Greenwood High School wrestling coach John Kincaid is a happy man. In its first year of existence, the 2012-13 wrestling program that he started can now boast of two state champions. Both Taylor Compton and Brett Calhoun were crowned as state titleholders during the recent Class 7A/6A state wrestling tournament in Little Rock held late last month.
For the season, Greenwood finished 13-22 overall in dual meets. They defeated Springfield Parkview and Seneca, and lost to Lebanon and Branson in out-of-state competition against schools from Missouri, in matches held at Springdale Har-Ber. Greenwood also lost twice to South Lake Carroll, Texas. Wrestling has been prevalent in both Missouri and Texas for years, but is just now beginning to take hold in Arkansas.
At the state tournament, held the last weekend in February, Greenwood finished tenth overall with 109.5 points. Bentonville won the overall competition with 254 total points, but the Bulldogs finished ahead of other area schools like Fort Smith Southside, Russellvile, and Van Buren. At 138 pounds, Taylor Compton finished first in the state and 38-3 overall as a sophomore. At 220 pounds, Brett Calhoun placed first in the state and was a perfect 21-0 as a junior. At 120 pounds, Dustin Williams finished sixth in the state tournament and was 22-19 this year as a freshman.
Others GHS wrestlers at the state tournament were freshman Clay Watts @106 pounds who finished the year at 17-24 overall; freshman Devin Ibison @ 113 pounds (10-26); junior Phillip Barker @ 126 pounds (22-25); sophomore Landon Post @ 132 pounds (13-11); freshman Bryce Allen @ 145 pounds (7-6); junior Trenton Cowan @ 152 pounds (13-23); junior Kyle Pierce @ 160 lpounds (6-14); senior Alex Bryant @ 170 pounds (15-9); freshman Jadrien Flores @ 182 pounds (6-26); freshman Gunnar White @ 195 pounds (13-21); and senior Tyler Thompson @ 285 pounds (28-14).
“We finished the season with 37 wrestlers,” said Kincaid. “Three of them we will lose to graduation.” With so many experienced wrestlers returning next season, the future of the GHS wrestling program is bright indeed.
Coach Kincaid also wanted to acknowledge other competitors who did not make the state tournament, but played an important role in getting the program off the ground this past season. They included Marcus Bolin, Andre Brassfield, Troy Caesar, Tyler Canipe, Reid Carter, Michael Dover, Nicholas Gusdorf, Trey Hamilton, Brandon Heiss, Matthew Jackson, Toby Luangsy, Evan McClure, Andrew McGill, Josh Moudy, Cameron Palmer, Tanner Philpot, Cody Phrachanpheng, Austin Plymale, Brian Pullen, Matthew Robbins, Bailey Rodgers, Weston Sadler, and BJ Shaffer. Student trainers, filmers, and scorekeepers were Haley Carter, Maggie Anderson, Lauren Loum, and Jenifer Didier.
“Our wrestling team worked very hard for their first season, and was rewarded by a top 10 finish in the state championships in Little Rock,” said the coach. “I expect us to improve a lot over the summer, and by this time next year we will look for some great things to happen. Our goal is like every other Greenwood High School program, and that is to be the best that we possibly can be. A year under our belts will make a tremendous difference.”
Coach Kincaid also wanted to express his thanks for all the help in getting the program started this past season. “My assistant coaches Tim Cothran and Shawn Shaffer did a tremendous job helping me throughout the year,” said the coach. “I would also like to thank David Tuck in helping with our younger kids. I would [also] like to express [my] gratitude to several in the community that have contributed to our program, and I would like to thank the administration for all of the support in starting wrestling and supporting it this year.”
This Saturday, March 9th, Greenwood’s two state champions, Taylor Compton and Brett Calhoun, will wrestle against the 1A-5A state champs at Russellville High School starting at 3:00 p.m., with a banquet at 6:00 pm. The admission price for the tournament is $10 for adults and $5 for children. For both the tournament and banquet, the cost is $25 for adults and $10 for children.