Written by
Beth Farrar, SMT Writer
While the high school wrestling is heating up, the elementary students from Dexter Elementary Schools and the surrounding areas have also been practicing their wrestling skills. The elementary students, both girls and boys, started practice on December 27th and have been competing in competitions nearly every Saturday in Dexter High School’s gymnasium.
The wrestling program is through the Elks, giving each of the younger kids a chance to get a feel for wrestling so they can do it later on in middle school and in high school. The wrestlers are divided up into four different teams (Gold, Blue, Red, and Green) which all have different coaches and a handful of older wrestlers who give tips and help with techniques during practices and competitions.
On Saturday mornings, the teams assemble at the gym and warm up on separate mats to prepare for the upcoming matches. Most of the young wrestles run laps, stretch, and practice techniques before jumping into the competition. Many parents and family members sit in the bleachers to cheer on their favorite little wrestler, making it a busy Saturday morning for many.
The coaches run two matches at a time on the center mats, which are both refereed by a few of the high school wrestlers that have volunteered their time to help during the matches and to offer a hand on the sidelines by keeping score. With four teams of about twenty kids, it takes a lot of helping hands to keep the competitions running smoothly.
Although the kids are all different ages, the brackets are based upon their weight classes. Some wrestlers that are alone in their weight class are put up against their teammates or bumped to the next class. Each match is based off of points received and whoever can pin their opponent. The matches are very similar to the high school matches but are shorter in length and have more restrictions for the wrestlers’ protection. There are multiple rounds that the wrestlers get to participate in but in each round is set up into segments so that each participant can wrestle and then rest while their teammates compete.
The competitions on Saturday mornings start around nine and last until eleven. After two hours of wrestling, there is an award ceremony where the top three wrestlers in each weight class are rewarded with a first, second, or third place ribbon. Each participant that is not in the top three also receive a ribbon.
Wrestling has become a big event in our area and it really shows through the size of the teams and the excitement on the kids’ faces as they enter the building to compete. The wrestlers learn from their coaches as well as their teammates and competition and as their season gets closer to an end, it is easy to see the progress that they are making from their practices.
The wrestling matches are both thrilling and fun to watch, making this event a great way to spend a Saturday morning.
Dexter, Missouri - Two of the powerhouse girls' teams in Southeast Missouri met on Monday night as the Dexter Lady Bearcats hosted the Notre Dame Lady Bulldogs in a SEMO Conference match-up. Notre Dame came to Dexter with 16-3 record while our Lady Cats started the night at 17-2.
The game was not as close as most thought it would be as the Lady Cats won all four quarters on the way to the 74-42 victory. Notre Dame jumped out to their only lead of the night at 3 - 2, before the Dexter depth began to take over.
The victory was the second consecutive for Dexter, ranked #5 in the latest Missouri High School Basketball Coaches Association (MBCA) poll.
Katelynn Frazier had an early basket, as did Erica Cobb, while Allison Jarrell had a three-pointer (one of 5 on the night on her way to 17 points). The post players then got in the act as Paige Patterson and Brittany Harris each had a basket to give the Cats a 12-7 lead. Mollie Whitehead then scored 4 of her 13 points on the end, late in the quarter to give the girls a 20-12 first quarter advantage.
An all around team effort with a number of kids scoring gave Lady Bearcats the 39-26 halftime lead.
Coach Allen and his team discussed stopping the dribble penetration of the Lady Bulldogs and the girls did just that in the second half to really open up the lead.
Hannah Noe and Katelynn Frazier from their guard spots did a great job of keeping the Notre Dame guards out of the lane in the second half. Brittany Harris had 10 of her game high 20 points in the third quarter as the Lady Cats put the game away.
The fourth quarter was more of the same as the Cats clamped down on the Notre Dame offense, as they allowed only 16 points in the second half and allowed only 40% shooting on the night.
The Dexter JV Bearcats moved to 8-0 on the season with its 44-27 victory. Both teams will be in action on Thursday night as they travel to Cape Central in another SEMO Conference match. Game time is 6:00 p.m.
DEXTER BEARCATS -- Mollie Whitehead 13, Katelynn Frazier 4, Hannah Noe 7, Melanie McKuin 2, Alison Jarell 17, Erika Cobb 6, Brittany Harris 20, Paige Patterson 5. FG 20, FT 13-17, F 16. (3-pointers: Jarell 5, Whitehead, Noe. Fouled out: None)
Written by
Jessica Snider, SMT Writer
Jonesboro, Arkansas - Saturday afternoon, the Arkansas State Rugby opened the 2013 spring season with a 70-7 victory over Texas A&M in a Division 1-A pre-season match. This match up was featuring the "A" squad, and another victory for Arkansas State was taken by their "B" team over A&M's "B" team.
The Arkansas State "B" team left with a huge 96-0 win over A&M on Saturday afternoon. These two matches marked the first competition of the new year since the rugby team won the national college 7s championship in December.
First year head coach Alex Houser commented on the match, "I know this may sound a little strange because of the big score, but we really did not play that well in the first match.We were impatient and turned the ball over a lot."
