SPRINGFIELD — Keagan Pycior made himself part of the headstand hysteria to highlight Nixa’s 4-0 Class 4 District 5 opening-round win against Branson on Wednesday.
After putting the Eagles on top midway through the first half, Pycior somewhat appropriately showed off his feet that he scored with for all to see while performing a celebratory headstand.
Headstands, of course, have become all the rage after Jalen Walthall, of Incarnate Word in Texas, started the trend last week. Drake London, of the Atlanta Falcons, and Arnon-Ra St. Brown, of the Detroit Lions, followed suit over the weekend.
Pycior essentially took on a dare to do the same.
“One of my friends told me to do it before the game, so I kind of had to do it for him,” Pycior said. “I knew coach (Evan Palmer) would be upset. But it was worth it.”
“He said he would do it and he did,” teammate Spencer Rinne said.
Palmer immediately advised Pycior not to do a headstand again. Paying heed to his coach, Pycior stayed off his head. His celebration for his second goal on the night consisted of traditional high-fives and hand-slaps.
“We had a little chat and we're not going to be doing (a headstand) again),” Palmer said. "It was kind of a silly thing and he knows better. He could hurt himself doing that. I told him, 'We kind of need you.’”
Palmer adds he is all for his players showing their enthusiasm for a goal.
”We want them to be excited when they score because it doesn't happen all the time,” he said. “We just want him to be a little smarter.”
Palmer has otherwise been thrilled with Pycior’s junior season.
“He's having a great year. We were wondering who was going to score for us and he came out of the gate as one of the guys to put the ball away," Palmer said. "He's consistently done that throughout the year. He's been great for us up top.”
Rinne also enjoyed a two-goal night against Branson.
Nixa (15-8) reached 15 wins for the 12th season over the last 15 years. In two of the seasons the Eagles didn't get to 15 wins, they won 14.
Nixa shut out Branson and two-time All-COC First-Team forward Sean Dailey, after Dailey scored the winning goal against the Eagles in a 2-1 Pirates double-overtime victory a year ago.
“We have definitely improved since last year,” Pycior said. “We were focused on (Dailey). We know he's a very good, dangerous player. We needed to keep him contained.”
Nixa goalkeeper Mason Adair notched his eighth shutout.
With the start of Districts being pushed back by two days due to the weather, Nixa went a full week in between matches. In fact, the Eagles had played just one match over 12 days prior to Wednesday.
“It definitely felt a lot better than us continually playing a bunch of games,” Pycior said. “I had time to rethink game plans and get in a zone. I felt really prepared.”
Nixa advances to the semifinal round and will meet Ozark at 7 p.m. under Friday night lights.
