Kelly makes big splash in first-ever home wrestling dual meet

Kelly junior heavyweight Jesse Carmack with an underhook against New Madrid County Central's Nehemiah Evans during the program's first-ever home dual meet on Tuesday, Dec. 17.

Kaiden Karper ~ kkarper@semoball.com

BENTON — Jesse Carmack is one of the biggest reasons Kelly High School wrestling came into existence.

The junior made the type of pioneering efforts that built the slow but steady student-led movement that ultimately gave him and his teammates an opportunity to compete on the mat as Kelly Hawks for the first time in their lives — and the school’s history.

“I’ve never done wrestling before, personally,” said Carmack after going 1-2 in Kelly’s quad meet against Sikeston, New Madrid County Central and North County on Tuesday, Dec. 17. “I used to do a lot of BJJ (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) with my dad and other family members. My dad (Joshua Carmack) was in the Marine Corps. He was a black belt in mixed martial arts.

“I’ve been wanting wrestling here since little league football. I saw Mr. (Jerry) Winberry come to the school, read about him and thought this could work. I went to him and he said, ‘all right, let’s see what you can do. Sign some petitions.’ I got around 150 people — some saying that they would do it and some saying that they would just really like having a program."

The rest is history.

Tuesday night was what Kelly wrestling advocates from athletes like Carmack to head coach Jerry Winberry, who is in his second year as the high school principal, have been fighting for — a MSHSAA-sanctioned, official program for a sport that is as demanding, yet rewarding to young men as wrestling.

“This was a completely student-led deal,” said Winberry, who was a four-time state qualifier and state runner-up as a senior for Sikeston in 1994. “I come in and had coached for several years. When I came to be the principal here at Kelly, I didn’t think I’d coach again.

“I think wrestling is a team sport, but it’s an individual sport in one. Every kid has to be accountable for themselves. You have to be self-disciplined, you’ve got to watch your weight, make sure you make weight, and all of those things. We have a bigger kid come in from football who is a senior and he came in at like 316 pounds and he’s trying to get down to 285, and he’s already down to 294. So, it’s just not so much about the winning and losing, but the goals that they are setting for themselves. All of those things are unique to this sport.”

The hype built in the Kelly High School gymnasium before the 5:30 p.m. start as Winberry’s Hawks paced with nervous anticipation in their warm-up corner. The home crowd audibly buzzed with excitement, and when the Hawks were introduced, cheers and applause echoed between the red and white walls.

For wrestlers such as Carmack, the moment was everything he’d envisioned for all these years.

“This is so special,” he said. “Seeing these freshmen coming in here, some of them I lift with, want to get better. Man, this thing could go so far.”

Carmack didn’t let the overwhelming emotions get into his head Tuesday. He was aggressive in each period he wrestled in and did his best to block out the noise and “just focus on the guy.”

The first dual meet of the night for the heavyweight and his teammates was undoubtedly the best. Kelly defeated New Madrid County Central 45-35 to mark the Hawks’ first home dual meet victory in program history.

Up against NMCC’s Nehemiah Evans, Carmack was in a scoreless tie entering the second period. That’s until Carmack secured a tight underhook and pinned Evans with a cement mixer at the 1:44 mark.

“The entire match I knew I was stronger than him but didn’t really know what I could do because I’m still learning,” Carmack said. “I’m very familiar with the shoulder tosses and upper body stuff, so I felt it and just took it.”

The most entertaining match of the dual came at 126 pounds between Kelly junior Zach Hileman and NMCC’s Tharon Harper. In a bout that featured zero takedowns, Hileman escaped from the bottom position to secure a 3-2 victory in the 30-second ultimate tiebreaker period (triple overtime). It was the first-ever individual win in a contested bout at Kelly High School.

Kelly proceeded to drop its next two dual meets to North County (53-3) and Sikeston (48-24), but picked up encouraging individual performances along the way. In the lone win against North County, sophomore 190-pounder Seth Shackles trudged to a 6-5 victory over Ethan Harmon. In the final dual of the night against the Bulldogs, each of Kelly’s 24 points came via forfeit with Shemar Deason (106), Gavin Faire (113), Hileman (126), and Shackles (190) all getting their hand raised.

