THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Gravette High School Athletics

Northwest Arkansas teams claimed all three team titles at the state high school wrestling tournament Saturday night at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock. Rogers Heritage, the runner-up a year ago, won the Class 6A title, while Van Buren picked up its fourth straight 5A title and Gravette went back-to-back in the 1A-4A division. Gravette finished with 174 points to hold off Pottsville, which totaled 167.5. Van Buren rolled up 149 points to outpace Hot Springs Lakeside's 124.5 and Rogers Heritage won the 6A title with 135.5 points. Bentonville was second with 118. Gravette Coach AJ Herrlein said he couldn't have been more pleased with his team, which is only in its fourth year of existence. "(Friday) after the first session, we were sitting fourth and I told my kids, 'It takes everybody,' " said Herrelein, who earned the 1A-4A Coach of the Year honor. "After the (semifinals) round, we had a round we weren't impressed with. But I told them we have enough kids that we're going to score a ton of points tonight and close that gap." The Lions trailed Pottsville by six points heading into Saturday's action and got enough key performances to rally for the win. Gravette's Logan Miller (39-6) won his fourth state title, but others joined that group Saturday. Miller won the 120-pound title in 1A-4A, while Central Arkansas Christian's Ryan Rogers (144) and Pottsville's Tripp Price (190) won in the same classification. All three were named Outstanding Wrestlers in that class. Miller led only 3-2 at one point in his final match against Jared Hooe of Shiloh Christian. But he took care of business from that point on en route to a 7-2 win. "I needed to be better on my feet a little bit more," Miller said. "I kind of got stagnant. But I have the best coaches in the state." Miller was Gravette's only individual champion, but nine placed among the top three. Van Buren's three multi-time champions helped lead the Pointers to another team title. Martin Alex Lopez (157) won his second consecutive title, while teammates Don O'Kelley (126) and Dakota Fenwick (132) each won for their third in a row. Van Buren Coach John Petree, who in his eighth season leading the Pointers and Lady Pointers, has a senior-laden group, but he credited his team for stepping forward when there were challenges. "You just have to give credit to those underclassmen and the guys where are here that stepped up," Petree said. "It gives us a little edge when they have been here and they've done it. The lights don't get to them." Rogers Heritage finished second in 6A a year ago, but came away with a team title this time. War Eagles Coach Alvie Killingsworth said his team just did their job. "We took care of business (Friday) and we set ourselves up well," Killingsworth said. "I don't think anybody caught us from our score yesterday. The kids went out and they were aggressive. They went out there and were trying to score, score, score, and that's what they did. They put five in the finals and another four in the consolation finals, and another young man was an overtime match away from being in there. So we almost had double-digit placers." Kyan Patton (113) and Cash Bray (165) both won state individual titles for Rogers Heritage, while three others were state runner-ups.

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Gravette High School Athletics

NWA TEAMS CLAIM THREE TEAM TITLES

PAUL BOYD

NWA Democrat-Gazette | 3/19/2025