Bigger, stronger Stafford searching for another state title

A bigger, stronger Tristan Stafford has spelled trouble for opponents all season. He hopes it pays off for a second consecutive Class 6A state wrestling title this weekend. Stafford, the top seed at 106, sailed through the first two rounds on Friday and into this morning's semifinals in the 12th annual Arkansas High School Boys State Wrestling Championships at the Stephens Center on the campus of the University of Arkansas-Little Rock. Stafford's Bentonville High Tigers, the defending 6A state team champions, head into the second ay trailing crosstown rival Bentonville West 98-95. Cabot sits third with 91 points. However, Bentonville advanced 11 wrestlers into today's semifinals -- the most of any team in 6A. Stafford got off to a quick start, pinning his first opponent in 35 seconds. He equally dominant in the quarterfinals, rolling up a 16-2 lead before securing the second-period fall. The junior was pleased with the way her perfored on Friday and felt no nerves. He will try to take each match as it comes today. "I'm not thinking too far ahead, just stay in the moment," Stafford said. Stafford (44-1) added more than 15 pounds over the summer by hitting the weight room and working to consume more than 4,000 calories a day. "It was a struggle over the summer," Stafford said. "I put a lot of food and nutrients in my body to get it to grow. But I put on 15 or 20 pounds, so that was nice." Hard work combined with the natural growth process kicking in helped Stafford grow physically to the point he's now wrestling right at the 106-pound limit. "Obviously this year my weight's helped me," Stafford said. "Being bigger I'm able to win more positions with strength and size rather than having to use straight technique and be on point every second of the match." Stafford won the 6A 106-poud title a year ago, earning a tough 6-5 win in the final. But he weighed less than 100 pounds at that time -- competing at 10 pounds or more under the limit at times. He enjoyed plenty of succes despite being undersized last season, finishing with a 50-8 record and a state championship in the largest class in Arkansas. But Stafford admitted it was far from easy having to rely on technique since his opponents enjoyed advantages in weight and strength. Bentonville coach Jason Adams said that shows his talent level and that's only gotten better. "He made that work because of the type of wrestler he is," Adams said. "But this year he's able to match them in strength as well. That's why he's sitting with a great record against in-state and out-of-state opponents. He's only going to get better. "He's a take-down machine. It's very hard for people to stay with him on his feet. Wrestling has been a family affair for Stafford. His father wrestled in high school in Texas and his uncle Joe wrestled at the University of Oklahoma, finishing third in the NCAA Championhip. Stafford, who moved to Arkansas at age five, decided to focus on wrestling after sixth grade and his lack of size had a little to do with it. "I played football up until sixth grade, Stafford said. "That ws fun up until the point I realized I wasn't going to be big enough to have any success." Wrestling has definitely turned out to be his sport. In addition to going for his second high school state title, Stafford earned All-American honors twice -- finishing third in the 88-pound weight class in the cadet division two summers ago and third again in the 94-pound weight class earlier this summer at Junior National in Fargo, N.D. He didn't wrestle in high school during his freshman year simply because he was too small, weighing only around 85 pounds. The smallest weight class is 106. Stafford and his parents decided that was just too big of a gap, so he wrestledonly in youth tournaments, but ompeted some nationwide. Operation weight gain went into motion following Junior Nationals for Stafford and that's worked well. But the junior wants to wrestle in college. That presents a different challenge since the smallest weight class in college is 125. But for now, he'll concentrate on trying to claim another individual state title and helping Bentonville earn another team championship.

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BIGGER, STRONGER STAFFORD SEARCHING FOR ANOTHER STATE TITLE

PAUL BOYD

Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette | 2/22/2020

PHOTO CREDIT: Ben Goff