02/17/2026
What a great weekend in Little Rock! Your Gravette Lions qualified 9 grapplers to go do battle at the AR State Wrestling Tournament finishing in 6th place with 4 All-Staters and a Coach of the Year Award - including Gravette’s FIRST EVER State medalist for the girls team.
QUALIFIERS
Preston Donham - Fr - 120lb
Matua Benavente - Jr - 126lb
Owen Merworth - Soph - 157lb
Will Tucker - Fr - 285lb
PLACERS
JaiCee Jennings - Soph - 190lb - 4th Place(First ever All-Stater for the girls team)
Denver Pruitt - Sr - 138lb - 3rd Place
Payton Burnett - Jr - 144lb - 3rd Place
Jacob Worley - Jr - 150lb - 3rd Place
Porter Bird - Sr - 190lb - 2nd Place
4A COACH OF THE YEAR
Jeff Stapleton - First season as Gravette’s Head Wrestling Coach
We put this team through a meat grinder early in the season competing in AR, OK, KS, and MO and took some lumps, but in the end it paid off with a battle hardened team that showed that they were ready for the big stage in Little Rock.
Throughout the weekend I had several coaches approach me about how gritty our kids are - that is a testament to how they were raised and how hard they work in the room. To say we are proud of how this young team competed this year is an understatement.
First off we need to thank our wrestlers for trusting us to coach them on their wrestling journey. There were a lot of new faces in the line-up as well as on the coaching staff this year. It takes a lot of faith to stay committed to the team and trust that we are leading you in the right direction, and we thank you for that.
We also want to thank the Gravette Administration for their support. Not only were they willing to pivot quickly with us on several unforeseen schedule changes, but were very supportive in helping us to fundraise for the team’s activities.
As we have become known for, we have the best parents and fans in the state! I can’t tell you how many times over the last couple of years I have heard how much other teams love to compete against us because of our fan base. Y’all are rowdy and we love it! Combined with always making sure we are properly fed and hydrated - we definitely feel the love. Thank You!
Lastly we have to say thank you to our wives and family’s who all sacrificed a lot this year so that we could spend so much time on the road. Without their understanding and support we would never be able to do this thing we love. Wrestling coach wives are a rare breed for sure.
We are so excited for the future of this program. With so many returning starters and the up and coming young bloods, this team will be a force to be reckoned with next season for sure.
We are LionTuff!
