County wrestling teams were spread out across the state last week and several local wrestlers won tournament championships, while others remain undefeated.
De Soto junior Logan Zimmermann won his 100th varsity match on Saturday as the Dragons wrestled in the Monett Tournament. Zimmermann is 20-0 this season after he pinned Nixa’s Trevor Rock in 23 seconds of the 160-pound final.
Head coach John Brown said he was unaware of Zimmermann’s career achievement until he signed onto Facebook Sunday morning. Zimmermann finished fifth in the state in Class 3 at 152 pounds last season.
“I hit ‘like’ right away,” said Brown, who’s guided the Dragons to five straight Jefferson County Activities Association titles. “He’s been wrestling pretty darn good. Last year he was third in that tournament. I was talking to his dad and he said Logan was mad and on fire because of that. But he’s been on fire all year. It’s his constant movement. He doesn’t think; he just wrestles. He’s really been focused quite a bit.”
Truth be told, I was unaware of Zimmermann reaching 100 wins until I was interviewing his teammmate, sophomore Landon Porter, for this column Sunday morning. Porter qualified for state at heavyweight as a freshman last season. He pinned all five opponents in the first period to win the title at Monett and is 19-0 this season.
While Porter’s accomplishments on the mat are hard to ignore at such a young age, what he did at the end of our conversation told me even more about the kind of person he is. He made sure I knew his teammate, Zimmermann, had reached 100 victories.
“Landon is a very good person,” Brown said. “He’s put himself in good positions. This weekend you could see him become himself.”
Porter said trying to pin his opponent in every match isn’t a personal grudge against anyone; he said he knows they help his team win matches.
“Getting team points is big for me and in a dual, pins are huge,” Porter said. “I am not going to do anything fancy. I’m trying to get the job done.”
The Dragons visited Hillsboro for a tri-match which included Festus. Porter faced Hillsboro junior Joe Becker at 285 for the first time this season and beat Becker 5-1. Becker also qualified for state at heavyweight last season, but lost to Porter in the district championship. Tuesday’s match could be the first of three in three weeks (they could face other at the 141 Rumble this weekend and the Bob Georger Classic on Jan. 26-27) for the two county heavy heavyweights.
Porter first wrestled Becker in little league, where he said he didn’t have very much success.
“I was in De Soto Little League and Joe was in Fox, and he beat me every time,” Porter said. “When I got into seventh grade, he’d been out of wrestling a couple of years to focus on football, but we started wrestling again and I’ve been able to get him.”
The two aspiring state medalists are friends, Porter said. But that ends for the six minutes when they face each other on the mat.
“We’re not really rivals,” Porter said. “We’re cool with each other. I look at it as any other match.”
Becker says the two have followed each other’s careers based on their friendship.
“I like to see (Porter) succeed because I know how much hard work he puts in,” Becker said.
Becker (18-1) was undefeated this season before losing 3-1 in overtime on Saturday to Warrensburg’s Tanner Karnes in the heavyweight final of the Excelsior Springs Tournament. Karnes won the match with a takedown in sudden victory.
“It was a great heavyweight bout,” Mitchell said. “It was a good test for us. We’re right there and we’re going to have to win a match like that at state. It was good to measure himself. He knows he’s ready to compete at the state level.”
Mitchell said he’s as interested as anyone else to watch Becker and Porter resume their history on the mat.
“I think Joe has gained a lot of experience in the last year,” Mitchell said. “I don’t think we look at it as much of a rivalry. Landon is ranked in the state and he’s standing in the way of reaching Joe’s state goals. (Porter) has got great coaches at De Soto and Coach Brown does really good things. I know Landon and Joe are big-time competitors. I’m rooting for Landon when he’s not wrestling Joe.”
Of course, I’d love to see Becker and Porter square off for a state championship next month in Columbia. It would be the match of the century for county wrestling.
But I’ll heed the advice of the savvy Brown, who’s seen enough heartbreak at heavyweight to know a match, dream and season can vanish in an instant.
“At heavyweight you just never know,” Brown said. “One mess-up and somebody lands on you and it can be over in seconds. Becker is a very big man. It’s a tossup. Landon wrestled him last year very well. It makes it exciting. I’ve seen heavyweight matches where the best guy makes a mistake and gets put on his back.”
Becker and teammates James Short (120) and Dylan Owens (132) finished second at Excelsior Springs. Senior Joe Garner came through with the Hawks’ only title at the tournament at 160 pounds. It’s the first tournament title Garner has ever won. The ultimate teammate and competitor couldn’t be more deserving. Garner finished 1-4 at the same tournament a year ago.
“That’s awesome,” Mitchell said. “Joe beat five quality kids from the Kansas City side of the state who will be in the state mix next month. It’s one he will always remember. It’s fun to see that work ethic pay off.”