A high school wrestling season that will certainly be like no other before it—one impacted by the coronavirus—officially kicked off on Tuesday night for the Joplin Eagles and Webb City Cardinals.
Joplin defeated Webb City 54-22 inside Kaminsky Gymnasium.
The head coaches of both programs noted they’re simply thrilled a wrestling season is happening.
“We’ve got a season and I know our kids are grateful for that,” Joplin coach Jeremy Finley said. “We’re going to do the best we can this season. The kids wrestled hard tonight and that was great to see. It was really nice to see them enjoy the victory together.”
“We’re excited about having a season and we were excited to get on the mat tonight,” Webb City coach Larron Hurst said. “We got to see a lot of young kids out there. Tonight, we had 10 freshmen or sophomores in the lineup. We saw some good things. The score doesn’t show it, but I was pleased. I’m proud of the kids. We’ll keep working.”
By outward appearances, Tuesday’s dual looked similar to those from the past, with a few notable exceptions.
Fans are still being allowed in the gymnasiums, unlike the state of Kansas, but masks are required at JHS. Athletes are still shaking hands at the conclusion of each match, but the referee is not raising the hand of each match’s winner. Wrestlers and coaches are wearing masks on the bench.
With safety concerns in mind, teams have largely altered their practice routines with new protocols and even eliminated traveling to large, out-of-the-area tournaments.
“It’s really impacted the way we do things,” Finley said of the pandemic. “We’ve got to run two different practices. We can only have so many kids in the wrestling room. We have to keep track of who’s practicing with who. It’s affected how we do everything, but we have to make the best of it. That’s the way we’re going to go about it everyday.”
“We’ve changed practices up,” Hurst said. “We’re spreading them out more in our room. We have a handful of guys go into a side of the gym. Right now, knock on wood, we’ve been healthy. And I think the kids have done a good job of adapting to working with just one partner or in groups of three. We’re on track with everything and we’ll keep doing what we can.”
JOPLIN 54, WEBB CITY 22
Joplin’s Sam Melton won by forfeit at 106 pounds before Webb City’s Colt Taylor earned a 9-0 major decision over Alex Short at 113 pounds.
The Eagles won the next three matches by fall, as Trace Sargent pinned Bobby Pearish at 120, Rocky Walker pinned Aiden Moore at 126 and Josiah Vaughn pinned Cody Herndon at 132.
Those wins gave the Eagles a 24-4 lead.
At 138, Webb City’s Brenden Berry won by fall over Kole Gandy and teammate Rafe Mackey pinned Reese Macios at 145.
Joplin’s Jack Stanley pinned Aiden Rose at 152, while Brendon Mynatt won by fall over Webb City’s Cooper Heilbrun at 160.
At 170, Joplin’s Drew VanGilder earned a 6-5 decision over Jackson Ward. VanGilder recorded a reversal late in the third period to take the lead, and Ward was unable to earn an escape in the final seconds.
Draven VanGilder won by fall over Webb City’s Brayden Waggoner at 182 and Joplin’s Aiden Short pinned Gabe McDonald at 195 in a match he led 5-3 after two periods.
At 220, Joplin’s Scott Lowe defeated Liam Taylor 4-2. Lowe recorded a takedown with 15 seconds left to earn the close decision.
In the heavyweight bout, Webb City’s Kole Carr overcame an 8-3 deficit and pinned Gunner Price.
With no seniors on last year’s roster, the Eagles suffered some growing pains last season with such a young lineup.
Now in his second year in charge of the program, Finley noted the program has heightened expectations. Tuesday’s win over the Cardinals was a good way to start the season, Finley said.
“It was a good team effort,” Finley said. “The team as a whole performed well. We’ve been young and we’re starting to see last year’s freshmen and sophomores mature. That’s been great to see.”
Coach Hurst noted he is still waiting for several football players to join the squad.
“The football guys won’t be in the room until next week,” Hurst said. “We’ve got six varsity kids out. We’re still trying to get the rust off overall. We have a good foundation to build on.”
HISTORY MADE
Freshman Erika Washom made history on Tuesday night, becoming the first female from Joplin High School to compete in a wrestling match.
Wrestling at 127 pounds, Washom pinned Webb City’s Hannah McDonald in the lone bout that was contested on the girls side.
“That was pretty cool,” Finley said. “That was definitely a highlight of the night.”
WHAT’S NEXT?
Joplin is at Carl Junction on Thursday, while Webb City is at Nevada next Tuesday.
