The high school varsity wrestling season began with a bang last week for the Greenwood Bulldogs, who last season won their first dual state championship under Head Coach John Kincade. A former high school and college wrestler from Oklahoma, Kincade also founded the GHS program.
The ‘Dogs are unbeaten so far after taking down both Rogers and Rogers-Heritage last Thursday, then winning a two-day dual tournament at Van Buren over the weekend, going 6-0.
“We beat Rogers 63-18 and we beat Heritage 53-30,” said Coach Kincade earlier this week. “Friday and Saturday we wrestled in Van Buren. We won six duals and won 1st Place.”
Greenwood opened the tournament by beating Little Rock Central 50-24. The ‘Dogs then topped the host Pointers 54-30, followed by wins over Greenbrier (48-33), Fort Smith Southside (76-6) and Northside (48-24), and finally Rogers (55-13).
Senior Colton Tuck, fresh off the football field, was selected as Outstanding Wrestler, going 6-0 at Van Buren with every victory by a fall.
The team was slated to host Bentonville this past Monday night, but the event was cancelled due to inclement weather. The Bulldogs will compete this coming weekend in a tournament at Fayetteville.
This is also the first year the Arkansas Activities Association has sanctioned female wrestlers, and Greenwood has two young ladies competing this season, Autumn McEver and Delia Lawson, both sophomores.
“We have a good core of wrestlers returning from last year's Dual State champions,” said Coach Kincade. “Our motto this year is to ‘Finish It’.” The ‘Dogs hope to win the 5A state title this season.