History made: Kelly hosts Class 1 District 1 boys wrestling tournament for first time in program history

BENTON — The setting said it all.

Kelly High School wrestling hosted the Class 1 District 1 Tournament on Friday, Feb. 21, which produced the kind of experience, if not the result, head coach Jerry Winberry would like to have his wrestlers and the newly adopted program get more often.

“I think it’s huge for the community just to come out and kind of see what wrestling is all about,” Winberry said. “There are 16 teams here, so they can see so many different styles of wrestling and a district, especially when we get into the later rounds, that is intense. It’s going to be good for the people to really see what wrestling is all about.”

The anticipation built at the Kelly High School gymnasium before the 5 p.m. start as the 130 entry wrestlers warmed up across the two mats. The bleachers — jam-packed with few open seats in sight — audibly buzzed with exhilaration between the red and white walls.

For such wrestlers like 175-pounder Seth Shackles, skeptics of why the District 1 boys individual tournament needed to be at Kelly should listen to him.

“It definitely means a lot, especially for a first-year program,” said Shackles, who has a team-high 28 wins on the season. “I think this looks good for the school and definitely gets us some popularity and, hopefully, just sets a big mark for the program.”

Similar to most Kelly wrestlers, Shackles had few resources or opportunities in the past to become involved in the sport with there being no outlet at the high school.

Then, once Kelly inherited the sport and formed a team several months ago, everything changed.

“I was so excited,” Shackles said. “I said, ‘Absolutely’. I play football myself, and another solid sport like that is huge and it translates.

“As the season developed, we practiced harder and coach always tells us, ‘If you can last six minutes, it’s going to be a tough match for the other person.’ I just go out there and am never satisfied. I always just try to strive to be better than I am.”

As the Hawks are slowly building their program under Winberry, the first-year head coach offered some advice for boys who want to become involved.

“We have 35 kids in our middle school and I think there’s some good excitement there and in our high school,” Winberry said. “I think that the more these kids are involved in the sport the more excited they are about the sport. We’ve got a good mix of girls and boys now, so I’m pretty excited about the program moving forward.”

Which is why Kelly wrestling is here to stay.

Making it look easy

New Madrid County Central senior Connor Henderson, a returning state medalist, is the top seed at 190 pounds.

But to him, seeds don’t matter. Results matter. And Henderson still wrestled with a chip on his shoulder to open his final postseason.

It was an evening that witnessed the Eagle upperweight pretty much do what he was supposed to behind a pair of first-period pins over Veritas Christian Academy’s Kade Lathum in the round of 16 and Tyree Brown of KIPP St. Louis Sr. in the quarters.

“I feel like I’ve got a pretty good chance to place high in this tournament,” Henderson said. “There’s some tough competition, but I definitely feel like I’ll definitely be going back to state. Hopefully for another medal.”

Henderson will take on No. 5 seed Cutter Abt of Valle Catholic in the semifinal round.

Hot start for Harper

Fresh off an early-season shoulder injury, New Madrid County Central senior Tharon Harper marched to the semifinal round with a second-period pin over Brentwood’s Mason Myers in the quarterfinals at 120 pounds.

Leading 7-0 at the start of the second period, Harper cranked a corkscrew to deck Myers at the 3:54 mark.

“I was out for most of the year this year due to injury,” said Harper, a two-time state qualifier and returning district runner-up. “Even when I was injured, I was practicing my top game and neutral game, and have really excelled on top.”

Harper, who has only been wrestling since his freshman year, said the most critical thing in order for him to reach the state podium this winter is to keep doing the little things right.

“Perfect everything,” he said. “You know your own game and what you’re good at. Perfect it, don’t be just good at it.”

Harper will continue to chase perfection when he faces No. 2 seed Audy Clark of St. Mary’s South Side in the semifinals Saturday, Feb. 22.

Team race

Fatima leads St. Pius X 58 to 54.5 in a neck-and-neck team race to cap off the opening day of Class 1 District 1 competition.

NMCC, which has four semifinalists in Harper (120), Ethan Markham (165), Gage Nabert (175) and Henderson (190), is currently tied for fifth place with Brentwood with 30 points.

Kelly sits in last place with an opportunity to bounce back in the consolation rounds beginning at 9 a.m.