THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Bentonville High School Athletics

Bentonville High overhauled crosstown rival Bentonville West in the final round to claim the 6A-West Conference wrestling team title, despite not being a full strength on Saturday at Wolverine Arena. The Tigers trailed the Wolverines by 8.5 points following the semifinal round, but put eight wrestlers in the finals and won four individual crowns to take home the team title. Bentonville, which claimed the 6A Dual State title a week ago, finished with 196 points to West's 188. By comparison, the Wolverines put eight in the finals and also won four times. Despite the win, Bentonville coach Jason Adams said his team has some work to do before next week's state tournament. "I don't know if we were still just kinda riding that high from last week, we just didn't look very sharp," Adams said. "We've got some things we need to get cleaned up for next week definitely. "We lost a few matches we shouldn't have. We've just got some things to work on and get ready for next week." West led Bentonville 142-133.5 following the semifinal round but the defending 6A state champions piled up points in the championship round despite missing three starters from their lineup. Walker Fox, Quinn Graves and Raphael Marascio should all be ready for the state tournament, Adams said. Tristan Stafford, the defending 6A state champion at 106, joined teammate Jake Adams at 132 -- another defending state champion -- atop the medal stand. Adams won the finals by injury default when West's Zack Ireland pulled out after the semifinal round. Teammates Obi Smith (138) and Brody Raines (145) also won for the Tigers. West's Charles Easterling, the defending state champion at 113, won that conference title, while teammates Tyler Holmes (120, Brady Stafford (152) and Josh Beesley also won. Bentonville also took home the first girls conference title, rolling up 132 points to easily outdistance second-place Springdale High's 78. Adams was pleased with how the girls wrestled overall. "They've been working all year and they deserve this," Adams said. "They're just going to continue to get better. They are all first-year wrestlers and still go a lot to learn. We don't have any seniors It's a good experience for them and next week will be as well." Since it will be the first high school state tournament in Arkansas history for the girls, Adams isn't sure what will happen. "You never know what's going to happen at the state tournament," Adams said. "Some people are gonna rise up and some people will maybe be wide-eyed and nervous. We'll see how it turns outs. If our girls go out there and wrestle really well then I'm sure we've got a chance to be in the mix." The Tigers did it with depth on the girls' side. They won just two individual titles but put wrestlers in the finals in eight of the 10 weight classes. Brooklyn Scott (150) and Michelle Gonzales (165) picked up the wins for Bentonville. Fayetteville won the most individual titles on the girls' side winning three. Sophomore Mayte Rodriguez improved to 24-0 by winning at 140, while Abigail Fimbres won at 108 and April Stanley took home to title at 132. Van Buren and Springdale joined Bentonville with two individual crowns each. West's Kassidy Haggard won the other title at 116.

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Bentonville High School Athletics

BENTONVILLE TAKES HOME BOYS, GIRLS 6A-WEST CONFERENCE TITLES

PAUL BOYD

Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette | 2/16/2020

PHOTO CREDIT: Ben Goff