Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Bentonville takes 5th title in row
Bentonville claimed its fifth consecutive Class 6A state wrestling title Friday evening, and the Tigers did it with a roar.
Heavyweight Tyson Wimbley recorded a pin in overtime in the final match of the night to put an exclamation point on the victory.
Bentonville sat in second place after the opening day, but picked up points left and right to finish with 224.5 points to win the team title by more than 20 points over Cabot. The Tigers held a slim 185.5-179 advantage entering the final round, but Cabot could not catch them.
Bentonville Coach Jason Adams couldn’t have been prouder of his group in a year that included a pandemic and a snowstorm that pushed the state tournament back two weeks.
“Typically once you get to the end of February, the guys, their bodies are wore out, beat down and all that. So basically, on top of that we had to add two more weeks that made it that much more grueling.
“The guys being able to stay focused and realize the goal is still there. It’s just prolonged. It was tough to do with all the things going on.”
Rogers Heritage held an 81-80 lead over Bentonville and Cabot after the first day, but those two schools pulled away from the field Friday.
Adams said winning five consecutive titles is a testament to the work put in by a lot of people over the years, even before he came.
“Teams are lucky if they can put together a season where they’re a contender once or twice,” Adams said. “What this program has done, even before I got here, is put in that work and go wrestle the best competition possible and get themselves ready to come here and succeed.
“It’s just so much work. The adversity, especially this year. It just makes me feel good for them, what they’re learning from this sport every day. Every year having a good group of guys who can be leaders and do the things they have to do to compete every year, It takes special kids to do that and luckily for us we’ve had those guys.”
The quintet of Wimbley, Jake Adams, Tristan Stafford, Raphael Marascio and Connor Kneeshaw all claimed individual titles.
Adams, who is signed to wrestle for the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, won his fourth consecutive state title and was named outstanding wrestler for the middleweights.
Getting the team title was particularly satisfying for the Tigers because they came in with a target on their backs
“It’s amazing,” said Stafford, who won his third straight title. “Especially this year because we’ve had a lot of adversity. We’ve had guys, our 106-pounder, he got hurt midseason. We thought for sure he was out for the season, comes back and wrestles his heart out today and gets fourth.”
Jake Adams said the Tigers came together even more over the past couple of weeks.
“State getting pushed back because of the ice age,” Adams quipped.
“Every day, telling what the goal is. What we’re working towards. We got a heck of a lot out of it.”
Adams won a tough 2-1 decision to claim the 138-pound title and finish the season 360. Stafford dominated his opponent in the final to the tune of a 10-2 victory at 120 pounds and ended the season 37-0.
Marascio (31-0) won 17-7 at 145, and Kneeshaw (33-1) eked out a 4-3 win at 160.
Cabot hung tough in the team race despite winning just one individual title. Gavin Reardon pinned Fort Smith Northside’s Devin Potter to win at 195, but the Panthers had four other wrestlers in the finals.