High school wrestlers grapple with pandemic

Bentonville is aiming for a fifth consecutive Class 6A state wrestling title, if the season gets that far.

Tigers coach Jason Adams isn’t exactly optimistic about the possibility of even having a state tournament with coronavirus cases still surging throughout the state.

“I’m confident they want us to have a season,” Adams said. “I can’t say I feel good about it with the numbers being higher right now.”

Adams’ son, Jake, could also have a chance to join an exclusive club as a four-time state champion.

There have already been eight meet cancellations due to covid-19 issues in Northwest Arkansas just two weeks into the dual season.

Bentonville rolled to the team title a year ago, scoring 283 points compared to second-place Bentonville West far behind at 207.5. But several coaches, including Adams, agree the race should be much tighter.

Bentonville West coach Aaron Wise is excited about his team’s chances, returning several medalists from a year ago. But he, like Adams, believes the future is murky at best right now.

“We are the most contact sport, least socially distanced … we’re in the winter,” Wise said. “It definitely does make me nervous about what the season holds.”

West senior Charles Easterling, a two-time defending state champion, just wants that chance at a third title and a crack at knocking off Bentonville. He and his teammates are trying to adhere to the guidelines of social distancing and wearing masks in order to have that chance at competition, but others must cooperate, too.

“I feel like it’s a selfish thing for people not to wear their masks,” Easterling said. “It doesn’t just affect them.It falls on everyone in society to do their part.”

Van Buren’s Addison Loney, the defending girls’ state champion at 140 pounds, is dedicated to the sport now. She wants to become the first three-time state champion school history. She’s also trying not to worry too much about the future of the season. But as a junior, she knows there’s the possibility of another chance next year — unlike Easterling who’s a senior.

“I’m just kinda along for the ride,” Loney said. “If the season just goes to crap, I’ll just be happy I got to wrestle as much as I did.”

Loney is off to a good start already. She won her weight class at the Lady Wildcat Invitational three weeks ago at Har-Ber and was named the tournament’s outstanding wrestler.

There’s a little good news though as Har-Ber coach Nika West said he’s been told of no positive cases from that tournament his school hosted Nov. 20-21. The junior varsity boys tournament on Friday included more than 100 competitors, while the girls’ event the next day had around 60, West said.

But Arkansas Activities Association guidelines have made it difficult for teams to find tournament, especially for area schools which are used to traveling out of state. Arkansas teams can only participate in events that involved eight teams or less and less than 114 competitors. Those restrictions were made to try to reduce the size of the crowds and the possibility of the spread of the virus.

There are no coaches complaining about the restrictions because they are put in place to ensure the safety of wrestlers, coaches and fans, Wise said. But he’s finding out firsthand what it’s like to try to host an event this weekend during a pandemic. West hosted a girls’ tournament on Friday and a boys’ event on Saturday, each involving eight teams.

“We do have a very large arena where we’re able to spread out,” Wise said.

It allowed them to separate fans from the participants better, putting fans on one side and teams on the other. West did something similar at HarBer. He also had a separate entrance for wrestlers and fans for their tournaments at HarBer to minimize contact.

The state tournament presents a different challenge from the standpoint of a large gathering. There are essentially three tournaments going on, a 4A, 5A and 6A event being contested over two days at the Stephens Center in Little Rock in February. A girls tournament was added for the first time last season, pushing it to a three-day event.

There have been discussions about separating the sessions by weight class in an effort to keep crowd size down, West said. But there’s been no decision on that as yet, he said.

Coaches have also talked about the possibility of having the tournament at three different sites. West also said this might be a good year to try out the idea of having a qualifier to reduce the number of wrestlers that advance to the state tournament. Currently every wrestler among the 60plus schools that have wrestling all qualify for the state tournament.

But the qualifier is a popular idea among some coaches around the state, West said.

Wise also pointed out the possibility of just having a dual state tournament this year to limit crowd size. The dual format state tournament has been contested the past few years and sponsored by the coaches association but is not yet sanctioned by the AAA.

“It would take away the individual state championships and I like that aspect of our sport,” Wise said. “But I’m worried about how everything’s gonna look after the first of the year. I’m going to proceed with being positive, keep everyone healthy and safe and try to have some kind of a season.”