2010/2011 Wrestling Season Begins Saturday, December 4th

[IAFLAR7]

Wrestling season is right around the corner beginning with the Little Rock Central tournament on December 3rd. They run this tournament at LR Hall's new gym. There are usually 11-12 teams there and LR Central does an excellent job running it.

As for the upcoming season, wish I had a comprehensive report of every team in the state but I will give my best for what I do know:

5A-7A

7A Central - every school in the Central has a team now.

Look for Conway & LR Central as the teams to beat this year.

Conway - from what I have heard, they have approximately 100 kids out for wrestling this year! That's awesome. I also heard they have had a couple quality move-in's from out of state.
Returning from last year are Jaxson Meyers 140 & Hal Hoggard Heavyweight (Conway Offensive Tackle in football) Jaxson finished 2nd in state last year & Hoggard finished 6th.

LR Central – always has good participation. Tanner Mann is a 2-time state champion looking to become the first ever 3-time champ in Arkansas. Tanner's younger brother Tyler is an incoming freshman & highly decorated wrestler from the Mighty Bluebirds Wrestling program. Look for him to do some serious damage at whatever weight class he is at. Justin Arnall won state as a freshman @ 103 last year. Justin's older brother Dylan will contend for a title @ 130 after finishing 4th last year. Taylor Guise also returns @ 171 after finishing 2nd last year.

Cabot – Tyler Kurz also won state as a freshman last year and fundamentally is probably one of the best wrestlers in the state regardless of weight class. Cabot also has high participation numbers and will also be strong.

Bryant – in their 3rd year has decent participation numbers 30-40 kids. Bryant only lost 3 seniors from last year. O'Dell Lee & Brandon Powell, both juniors, finished 2nd in their respective weight classes last season. Bryant had approximately 5-6 wrestlers that started varsity as freshman last season. Bryant should be significantly better.

Van Buren – not sure on specific wrestlers but they had really good participation numbers and a decent team last season.

LR Catholic  - high participation numbers but this is the team that is probably the most devastated by graduation last year losing Dexter Carter, state champ & OBU signee, Stephen Gorgas, state champ, Andrew Wells former state champ in 2009 & a few other seniors. They do return Hunter Cox @ 189 who finished 3rd last season.

NLR – last season was their first season. I believe they are still working on building their participation numbers. I'm sure they will get there.

Russellville – high participation numbers.

7A West

All of the west teams have high participation numbers. Rogers-Heritage (Defending State Team Champions) & Bentonville are the cream of the crop with Southside, Fayetteville & Har-Ber close behind. Har-Ber has a new coach and excellent participation. From what I have heard the Har-Ber football coach is extremely influential in encouraging the lineman and linebackers to participate in wrestling. Look for Har-Ber to be a contender in the future.


Other 6A/7A Teams worth mentioning:

Searcy – Return Jacob Corpier & Jonathan Apple who both finished 4th. I'm not sure if Devote Miller who finished 2nd is back or not.

2A-5A

Gentry & Little Rock Christian should be solid again. Gentry won the state team title last season. North Pulaski & Beebe are always tough.

Glenn Rose will be starting a program this year

If I had to guess on top teams starting out the season it would probably look like this:

6A/7A

1.   Rogers-Heritage
2.   Conway
3.   Bentonville
4.   LR Central
5.   Southside
6.   Fayetteville
7.   Cabot
8.   Searcy
9.   Har-Ber
10.   Bryant

2A-5A

1.   Gentry
2.   LR Christian
3.   Beebe
4.   CAC
5.   Bismark
6.   School for the blind
7.   North Pulaski
8.   Mountain View
9.   Episcopal
10.   Ashdown

Bryant will also be hosting a tournament this year the week prior to the state tournament in February. I believe it will be an 8 team 7A Central Tournament.

January & February leading up the state tournament should be filled with team duals throughout each week and tournaments each weekend.

[IAFLAR7]

Correction to above. The LR Central tournament on December 4th is actually at LR Central's gym, not LR Hall like last year.