Kennett wrestling team wins big on senior night, Dexter downs Valley View at Kennett Tri

KENNETT – Kennett High School hosted Dexter and Valley View, Ar, at the Kennett Tri Thursday night for senior night and the school’s only home meet this season.

Celebrating one of the largest senior classes in the school’s history, the night began with the Indians defeating Dexter 45-27.

“We’ve still got some work to do in some weight classes, but some kids look like they’re starting to peak at the right time as we head into this last month of the season,” Kennett head coach Jacob Whittle said. “A lot of kids are looking like they could go to the district tournament right now and do some things.”

“I’m excited for this last month of the season,” he continued. “We’ve had a lot more participation this year and the competition at practice is clearly making a big difference.” 

Kennett’s Gavin Patterson and Zach Kulin began the night by taking down Dexter’s Chase Berry and Conrad Purnell in the 120 and 126 weight classes, respectively. The Bearcats’ Eric Harmon ended the run in the next match by defeating Kennett’s Ashton Adams in the 132 weight class. 

To follow, Spencer Potts (Kennett) defeated Wyatt Hockersmith in the 138 class, Ryan Young (Dexter) defeated Ethan Davis in the 144 class, Kasen Forkum (Dexter) defeated Mike’kel Payne in the 150 class, James Deberry (Dexter) defeated Tyler Preston in the 157 class, Carson Mullins (Dexter) defeated Silas McClain in the 190 class, and finally Kevin Thompson (Kennett) defeated Noah Bruyette in the 285 class.

“Tonight we battled,” Dexter head coach Cody Boyer said. “I was excited how our kids came out tonight. Kennedy McCormick won her match by pin in the first. That was our only girl match tonight.

“We may have lost the dual with Kennett but we won six out of the nine matches that we had. I will take that any day. We are still missing a few kids in our lineup but we got one back from injury, Kasen Forkum at 150.”

Next on the floor was Dexter and Valley View in what turned out to be a very close competition. Valley View struck first with a win as Kylan Bingham took down Chase Berry before Dexter’s Eric Harmon overcame Tanner Bingham in the 120 weight class.

Valley View’s Thomas Limegrover and Everett Thomas defeated Dexter’s Carson Mullins and Noah Bruyette in the 190 and 285 weight classes, respectively. Dexter secured points from five forfeits, however, and squeaked by with a 37-36 win.

After a ceremony honoring the 11 seniors on Kennett’s roster, the Indians went on a run and a near-clean sweep of Valley View.

“We’ve got a lot (of seniors), they make up about 30% of our team – they’re everywhere,” Whittle said. “Quite a few of them have been wrestling since they were little kids and you can tell. They've got their technique down after doing this for years.”

“And then we've got a couple new seniors out there just having fun,” Whittle continued. “They're having the time of their lives working out with these guys and the atmosphere is great. We're having a lot of fun.”

Kennett’s Gavin Patterson, Julius Myles, Cole Biggs, Justin Brooks, Luis Olguin and Edward Jones all won their matches, in addition to six additional forfeits by Valley View, before Valley’s Everett Thomas triumphed over Britt Hughes in the 285 weight class to end the night with a 72-6 victory for the Indians.

Next, Dexter will travel to the Sullivan Scramble on Friday. Kennett will compete in the Notre Dame Tri next Tuesday where they will face off against Notre Dame and Sikeston.

“We had some good matches, we had some great matches and we had some not-so-good ones,” Whittle said. “We still have a few technique issues we need to solve, but we have some guys who are clearly clicking at the right time. It’s looking up, and I’m really excited for the rest of the year.”