Junior Wildcat Wrestling Club faces tough competition on road
The A-J Junior Wildcats Wrestling Club faced some tough competition while on the road for the third weekend of tournament action and going 18-41 as a team.
The Wildcats were represented at tournaments in Edwardsville, Highland and Belleville and the Holiday Duals at Winchester Christian Academy.
Five Wildcats made the rainy Saturday trip to Edwardsville with Noah Chotner placing third in the 6&U division and wrestling at 47.4 pounds.
Older brother Nile Chotner placed second in the 7&8 division at 63.5 pounds, narrowly losing in the championship round due to a locked hands penalty.
“Nile really dominated all of his matches. The locked hands call at the end of his match was a real heartbreaker,” club president Rollie Hawk said.
“Nobody likes to win or lose a match based on a penalty. But he’ll see those kids again and I know he’ll be ready.”
The Wildcats went 3-12 as a team at Edwardsville.
Seven-year-old Drew Sadler was invited to compete in the Elementery Holiday Duals at Winchester Christian Academy on Saturday, going 3-1 for the day as the youngest wrestler competing.
Four Wildcats traveled to Highland on Sunday and went 3-10 as a team. Brett Smith placed second in the 7&8 division at 62.4 pounds and Clayton Ramage placed third in the 11&12 division at 86.6 pounds.
Nine Wildcat wrestlers competed at Belleville on Sunday which featured both open and girls divisions.
Drew Sadler placed third in the 7&8 division at 47.6 pounds.
Brothers Caleb and Blake Mays both placed second in the 7&8 and 9&10 divisions at 60.3 and 67.8 pounds, respectively.
Tobie Treece placed second and Payton Seip placed third in the girls 9-12 division at 95 pounds.
The Wildcats went 9-18 for the day at Belleville.
Head coach Grover Mays said he was impressed by the number of families willing to make the two-hour-plus trips to tournaments over the weekend.
“We had a lot more kids wrestling at these tournaments than we’ve normally had,” Mays said. “We’ve got a lot of new families really getting into it.”
Hawk described the weekend as a good early preview of what the club will face in the IKWF sectionals.
“When you go to the St. Louis area to wrestle, you face some of the best competition in the South along with some from further North and out of state,” Hawk said.
“We’ll be seeing a lot of these same kids in the state series. Facing this level of competition and how we respond is a huge factor in determining who will be a good wrestler and who will be a great wrestler.”
While a few Junior Wildcats will attend the Steel City Nationals or out-of-state tournaments most will be taking the holidays off.
The team’s overall record stands at 103-114. The team’s tournament will be hosted at Anna-Jonesboro Community High School on Saturday, Jan. 11.