The 2024-25 high school wrestling season is over for the Greenwood Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs, and another successful campaign it was, despite some obstacles beyond their control. Both GHS squads closed out their respective seasons with solid performances in their regional and state tournaments. The Greenwood girls finished fifth in the state overall while the Greenwood boys placed third at state.
“We had a good showing at the state wrestling tournament in Little Rock,” said Head Coach John Kincade, who founded the GHS wrestling program more than a dozen years ago. The 5A state tournament was held Friday and Saturday, February 28 - March 1st at the University of Arkansas Little Rock (UALR). The regional tournaments were held to two prior weekends to qualify wrestlers for the state tournament. The 5A North regionals were held at Searcy High School. The girls tournament was on February 15th with the boys competing on February 22nd.
Lady Bulldogs
The GHS ladies placed sixth at the regional tournament, scoring 91½ points behind Searcy, Russellville, Van Buren, Mountain Home, and Beebe. They also qualified six of the eight girls who competed for Greenwood. “The girls finished in 5th place overall [at state],” said Coach Kincade. “It was a great job considering we just qualified six girls out of the eight weights that we had [at regionals]. There are 14 weight classes overall.” Those unfilled weight categories count as forfeits in the scoring.
At Searcy. Farah Crossno competed at 100 pounds, Isabella Thomas at 105 pounds, Jocelyn Martinez 110 pounds, Mariah Bartok at 115 pounds, Amanda Adkisson at 120, Marin Youngblood at 145, Afton Bridges at 170, and Brianne Mancici at 190. All but Adkisson and Youngblood qualified to move on to state competition.
Crossno scored 22 team points and finished first in her weight category. After receiving an opening round bye, Crossno won by fall over a Searcy opponent before defeating a Van Buren girl in the finals by decision. Thomas scored 11 team points and placed third overall. After dropping her first match and receiving a second-round bye, Thomas won back-to-back decisions over opponents from Russellville and Van Buren.
Martinez won her opening match over a Van Buren girl but lost her second-round match to a wrestler from Pulaski Academy. She came back to win her consolation match over a Pottsville girl before getting revenge in her fourth match, defeating the same Van Buren girl who beat her earlier that day. Mariah Bartok scored two team points and placed 5th at 115 pounds. She dropped her first match to a Beebe opponent and enjoyed a second-round bye. She then lost her third match to a girl from Searcy before also getting revenge in her fourth match over the same Beebe girl who beat her earlier.
Amanda Adkisson did not score for Greenwood, losing both of her matches to opponents from Vilonia and Batesville. Marin Youngblood scored two points and placed fifth. She lost to her first opponent from Searcy then received a bye. She then dropped her third match to a girl from Russellville before winning her fourth match by forfeit.
Greenwood’s Afton Bridges placed second at 170 pounds and scored 19 team points. She won her opening quarterfinals match by fall over a Beebe wrestler, then won by major decision over a Searcy girl in the semifinals. A wrestler from Van Buren defeated Bridges in the finals. Brianne Mancini placed third for Greenwood at 190 pounds, scoring 17½ points for her teammates. After splitting her first two matches against opponents from Greene County Tech (loss) and Batesville (win), she defeated a girl from Beebe in the consolation semifinals. Mancini then won by fall over a girl from Searcy for third place.
Four GHS ladies really excelled at the state tournament at UALR. At 100 pounds, junior Farah Crossno earned a state championship after finishing third last season. At 110 pounds, senior Jocelyn Martinez finished in fourth place. At 170 pounds, sophomore Afton Bridges finished as state runner-up after placing fourth last season. Junior Brianne Mancini also finished in second place at 190 pounds.
“Isabella Thomas at 105 pounds and Mariah Bartok at 115 pounds also had a great showing,” said Coach Kincade. “We will lose one senior [to graduation], Jocelyn Martinez, that competed at the state tournament. We will also lose senior Kaylea Brooks, who had surgery on her arm and was only able to wrestle on senior night. But we will be sad losing her.”
Bulldogs
At the Searcy regionals, the GHS boys finished fourth (139½ points) overall behind Van Buren (240), Beebe (175½), and Searcy (147). The Bulldogs had wrestlers competing in 13 of the 14 weight categories, including Frankie Yang (106 pounds), Dylan Friend (113), Maddox Adams (120), Ashton Neece (126), Brayden Stockton (132), Rhett Holloway (138), Logan Gunderson (144), Pablo Ambriz (150), Landon Rofkahr (157), Jeremy Johnson (165), Wyatt Thornsberry (175), Keagan Dust (190), and Adam Chance (215 pounds).
Yang scored seven points for his team and placed fourth, while Dylan Friend continued his superlative season with a first-place finish, scoring 26 team points and winning all three of his matches by fall. Maddox Adams placed fifth and scored two team points. Ashton Neece finished second and scored 20 team points by winning two of three matches. Brayden Stockton placed second at 132 pounds, adding 17½ to the Bulldogs’ team total. Rhett Holloway placed fifth and scored three points.
Logan Gunderson also placed fifth and scored five team points. At 150 pounds, Pablo Ambriz placed fifth and contributed three points. Landon Rofkahr finished third and scored 15½ points. Jeremy Johnson placed second and scored 18 team points, winning two of his three matches. Keagan Dust did not qualify or score any points, dropping both of his matches. And finally, Adam Chance did not score, losing both of his matches at 215 pounds.
“The boys qualified eight guys out of 14 weight classes [for state],” said Coach Kincade. “The team finished in third place overall [at state]. I was very happy with our performance considering we only qualified eight. We also had six state placers. I am so very proud of our wrestlers and coaches. The other two that competed at the state tournament were Frankie Yang and Landon Rofkahr. Landon has been very solid for me as a senior captain and leader,” he added.
Those placing at the state tournament are as follows: at 113 lbs., freshman Dylan Friend was state runner-up; at 126 lbs., junior Ashton Neece was state runner-up; at 132 lbs., sophomore Brayden Stockton was state runner-up; at 150 lbs., senior Pablo Ambriz was fourth; at 165 lbs., senior Jeremy "Cade" Johnson was a state champion; and at 175 lbs., senior Wyatt Thornsberry was also a state champion.
“I thought overall we had a great season,” Kincade concluded. “There were things that happened to us that we could not have prevented. I felt like the wrestlers that competed were all bought in, and it showed at the state tournament. We had four placers and all-staters for the girls team, and we had six placers and all-staters for the boys team. I look forward to a good off-season, and Freestyle and Greco Roman [style wrestling] will be coming up in the spring. We will also plan on going to the UALR camp in Little Rock in July. So, we are already looking forward to next year.”