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs have two home meets remaining on their schedule in 2020.
“The next home meet will be January 28th,” said the coach. “We wrestle Russellville.” The location for that event will be the PE gym on the GHS campus.
“Then on February 4th we have Sallisaw (OK), and that will be our senior night,” said Kincade. That final home meet will be held in H.B. Stewart Arena to accommodate the festivities and a larger crowd.
Greenwood is currently competing in the 5A West, which includes teams from Greenbrier, Lake Hamilton, Hot Springs, Benton, Russellville, Hot Springs Lakeside, and Sheridan.
There will be a conference tournament on February 15th at Lakeside High School to determine the league seedings for the state tournament to follow a week later.