PH South grapplers not content with league title

Park Hill South Wrestling had a breakout year in 2010-2011 by going 16-3 and winning the school’s first conference wrestling championship with a 6-0 record, all while fighting through various injuries. They then expanded on it more by taking second place in districts and advancing six wrestlers to the state tournament. The goal for the Panthers as they come into the 2011-2012 is taking the next step by building on last year’s success by bringing home some state medals.

“Last year’s team did a great job achieving their goals. Many of our wrestlers were good enough to go to state last year,” Park Hill South coach Dan Dunkin said. “I think we need to be a little greedier when we get there. Just going to state is not enough. I want our South boys to bring back medals.”

A lot of what Park Hill South wants to accomplish will add higher focus to the two end of the year events: districts and state. The days of just getting to state being considered a worthy goal are of the past, replaced with the intent to do well once they get there and regularly aimed for by the top programs in the state.

“As a coach, we’re still going to try to win conference, but the main focus around our season isn’t going to be about conference, that’s just going to be something we do,” Dunkin said. “Most of our focus is going to be towards end of the year competition, whether it is districts or state. Most of the kids we return have won a match down at state. We did a lot of good things last year, I think we were happy to get to state. I’m going to make sure that we’re not happy to just get there.”

The Panthers return five state qualifiers from last year’s team including senior captains Brett Rounkles and Nick Gillespie who provide two different leadership styles according to their coach that benefit the rest of the team depending on how they’re best motivated.

“Brett is a leader in the room, he lets them know what they should do so the coaches don’t have to,” Dunkin said. “Nick’s a little livelier, charges the guys up more, Brett is more of a ‘get down to business-type guy. So they complement each other well.”

State qualifiers Junior Chase Gray, an experienced two-time captain, Alex Fortuna, and Jimmy Carpenter also return as strong competitors. Also returning are Justin Haughenberry, Adam Weatherly, and Alex Weatherly who were strong pieces to the Panther team last year before their seasons came to an early end.

“All three of their seasons ended with an injury. I’m not sure I would call these three a surprise, because they’re as tough as anyone,” Dunkin said. “The expectation for these three is as high as anybody else on the team. If they can stay healthy, they will be good.

George Barth, Alex Carpenter, Kendric Cook, Jake Crawford, Tyler Blyth, Daniel Long, Jon Holden, and Ron Anderson will also contribute towards Park Hill South’s success this season.

Their first big test will come in the Lee’s Summit Holiday Tournament over winter break, but they’ll also see a more competitive conference schedule as all schools look to be bringing back more experienced teams. All challenges Park Hill South will have to battle through in order to pick up where they left last year at the state tournament come this February.