Nixa’s John Gholson made the jump from 220 to 285 and responded with four wins and the Class 4 District 3 285 title Saturday.
His closest match was a 4-2 victory versus Joplin’s Gunner Price in the semifnal round.
“I didn’t wrestle very well in that one,” Gholson said. “I didn’t get much going. But I didn’t really feel like he was wrestling back at me. Adversity, you’ve got to work through it.”
Gholson (35-5) beat a long-time friend in Lebanon’s Zachary Smith 5-2 in the final.
“We wrestled youth together for a long time,” Gholson said. “I’m great friends with him and his parents and they are friends with my parents. Whenever we wrestle, we’ve always got something going on.”
Eagles’ Ward a runner-up
Nixa sophomore Aidan Ward is bound for State for the first time. He took second at 132.
“I’m happy I pulled through,” Ward said. “The goal now is to place at State for this year and my next two years.”
Ward (24-9) bounced back strong from a regular-season loss at home to Ozark’s Levi Maskrod last month.
“That loss broke me down,” he said. “But after losing to him, it made me work so much harder in the (practice) room. I wanted to wrestle him again and when I did and beat him (at the COC Tournament), it gave me a lot of confidence.”
Ward values having practice partners the likes of teammates Zan Fugitt and Peyton Moore.
“It’s nice to have those elite people in the room,” Ward said. “They’re so much faster than me. Trying to keep up with them, it’s made me a lot faster. Then, everyone else on the mat in competitions is trying to keep up with me.”
Injured Rutherford advances
Nixa’s Avry Rutherford finished fourth and made it to State, despite an injured left shoulder that has plagued him all season. The 182-pound junior has a torn acromioclavicular, or AC joint in his left shoulder that will require surgery.
“I want to say it doesn’t hurt that bad, but it does,” Rutherford said. “It’s just about my mind over the pain. I’m really proud of myself. I didn’t know if I was going to be able to do it. All week I told myself, ‘I’m going to make it and I’m going to State.
“I’m going to have surgery and (doctors) are estimating I’ll be out four to six months,” he added. ”I’m going to try to heal up as best as I can and as fast as I can so I can start lifting for football. I want to do the best I can for football and make All-State.”
More State qualifiers
Nixa 195-pounder Brennan Carey made it to the final round, before being edged 5-4 by Smith-Cotton’s Evertett Wood.
Carey, a sophomore, is 29-9.
Finishing fourth were 145-pounder Nate Brower (24-20) and 220-pounder Peyton Nevels (15-3).
