KellyBabyxxFEARxx's blog: "STATE!"

Britt defeats Bell in title match Israel Potoczny israel@lebanondailyrecord.com Feb 23, 2009 COLUMBIA — Justin Britt led the Lebanon Yellowjackets to a seventh-place finish at the Missouri Class 4 state meet on Saturday as the senior completed a wire-to-wire run as the state’s No. 1 ranked heavy weight by defeating McCluer’s Wesley Bell in the championship match, 5-1. It was the closest match Britt had during an undefeated 46-0 season. A three-time Ozark Conference champion, Britt placed sixth at the state meet to cap a 46-7 season as a junior and was 36-9 as a sophomore. “He started shooting this year and heavy weights don’t get to see a whole lot of people of shooting on them,” head coach Randy Roark said. “He kind of perfected his shot.” Roark said there was a target on Britt’s back as an undefeated wrestler who was ranked No. 1 from day 1. “It is tough, because everybody knows they have to be their best to beat you,” Roark said. “He was quite a target ... all the talk of him on the internet. If you were going to beat him you had to bring your ‘A’ game and nobody did.” Britt was one of six LHS wrestlers to advance to the state tournament. Not since 1995-1996 has LHS had so many wrestlers compete at the state tournament. Britt was one of three ‘Jackets to medal, as senior Trevor Byrd placed fourth and freshman Austin Brawner fifth. “What is great about it is we’ve got four guys returning next year, already having the experience of state,” Roark said. “Next year when they get there, they won’t be as nervous.” Byrd won his first match on Thursday, then fell to the eventual state champion, Jackson’s Blake Peiffer, in the quarterfinals. He had to avenge three earlier losses in wrestlebacks to advance to the medal round. Byrd defeated Park Hill’s Thomas Brown, who he had lost to in the finals of the Jefferson City Tournament on Jan. 17, then defeated Blake Schoeninger, of Holt, then defeated Isaac LeBlanc, of Fort Zumwalt West, who he had lost to in the district championship. Byrd fell in the third-place to Park Hill South’s Ausin Baska in overtime, 5-3. Brawner’s fifth-place finish is the highest place for an LHS freshman since Willie McCowan was fourth in 1995-1996. “He is scrappy, he never gives up,” Roark said. Juniors Zach Drinkall (189) and Kyle Hansen (125) made their first state appearance and Tyler Zimmerman (140) advanced to the quarterfinal round. “They wrestled tough and won some matches,” Roark said. Looking ahead to 2010 In 2008, Lebanon senior Trevor Byrd was stuck behind state medalist James Rabe at 215 pounds and got in just five varsity matches. He won just one, but the experience of going against a talented senior every day in practice helped spur a senior season that saw him finish 39-10 and place fourth at the state meet. And that is how you build a winner. Not only will LHS return state qualifiers Austin Brawner, Zach Drinkall, Kyle Hansen and Tyler Zimmerman, but they have wrestlers who are poised to bust out of Britt and Byrd’s shadow. In 2010, expect Dave Stewart and Trevor’s younger brother Wyatt Byrd to use the experience they have gained going against talented senior counterparts in practice daily. A junior heavy weight, Stewart was undefeated during the junior varsity season, and wrestled well in several varsity tournaments, while Wyatt Byrd lost only two matches at 215 pounds. Another junior, Corey Brown, lost three matches at 215 pounds, two coming to Lebanon opponents. “If you’re a big guy, you better get tough or you’re not going to survive,” Roark said. “We are just loaded up top, so if you make it through the year — you’re going to be pretty tough. “It will be a dogfight next year in those weights, there were three or four guys this year that were good enough to start.”

