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Collins, Overstreet, Martin, Taylor newest Nixa Hall of Fame members

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Trevor Collins lost to Joe Velliquette two years ago in the final of the All-Nixa Championships, a pseudo event on social media voted on by fans.

But Collins can lay claim to beating Velliquette into the Nixa Hall of Fame.

A 2007 Nixa grad and three-time State champion, Collins was introduced with Dustin Martin, Christian Overstreet and Jack Taylor as the newest Hall inductees earlier this week.

“You look at it on paper and Joe was better. He should have won,” Collins said of the All-Nixa Championships. “That would be a tough match in real life. He was a stud wrestler.”

Collins and Velliquette are the Eagles’ only three-time State wrestling champs.

Collins may be 15 years removed from his prep career, but is still his long, lean self. He won State titles at 171, 189 and 215 pounds from 2005-2007 and doesn’t appear far from 215 now. He stays in shape and keeps his competitive juices flowing by training and competing in jiu jitsu.

“After I quit college wrestling (at Mizzou), I got started in my business and with my family,” Collins said. “Once I got established in my business, I thought it was time for me to start diving back into (the wrestling and mixed martial arts) community. I’m still competing to this day and I also help out with wrestlers. I give private lessons to high school wrestlers.”

Collins credits Martin for letting him know when he was in junior high what high school wrestling was all about. Martin, a 2003 grad, was a standout in both wrestling and football and is now Nixa’s wrestling coach.

“Dustin was a senior when I was in eighth grade and when I would come work out with the high school team, he used to thump on me,” Collins said. “It was cool to work out with him. He has done great things with the program.”

Collins remains a Nixa resident and owns The Collins Studio Tattoo and Spa.

“It’s something I fell into,” he said of the tattoo business. “In college, I was doing graphic design and I was always artistic, so I started doing tattoos. I got a tattoo apprenticeship, got lucky with it essentially and it’s worked out fine. I stay about a year booked out. Nixa is one of the few cities around Springfield that can tattoo 16- and 17-year-olds with parental consent, so I get a lot of high schoolers who come in.”

Overstreet, a 2006 grad, still ranks as one of Nixa’s all-time best all-around athletes.

He was a four-time All-COC choice in baseball, a three-time All-COC selection in football and was named All-COC in basketball as a senior. He was All-State in both football and baseball.

Overstreet values the experiences he had playing for basketball coach Jay Osborne, football coach Joel Wells and baseball coach Howard Greenwood.

“I’m (the answer to) a trivia question that has nothing to do with how good or how bad I was,” Overstreet said. “I’m the only player I know of in high school who played for three Hall of Fame coaches. Those guys and the impact they had on me helped me become the man I man today. My dad was also a coach and the impact he, coach Osborne, coach Greenwood and coach Wells had on me helped me determine and solidify that I wanted to become a coach.”

Overstreet could have made his way back to his alma mater last summer as Nixa’s baseball coach. But he returned for his 10th year teaching and coaching at Fair Grove. He coaches baseball and is also Fair Grove’s athletics director.

“I love where I’m at and hope to stay there for a long time,” Overstreet said. “I’m very thankful (Fair Grove) trusts me to do just as good a job in my office with my AD and PE responsibilities as on the baseball field.”

Taylor, a 2009 grad, was a COC champion in both cross country and track. He is currently in the U.S. Army and stationed in North Carolina.


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