As junior Douglas Matthews in the 170-pound weight class was lifted and slammed to the ground in his final match of his junior season, sixth place seemed inevitable.

“I was furious and now wanted to win more than ever,” he said.

Matthews quickly got up after being taken to the ground and shot at his opponent. Matthews was now on top opponent and on the board. His opponent, now vulnerable and fatigued, was right were Matthews wanted him.

“I pinned him and got fifth, but I didn’t meet my personal expectations,” said Matthews. “I wanted first.”

The Wildcats had high expectations to meet, due to placing first overall at state last year. A week before the state tournament the Wildcats competed and placed second overall at the 7A West Conference.

“This seemed to give us a good idea at where we were at as a team,” said junior Jesse Weir, who placed fourth in the 160 pound weight class at state and first at conference.

The team traveled to Little Rock Feb. 21, and on Friday the team had seven wrestlers knocked out the first day and six wrestlers go undefeated in the two-day tournament. In order to get knocked out, one must lose two matches. The team ended up finishing sixth overall in the 6A-7A.

“I think our team could have done better, I guess the guys just weren’t into it this year,” said Smith who placed third in the 195 pound weight class. “I got first at conference but got third at state.”

The team only has two seniors compared to the ten last year. With being how young the Wildcats are, not all wrestlers were upset with the outcome.

“For being how young we are I think we did surprisingly well at the tournament,” said senior Ty Harrison, who placed third in the 220-pound weight class and first at conference.

Next season the Wildcats will have four of the six who placed at state returning. One of the wrestlers who will return is only a freshman at Southwest Junior High School.

“It’ll be a lot easier for us to get first next season because we are only losing two seniors,” said Weir. “I have high expectations for next season and am pretty excited.”