The Wolverines may be in their first year, but coach Aaron Wise likes what he’s seen from his team thus far.

Bentonville West finished fifth out of 17 teams in its inaugural tournament in Caney, Kan., two weeks ago.

“We competed pretty well,” Wise said. “We were fourth most of the day, but kind of fell apart at the end. We’ve got to be able to finish.”

Freshman Walker Fox (113) and sophomore Connor Klein, who was a state medalist at Bentonville last year, are both off to strong starts. Fox is currently undefeated and pinned his way through the tournament in Kansas. Klein (145) is 11-1 and picked up a big win over the weekend in the NWA Duals.

“He beat the kid ranked No. 1 in Tennessee,” Wise said. “He got behind early and taken to his back. but battled back and won 13-10. It was a good match for him.”
Wise also likes what he’s seen from Pono Doctoral and Garrett Poysar, who are both extremely inexperienced but show potential.

“Pono only came out four or five weeks ago, but has a natural toughness and drive for competition. He went 5-1 last weekend with his only loss to a Bartlett kid. Garrett was aggressive and didn’t shy away, even though we had to bump him up to 170 once.”

The Wolverines will take part in the Bentonville Tiger Classic this weekend.
