The Knights varsity wrestling team attended districts on February 9 and 10. Howell North finished ninth out of fifteen in the competition.

“The team did pretty average, and we could have done better,” junior Dillon Lauer said.

The team had two wrestlers qualify for state. Jacob Smith qualified for the 138 weight class and Hunter Collins qualified for the 220 weight class.

“After I pinned the guy to qualify I was extremely happy, and it was one of the happiest moments of my life,” Collins said. “I went over to the corner and hugged all my coaches then hugged and thanked my parents and teammates for all the support.” 

The team will be wrestling at state on February 16 and 17. This will be Collins’ first time and Smith’s fourth year qualifying for state.

“That this was my last chance to achieve what I’ve been dreaming for for years now, so I just had to go in there and give it absolutely all I’ve got,” Collins said.

The team will be taking a few wrestlers with them to state to help the state wrestlers practice before the tournament. Lauer will be practicing with Smith and junior Nathan Tatum will be practicing with Collins.

“I’m going to wrestle as hard as I can and never give up because this is my last shot to get my name up on the wall,” said Collins.

The state wrestling tournament will be held in Columbia, Missouri at Mizzou.