Coach Houser stated that he was much more pleased with the play of the "B" team during the second match. "We played a lot better. The guys played with more discipline and more patience. We played really good rugby."
As many people may know, Dexter's Theo Gaul is a member of the ASU Rugby team this year. Gaul is a 2012 Dexter High School graduate and is currently in his freshman year at Arkansas State.
Gaul is a member of the B team, which plays after the A team on most matches. Gaul commented that being on the B team as a freshman is not bad especially since they're the # 2 ranked college rugby team in the nation.
"Saturday was the first game of the season so we're still a little bit rusty," said Gaul.
The Red Wolves return home to play an intrasquad game, weather permitting, set to be held Saturday, February 9th at 1:00 P.M. at ASU'S Rugby Stadium.
"We are looking forward to a challenging spring schedule as we try to build from the momentum the program has gained from our recent success in finishing second in the nation in 15s last spring and winning the national championship this fall in sevens," Houser said.
You can stay tuned to the ShowMe Times for more information on the Arkansas State Rugby Team as their season progresses!
Written by
Jessica Snider, SMT Writer
Dexter, Missouri - Friday night the Dexter Bearcats traveled to Advance for what they knew would be a tough match-up. The Bearcats walked into the home of the Hornets on homecoming ready for the strong competition.
After losing to Advance in the Stoddard County Tournament and the inury of starter Chase Young also during the tournament, the Dexter Bearcats had to get back in the gym for a few days of practice to adjust some things.
The Advance crowd was fired up and the pressure was on for the Bearcats. The Dexter team picked up the momentum close to half-time and gained some points to descrease Advance's lead. At the half, the Bearcats were within two points of the Advance Hornets.
Dexter's head coach Rob Nichols went in at half-time and must've said the right things to his Bearcat team, because the third quarter was a very strong point for Dexter.
After missing a lot of very small shots right underneath the goal in the first quarter, Dexter started running some plays to get the person under the basket open and it worked flawlessly for a few possessions. The Bearcats struggled from the free-throw line Friday night, however.
In the 4th quarter, the chance of victory started slipping away from the Dexter Bearcats. Throughout the third quarter, many Bearcat fans just knew Dexter would walk away with a victory, but something happened in the fourth quarter and it got too far away for the Cats.
Many turnovers were made by the Bearcats, and the Advance offense was almost unstoppable. Advance's Ethan Barr posted 29 points during Friday night's match-up.
After a game full of many ups and downs, the Dexter Bearcats ultimately fell 65-43 to the Advance Hornets.
The Bearcats will be back in action on Tuesday as they travel to Bell City for a Junior Varsity game at 6:00 P.M. and a Varsity match-up directly following.
Written by
Dee Loflin, SMT Writer
Bernie, Missouri – The Bernie Mule fans were shocked by the outcome of this Homecoming game Friday night. Simply put the Mules were outhustled by the Bulldogs. The fans of Notre Dame were excited to be in the Mule Barn and their “little blue man” got the crowd cheering at almost every basket.
The Notre Dame boys basketball team were motivated and had just spoiled Jackson's Homecoming game last week. The Bulldogs have been hovering around the .500 mark all season, but were beginning to improve. Coach Kevin Roberts stated last week after the win over Jackson, "This was our first good full game so far this season. Now we have to prepare for the state-ranked Bernie Mules next week and that game will be a tough one to win."
The Bulldogs came to the Mule Barn to show Bernie that they are competitive, perhaps a little inexperienced, but not to count them out just yet. They had momentum and were not going to back down.
“Notre Dame whipped us physically in the 2nd quarter and we didn’t put up much of a fight. They took it to us and we backed down for the majority of the game,” commented Coach Brad Botsch of the Bernie Mules.
“It is kind of a surprise to me as I felt our kids have been playing better and with more confidence, but something seemed amiss tonight and most of it, had to do with our lack of consistent effort and focus on the defensive end,” continued Botsch.
Both David Baker #31 and Troy Kirkpatrick #14 scored 16 points against Notre Dame. Baker was able to capitalize on four 3-pointers to help the Mules, but the Bulldogs hit right back with Quinn Paythress #4 and Cody DeBrock #2 who had a combined 31 points and Dereck Hulshof #42 who had 10 points.
Coach Botsch further explained, “They got way too many open looks from there and around the basket and they really hurt us on the backboard.” The Notre Dame Bulldogs had nine players with baskets during the game, five being 3-pointers.
The Bernie Mules will have to work hard in practice this week and begin to prepare for Hayti on Tuesday, February 5th. “Hopefully, we will take some of these lessons from this game and work hard for district which are in two weeks,” commented Botsch.
Final Score Bernie Mules 50, Notre Dame Bulldogs 64. Bernie’s record drops to 18-4.
It was no different for the JV team. The Junior Varsity record dropped to 18-2 for the season as the Notre Dame Bulldogs completely out played them Friday night as well.
Caleb Ellenburg had an awesome 31 points for the Bernie Mules, but the Bulldogs just kept fighting back. Final Score Notre Dame 60, Bernie Mules 45.
Check out the ShowMe Times Facebook page for exciting pictures of the JV and Varsity game with Homecoming highlights.
 50x.png)
