LITTLE ROCK -- Searcy did not have an individual state champion Saturday, but the Lions took the Class 5A state wrestling championship home to White County.
Searcy won its first state wrestling title by outpointing Lakeside, 247-234, at the 11th annual Arkansas Activities Association-sanctioned State High School Wrestling Tournament at the Jack Stephens Center on the campus of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
"It's unbelievable," Searcy head coach Jerry Evans said. "This is where we wanted to be. This is what we talked about last March. We had envisioned this. We didn't know how we were going to get here. We knew it was going to be as a team.
"The guys came out and gave everything they had. That's what it took to win a state championship."
Greenwood came in third with 233 points. Russellville (143 points) and Greenbrier (140 points) rounded out the top five.
The Lions had seven second-place finishers. They were Matthew Gale (113 pounds), Landon Valdez (120), Brad Brown (152), Joseph Delk (170), Eduardo Mancilla (182), Nicholas Light (195) and Demaceo Whittier (285).
"I know individually, it's heartbreaking to them. They wanted that state championship individually so bad," Evans said. "But to just get there, to just be there and be in that championship match was enough to get us those points. Those guys on the backside did an amazing job."
Lakeside finished the state tournament with six state championship wrestlers. The Rams' champions were Keaton Wasson (113 pounds), Colton Burchard (152), Aaron Killian (170), Garrett Garner (182), Jeremy Pakulak (195) and John Michael Fuller (220).
Hayden Rofkahr (106 pounds), Ty Moose (126), Colton Tuck (138) and Dylan Wilson (160) all won state championships for Greenwood. The Bulldogs outpointed the Rams, 194.5-182.5, in the 5A-West conference tournament at Lakeside on Feb. 9.
Bentonville ran away with the Class 6A state title with 263 points. Bentonville West was second (174.5 points), while Rogers (150.5), Little Rock Central (146) and Springdale Har-Ber (137) rounded out the top five.
The Tigers had four state championship wrestlers -- Tristan Stafford (106), Jake Adams (126), Zane Sims (160) and Liam Neal (170).
In Class 1A-4A, Pulaski Academy won its second consecutive state championship. The Bruins held off Berryville, 208-205. Shiloh Christian was third (199), Joe T. Robinson (152) fourth and Gentry came in fifth (127).
Dylan Allison (170 pounds) picked up Pulaski Academy's only individual state championship, but the Bruins had three second-place finishers in Drew Johnston (126 pounds), Jalyn Witcher (152) and Matthew Hugg (182).
Searcy has been a top-five finisher the past three seasons in the former Class 7A-6A. The Lions were fourth in 2018, third in 2017 and fifth in 2016.
This season's finish was sweet for Evans and the Lions. He has high hopes for Searcy's future now that there's a state championship trophy in the program.
"We're graduating out two seniors from this squad," Evans said. "We should be pretty good next year, hopefully."
Arkadelphia's Reyna Rogers (106-132 pounds) and Rhett Womack (138-170 pounds), and Berryville's Colton Record (182-285 pounds) were honored as the top wrestlers in Class 1A-4A.
The top wrestlers in Class 5A were Maumelle's Jakob Beene (106-132) and Dregen Smith (138-170), and Greenbrier's Landen Mazur (182-285).
For Class 6A, the top wrestlers were Bentonville's Adams (106-132), Rogers' Turner (138-170) and Fayetteville's Muller (182-285).
Sports on 02/25/2019