Republic qualified three wrestlers for the state tournament and posted its best district finish since moving to Class 4, placing fifth Saturday at the Class 4 District 3 tournament at Ozark.
Keaton Overcast (138 pounds) finished second, qualifying for state for the third consecutive year. Kameron Sutton (165) placed fourth, and Chase Hicks (215) took second to punch his first ticket to state after three straight years of near-misses.
“After being in the bubble match three years, it’s been kind of heartbreaking,” coach Eric Nolan said of Hicks, who was part of Nolan’s first freshman class at Republic. “He’s been one of the kids that’s bought into what we are trying to do as a program. I’m real happy to see him achieve that goal, and I think he has a real strong chance to go down and also be a state medalist.”
For Hicks, the qualification carried extra meaning after previous disappointments.
“After the last three years of just barely missing it, it felt great,” Hicks said. “It just made me want it that much more, knowing that this is my last year and this is the last chance I have.”
Overcast enters his third state tournament with a different approach than his previous two appearances. He said inexperience cost him at state as a freshman, and as a sophomore, he over-prepared the week before the tournament.
“Last year I just got caught up in the moment. I was practicing 120%, and I just drove my body into sickness almost,” Overcast said. “My approach this year is … I’m going to manage my weight well, and I’m just going to go in there and start drilling the attacks I know I’m going to hit.”
Sutton, who struggled while wrestling at a higher weight class last season, secured his spot at state with a pin in his qualifying match. When his opponent shot in for a familiar takedown attempt, Sutton was ready with a counter-move.
“I realized he gets in on a lot of high C’s, and I practice my chin whip a lot at practice,” Sutton said. “So I was like, if he gets in on the high C, I know what I’m going to do.”
Sutton’s counter resulted in a match-winning pin, earning him a state berth.
“He’s a kid that’s done a lot of offseason work,” Nolan said of Sutton. “It’s rewarding to see when kids put in that time to see what can come of that. I think that he’s ready to bounce back and go to state as a junior and win some matches and hopefully put himself in position to medal.”
Republic’s fifth-place finish may well have matched the best district ever for Republic. The Tigers finished fifth in their district in 2015-16 in Class 3.
Neosho won the district title with 267.5 points, followed by Ozark (186.5), Willard (117.0), Nixa (105.0), and Republic (91.5).
