Keaton Overcast and Ethan Montiel will represent Republic at the Class 4 boys state wrestling tournament in Columbia beginning Friday, joining six girls qualifiers to give the Tigers eight wrestlers at state — the largest combined contingent in program history. Republic sent six boys to the state tournament in 2013 and 2016.
Overcast, a senior at 144 pounds, won the district championship at Joplin on Saturday to become the first Republic wrestler to qualify for state four consecutive years since Michael Taylor from 2016 to 2019. Overcast has one loss this season, early in the year. He placed sixth at state last season and reached the consolation semifinals as a junior. He said his health and mental preparation set this year apart.
“No major injuries. I’m feeling good. I’m feeling fresh,” Overcast said. “But also I’m more mentally there. I know that the last three times have done nothing but prepare me for the ultimate final trial.”
Overcast said previous state trips taught him hard lessons — about self-imposed pressure as an underclassman and about the cost of contentment as a junior, when he reached the semifinals and let up.
“After making it to the semis, I was like, ‘I finally did it, I finally am gonna place no matter what.’ And just a little bit of contentness sunk in,” he said. “When it got hard in the semis, I didn’t find myself to be able to battle that back until the end, and at that point it was too late.”
Coach Eric Nolan said Overcast’s recent wrestling has been some of the best of his career.
“His last couple matches at districts were some of the best matches I’ve seen him wrestle in his career from start to finish,” Nolan said. “He’s doing a really good job of just wrestling through multiple positions and never stopping, which I feel like has really helped him score a lot of points here lately.”
Montiel, a junior at 190 pounds, finished second at districts after entering as the No. 15 seed. He upset the No. 2, No. 8, and No. 3 seeds to reach the finals, pinning two of the three.
The low seed was the result of a late weight change. Montiel wrestled at 215 most of the season, despite being much lighter than many of his opponents. Nolan suggested the move to 190 at the team’s last regular-season tournament. Montiel did it, liked how he felt, and stayed.
“With his style — kind of being a bruiser — I think when we ran into a couple of those [heavier] kids at conference, giving up that weight, we realized maybe now’s a good time,” Nolan said.
Because most of Montiel’s matches came at 215, he was seeded near the bottom. That didn’t bother him.
“Going in as a 15 seed, upsetting the two seed, wrestling the eight seed, pinning him, and then pinning the three seed as well — getting into the finals is a really big achievement for me,” Montiel said.
Montiel didn’t wrestle as a sophomore but returned this season and will have another year after this one. He said the most memorable moment at districts wasn’t a match — it was seeing his mother after his semifinal win.
“She was crying her eyes out. My sister was crying. They were both hugging me,” he said. “Being able to win that match, run off the mat, and first thing, I went and saw her.”
The state tournament runs Friday and Saturday at Mizzou Arena in Columbia.
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