WEBB CITY, Mo. — For the second straight year, the Carthage Tigers were celebrating at the conclusion of the Central Ozark Conference boys swimming and diving championships.
Led by seven event wins, Carthage repeated as COC champs on Tuesday night at the Buck Miner Swim Center on the campus of Webb City High School. The Tigers topped the team standings with 324 points.
“Last year was the first year we’d ever won it, and we graduated four seniors and lost a couple of other kids,” Carthage coach Braden McBride said. “So this really came as a surprise. Joplin has the best swimmer in the conference in Nathan Wardlow. Ozark has Steve Boyce as their coach and he’s won state championships. And I’ve learned so much from Shawn Klosterman. The fact that we won this year’s meet is awesome. It’s not just the guys who earn the medals and get on the podium, we’ve got a lot of guys scoring points. Those guys scoring the seventh, eighth and ninth place points really matter and are big for our program.”
Host Webb City was second in the team standings with 233 points and Joplin took third with 205.
“I’m pretty happy, we had some good swims,” Webb City coach Shawn Klosterman said. “We had some guys move up and that’s what you always look for. It’s always an inspired meet. Carthage is loaded, so they’re pretty untouchable this year. Joplin has some studs this year, and I thought they were going to get us. We pulled off second place, so we’re happy with that.”
“Overall, I think there were a couple of events where we could have done a little better, but the guys performed well,” Joplin coach Aaron Stump said. “If we had diving, we would have been closer to second overall. Webb City has that advantage on us. But I’m happy with how the guys performed tonight.”
Nixa (180), Ozark (93) and Republic (92) rounded out the team standings.
CARTHAGE HIGHLIGHTS
The Tigers won two of the three relays and also took first in five individual events.
“Our boys competed well and they did everything we thought they’d need to do tonight,” Coach McBride said. “It was a great night.”
Carthage’s 200-yard medley relay team of Kellen Frieling, Braxton McBride, Will Wright and Maveric Allphin took first with a time of 1:47.
The Tigers won the 400 freestyle relay in 3:34, with Braxton McBride, Frieling, Aydan Nye and Wright competing.
Carthage finished second in the 200 freestyle, as Allphin, Daryl Martin, Ben Rogers and Nye recorded a time of 1:42.
Braxton McBride and Frieling each won two individual events.
A junior, McBride won the 50-yard freestyle in 23.15 seconds and the 100 freestyle in 51.71 seconds.
A senior, Frieling took first in the 100 butterfly with a time of 57.46 seconds and also captured gold in the 100 backstroke with a time of 56.69 seconds.
A sophomore, Wright won the 100 breaststroke in 1:05. Wright also finished second in the 200 IM.
The Tigers received big points in several other events. Allphin finished third in the 100 breaststroke and fifth in the 50 free, while Martin took fourth in the 100 free and Noah Blackford finished fourth in the 100 backstroke.
Also, Ryan Steinbach took sixth in the both the 200 IM and the 500 free, Emerson Ixcol took sixth in the 100 backstroke, Carter Yost finished seventh in the 200 IM and Rogers took seventh in the 500 free.
“Kellen, Braxton and Will have committed to being year-round swimmers,” Coach McBride said. “They lead us, but they’ve got a lot of other guys with them. It was a total team victory.”
WEBB CITY HIGHLIGHTS
Webb City fared well in the relays.
The 200 medley relay team of Cole Dalton, Micah Brouwer, Dalton Spence and Aiden Patterson finished third in 1:54.
Webb City was also third in the 200 freestyle relay, as Steve Kenlee, Spence, Brouwer and Adrien Black recorded a time of 1:43.
The Cardinals were fourth in the 400 freestyle relay, with Black, Kenlee, Dalton and Patterson competing.
Black was the runner-up in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:28, while Brouwer placed second in the 100 breaststroke in 1:07 and third in the 200 IM in 2:16.
Black and Kenlee took fourth and sixth in the 200 freestyle, while Kenlee and Patterson were fifth and seventh in the 100 butterfly.
Also for the Cardinals, Spence was fifth in both the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke, Dalton was fifth in the 100 free, Patterson placed fifth in the 500 free, Cole was fifth in the 100 backstroke and Dagan Chacon finished seventh in the 50 free.
Webb City’s Grant Humphrey won the 1-meter diving competition, besting Nixa’s Keegan Sandgren for the top spot.
“Adrien had a big meet and our 200 free relay moved up from fifth to third, so I was proud of that,” Klosterman said. “Aiden had a season-best in the 500, so that was big. Grant Humphrey had a great day. He’s a new kid, but he’s proven to be very competitive.
“I’m also glad we got to have a Senior Night, too,” Klosterman said. “And it’s always nice to host this meet. It’s a hectic day, but it’s really nice to have it here.”
JOPLIN HIGHLIGHTS
Joplin was led by the standout performance of junior Nathan Wardlow.
Wardlow was the COC champion in two events, as he won the 200 individual medley in 2:02 and took first in the 500 freestyle with a record-breaking time of 4:53.
Wardlow set a meet and pool record in the 500 freestyle. The previous pool record (4:55) was set in 1984 by Sean Garretson of Jenks, Oklahoma. The COC record (4:57) was set by Ozark’s Graham Eisenmann in 2022.
“Nathan has been impressive all year,” Stump said. “I see a lot of drive from him. I saw him kick it into another gear tonight. For him to get that time in the 500 free here, I couldn’t be more impressed.”
The Eagles had a top-five finish in all three relays.
Joplin’s 200 medley relay team of Wardlow, Jackson Mordica, Parker Hinman and Ian Vermillion finished second in 1:50.
The JHS team of Wardlow, Isaiah Thom, Vermillion and Hinman took second in the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 3:40.
The Eagles placed fifth in the 200 freestyle relay, with Owen Mordica, Jackson Mordica, Jordan Goins and Thom competing.
A junior, Hinman was the runner-up in two events, the 100 fly in 59.71 seconds and the 100 backstroke in 1:00.
Vermillion and Thom finished third and sixth, respectively, in the 50 freestyle, while Jackson Mordica took fourth in the 100 breaststroke.
Also for the Eagles, Vermillion was sixth in the 100 fly, Thom took seventh in the 100 free and Owen Mordica placed seventh in the 100 backstroke.
CENTRAL OZARK CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Team standings: Carthage 324, Webb City 233, Joplin 205, Nixa 180, Ozark 93, Republic 92.
FULL RESULTS: COC results with splits and scores