While it was a historic night for the Benton wrestling community, it also sheds light on how the Kelly girls team could grow and prosper with the boys.

“Girls wrestling, in general, is the fastest-growing sport in the nation,” Winberry said. “Giving girls an opportunity to experience the same things is big because giving them their own voice and platform to be able to strive to do the same things has really been something to watch in this state itself. The girls teams are growing and growing.”

Kelly currently has four girls on its team: freshman Andie Munoz, sophomore Lillie Watkins and juniors Kendal Munoz and Rivers Mason.

Carmack, a recruiter in his own right, believes that number could sky-rocket over time.

“My little sister in middle school, Hayden Carmack,” Carmack said, “she would be a good wrestler. Other middle school girls and people I’m friends with because of her, I know that when they get in high school they could probably be state champs.”

But Tuesday showed Kelly wrestling is more than ready for new bright beginnings – as was proven at the gymnasium that rocked with excitement when the Hawks took the home mats for the first time in school history.

Kelly 45, New Madrid County Central 35

106: Shemar Deason (Kelly) over Unknown (For.)

113: Blake Perez (Central (New Madrid County)) over Gavin Faire (Kelly) (Fall 1:53)

120: Zander Robertson (Central (New Madrid County)) over Unknown (For.)

126: Zachary Hileman (Kelly) over Tharon Harper (Central (New Madrid County)) (UTB 3-2)

132: Wyatt Farrow (Kelly) over Unknown (For.)

138: William Jackson (Central (New Madrid County)) over Samuel Thomas (Kelly) (TF 22-7 2:56)

144: Leland Patrick (Kelly) over Unknown (For.)

150: Stephen Hust (Kelly) over Unknown (For.)

157: Jace Merideth (Kelly) over Unknown (For.)

165: Ethan Markham (Central (New Madrid County)) over Colton Uhrhan (Kelly) (Fall 0:17)

175: Gage Nabert (Central (New Madrid County)) over Unknown (For.)

190: Connor Henderson (Central (New Madrid County)) over Seth Shackles (Kelly) (Fall 2:11)

215: Trey Davidson (Kelly) over Unknown (For.)

285: Jesse Carmack (Kelly) over Nehemiah Evans (Central (New Madrid County)) (Fall 2:45)

Sikeston 48, New Madrid County Central 30

113: Blake Perez (Central (New Madrid County)) over Unknown (For.)

120: Zander Robertson (Central (New Madrid County)) over Unknown (For.)

126: Tharon Harper (Central (New Madrid County)) over Unknown (For.)

132: Jesse Haley (Sikeston) over Unknown (For.)

138: Conner Michael (Sikeston) over William Jackson (Central (New Madrid County)) (Fall 2:26)

144: Anthony Lindsey (Sikeston) over Unknown (For.)

150: Colin Scott (Sikeston) over Unknown (For.)

157: Kendarrious Love (Sikeston) over Unknown (For.)

165: Quentin Wilkins (Sikeston) over Ethan Markham (Central (New Madrid County)) (Fall 2:18)

175: Gage Nabert (Central (New Madrid County)) over Jonathan Northern (Sikeston) (Fall 1:06)

190: Connor Henderson (Central (New Madrid County)) over Unknown (For.)

215: Ben McDermott (Sikeston) over Unknown (For.)

285: Wesley Patterson (Sikeston) over Nehemiah Evans (Central (New Madrid County)) (Fall 2:40)

106: Double Forfeit

Sikeston 54, Kelly 24

106: Shemar Deason (Kelly) over Unknown (For.)

113: Gavin Faire (Kelly) over Unknown (For.)

120: Double Forfeit

126: Zachary Hileman (Kelly) over Unknown (For.)

132: Jesse Haley (Sikeston) over Wyatt Farrow (Kelly) (Fall 0:57)

138: Conner Michael (Sikeston) over Samuel Thomas (Kelly) (Fall 0:31)

144: Anthony Lindsey (Sikeston) over Leland Patrick (Kelly) (Fall 0:43)

150: Colin Scott (Sikeston) over Jace Merideth (Kelly) (Fall 0:11)

157: Kendarrious Love (Sikeston) over Unknown (For.)