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tate bound! Israel Potoczny israel@lebanondailyrecord.com Feb 16, 2009 Missouri Class 4? No sweat. Wrestling in the state’s largest class for the first time, Lebanon placed fifth in the 13-team meet and will send its largest class of state qualifiers in 12 seasons to Columbia. Six Yellowjackets qualified for the state tournament at the District 3 meet on Saturday in Jefferson City. Justin Britt (285 pounds), Trevor Byrd (215), Zach Drinkall (189), Austin Brawner (145), Tyler Zimemrman (140) and Kyle Hansen (125) placed in the top four and will compete at the state meet on Thursday in Columbia. “We went to seed meetings thinking we would get three or four (state qualified),” Roark said. “We pulled off six, and we could have had a couple more.” Lebanon last sent as many as six wrestlers to state in 1996. The Yellowjackets had a total of 31 state qualifiers in a four-year span from 1992-1993 to 1995-1996, including nine in 1994, and eight in both 1995 and 1996. Justin Britt, heavy weight Britt set the tone at the district meet early, pinning his first opponent in 13 seconds. Britt pinned Kamron Davis of Waynesville in the first period in his second match, then won in an injury default against Casey Wiener of Kickapoo in the finals. Britt will start the state tournament against Jerry Holmes of Truman. “He has got a good chance to get in the finals,” Roark said. Trevor Byrd, 215 pounds Byrd faced Kickapoo’s Travis Allison, an opponent he was 1-3 against this season, in an epic first round that went four overtimes. “Byrd was just smart,” Roark said. “He had to get away to win, and he got away real fast and got him momentum going.” Byrd defeated Blake Schoeniger, ranked No. 5, in the semifinals, whom he had split with at the Blue Springs South Tournament. “Trevor came out and just put it to him,” Roark said. Byrd fell to Isaac LeBlanc, of Fort Zumwalt West in overtime in the title match. “He (Byrd) wrestled the kid tough,” Roark said. Zach Drinkal, 189 pounds Drinkal lost on Friday, then had to win three matches on the backside to advance to the medal round. “He had to wrestle his but off,” Roark said. In the match to advance to state, Drinkal had to defeat a tough opponent from Blue Springs South. “The kid from Blue Springs South had been winning all the tournaments we had been to. He was 41-6, I believe, and Zach beat him in the third period,” Roark said. “The kid ran out of gas and we scored all our points late in the third period.” Austin Brawner, 145 pounds Brawner was 2-0 with two pins on Friday, then ran into Greg Amos of Holt the state’s No. 2 ranked wrestler. “He got major decisioned in that match,” Roark said. But Brawner rebounded to win the match to advance to state, getting a five-point move early, then Roark said he stalled the rest of the match to protect his lead. Tyler Zimmerman, 140 pounds Zimmerman had two pins early at the district meet, then fell to Blue Springs sophomore Josh Howk, 20-4. Zimmerman came back through the backside of the bracket and defeated Waynesville’s Russell Flores to take the third-place match, 13-4. Zimmerman also defeated Flores to win the Ozark Conference title. “He was wrestling well,” Roark said. “He had the one tough one (Howk) that whupped him pretty good, but the rest of them, he (Zimmerman) dominated.” Kyle Hansen, 125 pounds Hansen began with the district meet with a win over Joplin’s Caleb Friend, an opponent he had lost to earlier in the season. Trailing throughout the match, Hansen came back to record a pin in the third period. “He was getting beat pretty bad in the match, but never gave up,” Roark said. Hansen lost in the semifinals, then defeated Waynesville’s Jake Main 8-4 to advance to the third-place match. Others who came close As many as three other LHS wrestlers came close to qualifying for the state meet on Saturday. Nick Nekola lost by a point in the semifinals. On the backside he gave up a reversal with 20 seconds remaining and ended up losing in the match that would have advanced him to the medal round. “It was a bad time to have a bad match,” Roark said. Senior Jeff Vance was within one win of advancing to the medal round at 130 pounds. “I thought we had it early,” Roark said. “But that is just kind of how it goes.” Steven Griggs, a senior, was also one win from advancing at 189 pounds. “Same way, he ran into a tough opponent,” Roark said. “It was a tough tournament.”

The road to state was a rough one to say the least. I had just filled up and me, Dalton and some of Justin's friends were headed out of town to go to the tournament and a woman decided to pull out in front of me from the turning lane she was in and in the blink of an eye, my car was totalled... so I'm in a rental car for now. Everyone is fine but I'm bruised from the air bags. We did make to Columbia but maybe it was a sign. Justin I think, let the experience of being at state overwhelm him.. he came in 6th.. but you know what? My baby is a state medalist! His first time there, I am sooooooooooo proud of him!!!! And just think , next year, he will probably be 6ft 7 and be close to 265 lbs! A monster :) And as I'm sure there are so many that are sad when football season is over or when NASCAR is done until Feb.. I will miss it.. but only for a few months.. then we start Freestyle and Greco-Roman!!! Woohoo!!