With a solid core returning, and with several promising freshmen joining the squad, the expectations are high once again for the Neosho High School wrestling program.
At the same time, longtime Neosho coach Jeremy Phillips noted his Wildcats have plenty of work to do after falling short of the team’s ultimate goals last winter.
“I’m excited not only for the talent that we return, but also for the opportunity we have to redeem ourselves from a season finish last year that was just shy of our team goal,” Phillips said. “We had several opportunities at our postseason tournaments (district and state) to seize a finish we’d trained for and talked about wanting, but in both tournaments, we let it slip through our hands. I expect us to be competitive, and with the right changes in our mindset, it should be evident that we’ve grown and learned from last year’s shortcomings.”
Overall, the 2022-23 wrestling season was another successful one for the Wildcats.
After going 10-1 in duals, Neosho finished second at the Central Ozark Conference tournament, second at the district tournament and seventh at the Class 4 state championships.
“As a team, we didn’t compete well in the pressure situations, the make-or-break moments,” Phillips said. “I contribute that to a few factors, but particularly our minds — mental focus and toughness. Our mindset training will again be a key to our success this season as we will put a very young team out there to battle again.”
Neosho earned four state medals last winter, with Carter Howard (138) and Eli Zar (165) taking second, Nico Olivares (285) fourth and Collyn Kivett (157) fifth.
Zar, Olivares and Kivett were seniors, along with fellow state qualifier Ulysses DeLeon. Zar was a three-time state finalist and one-time state champ during his standout prep career, while Kivett was a two-time medalist.
Just a sophomore, Howard (126/132) is the lone returning state medalist for the Wildcats entering the 2023-24 campaign. He went 21-6 as a freshman, taking fifth at the COC tourney and winning a district title before his state runner-up showing.
The Wildcats will feature a large group of returning starters.
At last year’s COC tournament, sophomores Sam Fryar (106) and Brody Mitchell (113) and junior Fisher Butler (120) each finished third, while junior Hunter Butler (132) placed fourth, sophomores Chase Kivett (150) and Everson Tomlinson (215) each took fifth and sophomore Gabriel Busteed (175) placed sixth.
Fisher Butler, who went 29-11 in ’22-23, is a returning state qualifier.
Sophomores Dayton Kivett, Kade Lawson and Conner Reiboldt also return with plenty of prior varsity experience.
The Wildcats will also feature several promising freshmen. With that, Neosho will still have a relatively young team this winter.
“Last year at times we were starting eight freshmen,” Phillips noted. “This year they will be sophomores and we will add several talented freshmen to the mix and a couple of solid juniors with great varsity and state tourney experience. Our sophomores will be expected to help those freshmen step up and learn from their own struggles they had making the transition to the next level last year.”
Depth should definitely be a team strength of the Wildcats.
“We should have a little more depth than usual and that should help our training daily,” Phillips said. “We should have some solid backups. I’ve never been big on a lot of numbers, but they do matter when trying to develop your talent, as iron sharpens iron, one man sharpens another. With the depth and talent, my goal is to challenge them to bring more of a fighting mentality to our daily training.”
Phillips, who is in his 18th season as Neosho’s head coach, said his team’s keys to success include embracing change, believing in the process and staying hungry and healthy.
“If we all work with a growth mindset to make the small changes daily with many of the little things that are emphasized in this sport, and with training, we can have the big changes in our results that we will be working towards,” Phillips said. “The key is ultimately in our student-athletes’ desire to be something more. If they want to hang on to being good, we will struggle to maximize the potential we possess.”
The Wildcats will host a season-opening tournament on Dec. 2.