165: Quentin Wilkins (Sikeston) over Colton Uhrhan (Kelly) (Fall 1:39)

175: Jonathan Northern (Sikeston) over Unknown (For.)

190: Seth Shackles (Kelly) over Unknown (For.)

215: Ben McDermott (Sikeston) over Trey Davidson (Kelly) (Fall 1:09)

285: Wesley Patterson (Sikeston) over Jesse Carmack (Kelly) (Fall 5:24)

North County 44, Sikeston 20

106: Wyatt Fortune (North County) over Unknown (For.)

113: Double Forfeit

120: Double Forfeit

126: Jacob Sasenger (North County) over Unknown (For.)

132: Levi Trautwein (North County) over Jesse Haley (Sikeston) (Fall 2:29)

138: Conner Michael (Sikeston) over Gunner Hegney (North County) (TF 19-3 3:54)

144: Dylan Visnovske (North County) over Anthony Lindsey (Sikeston) (Dec 4-1)

150: Colin Scott (Sikeston) over Jacob Rickus (North County) (Fall 3:21)

157: Jamal Robinson (North County) over Kendarrious Love (Sikeston) (TF 24-9 4:00)

165: Quentin Wilkins (Sikeston) over Unknown (For.)

175: Ethan Harmon (North County) over Jonathan Northern (Sikeston) (Fall 1:29)

190: Daniel Whitacre (North County) over Unknown (For.)

215: Ryder Mcdowel (North County) over Ben McDermott (Sikeston) (Fall 3:38)

285: Wesley Patterson (Sikeston) over Nathan Morefield-Crayton (North County) (Dec 4-1)

North County 65, Kelly 3

106: Double Forfeit

113: Wyatt Fortune (North County) over Gavin Faire (Kelly) (Fall 0:50)

120: Double Forfeit

126: Jacob Sasenger (North County) over Zachary Hileman (Kelly) (Fall 1:05)

132: Levi Trautwein (North County) over Wyatt Farrow (Kelly) (TF 16-0 2:08)

138: Gunner Hegney (North County) over Samuel Thomas (Kelly) (Fall 1:09)

144: Dylan Visnovske (North County) over Leland Patrick (Kelly) (Fall 1:02)

150: Jacob Rickus (North County) over Jace Merideth (Kelly) (Fall 0:33)

157: Jamal Robinson (North County) over Unknown (For.)

165: Jon Moore (North County) over Colton Uhrhan (Kelly) (Fall 0:47)

175: Daniel Whitacre (North County) over Unknown (For.)

190: Seth Shackles (Kelly) over Ethan Harmon (North County) (Dec 6-5)

215: Ryder Mcdowel (North County) over Trey Davidson (Kelly) (Fall 3:13)

285: Nathan Morefield-Crayton (North County) over Jesse Carmack (Kelly) (Fall 0:32)

North County 66, New Madrid County Central 12

106: Double Forfeit

113: Wyatt Fortune (North County) over Unknown (M. For.)

120: Zander Robertson (Central (New Madrid County)) over Unknown (For.)

126: Jacob Sasenger (North County) over Tharon Harper (Central (New Madrid County)) (Fall 3:18)

132: Levi Trautwein (North County) over Unknown (M. For.)

138: Gunner Hegney (North County) over William Jackson (Central (New Madrid County)) (Fall 0:41)

144: Dylan Visnovske (North County) over Unknown (For.)

150: Jacob Rickus (North County) over Unknown (For.)

157: Jon Moore (North County) over Unknown (For.)

165: Jamal Robinson (North County) over Ethan Markham (Central (New Madrid County)) (Fall 1:46)

175: Ethan Harmon (North County) over Gage Nabert (Central (New Madrid County)) (Fall 4:29)

190: Connor Henderson (Central (New Madrid County)) over Daniel Whitacre (North County) (Fall 0:08)

215: Ryder Mcdowel (North County) over Unknown (For.)

285: Nathan Morefield-Crayton (North County) over Nehemiah Evans (Central (New Madrid County)) (Fall 0:34)