The Nixa boys wrestling squad capped off their 2022-2023 season by sending five wrestlers to compete in the 2023 MSHSAA Class 4 State Wrestling Championships on Feb. 24-25 at Mizzou Arena.

Nixa's streak of state team titles concluded by a mere 1.5 points. The Eagles placed fourth in 2022 and third in 2021. This year Nixa placed fifth with 79.5 points. Liberty won the title with 218 points, while Francis Howell Central (90.5), Staley (88), and Lafayette (81) and Ozark (81) followed behind in the team standings.

All five qualifiers advanced to the second day, and four Eagles captured state medals, including two champions.

Senior Zan Fugitt concluded his decorated and historic Nixa career with his third-consecutive state title. Fugitt kicked off the tournament with two first-period pins over Park Hill South's Dylan Taylor and Francis Howell's Chevy Rosales, advancing him to the semifinals vs. Grain Valley's Dru Azcona. This matchup proved to be Fugitt's greatest test of the tournament, as it was the only match he did not win by fall en route to the title. Fugitt jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the first with a takedown and a two-count near fall. From there, the match was in Fugitt's hands, and extended his lead in the second with an escape, and took full control early in the third with a takedown for his final points. Azcona was able to score three points late in the period, but the deficit was too much to overcome, and Fugitt was victorious 7-3, clinching his fourth-straight title match berth.

In the 132-lbs championship bout, Fugitt faced Lebanon's Canon Roark, who he pinned for the district title a week prior, and it was the same scenario again. With Fugitt leading 5-0 in the second, he pinned Roark at 2:56 to hoist the title. The victory marked Fugitt's third state title and fourth medal overall in a Nixa uniform, each coming in a different weight class. He finished as runner-up in 2020 at 106, won his first title in 2021 at 113, won his second title at 120, and his final title came at 132.

En route to his third title, the University of Oklahoma-bound Fugitt cemented his name in Nixa history, and his legacy will never be forgotten. Fugitt became Nixa's all-time career wins leader with his opening-round win over Dylan Taylor, and his three proceeding victories marked 184 for Fugitt. He concluded his senior season with a record of 50-1 and his four-year career with an astonishing record of 184-8, including being a 4x State Finalist, 3x State Champion, Fargo All-American, US Open Champion, 2x Pan-Am Champion, and US World Team member.

View the final 132-lbs bracket here.

Following Fugitt, 2022 returning state medalist (3rd) junior Brennan Carey captured the gold in the 215-lbs division. Carey made quick work of his first two opponents, pinning both in the first period. In the semifinals, it was a much greater challenge for Carey that he conquered. He came from behind and defeated Staley's Jack Stoffel in epic fashion. After a scoreless first two periods, Stoffel gained a 2-0 lead with a takedown with under a minute remaining. Then, as Carey was on the ground for a restart, he reversed positions with 13 seconds remaining and defeated Stoffel 3-2, punching his ticket to the title bout against Jackson's Tyler Beyatte. Carey scored the first points of the match in the second period with an escape and takedown for a 3-0 lead. In the third, Carey almost ended the match with a two-count near fall with roughly 30 seconds remaining for his final points and the title-clinching 5-1 victory over Beyatte.

Carey capped off his junior season by becoming Nixa's sixth individual state champion in program history with a record of 46-6 and claiming his second state medal. 

View the final 215-lbs bracket here.

Freshman 144-lbs Curtis Glossip crowned fifth place in his first state appearance. Glossip pinned Poplar Bluff's Dace Wisdom in the second period and defeated Rock Bridge's Tyler Abell 11-4 in the quarterfinals, and secured his state medal. In the semifinals, Glossip saw his finals berth slip away in the final seconds of a heartbreaking match to Ft. Zumwalt North's freshman Cole Aguirre. Glossip led 2-1 after the first period and extended the lead to 4-3 in the second. The third period provided the most excitement and points scored in the match. Glossip kicked off the period with a reversal and upped his lead to 6-3, but 20 seconds later, Aguirre did the same to Glossip and trimmed the lead to 6-5. Glossip scored his final point of the match with an escape and led 7-5 with 1:06 remaining.  With under 30 seconds left, Glossip was called for a penalty 1, granting one point to Aguirre, and it was now just a 1-point advantage for Glossip of 7-6. Aguirre scored a takedown on Glossip with three seconds remaining for the win and sent him to the consolation semifinals.

Glossip dropped another tough matchup in his next bout. He faced Lebanon's Andrew Bowling, and after a scoreless two periods, Bowling scored three points early in the third period with a three-count near fall. He was able to escape from that for his only point but fell short 3-1. In the fifth-place match, Glossip faced Francis Howell North's Chad Blanke. After being down 5-0 heading into the second, Glossip flipped the switch, came all the back, and held Blanke off the scoresheet for the remainder of the bout. He scored a reversal and a two-count near fall in the second, trimming Blanke's lead just to 5-4 with one period left. He took the lead with a takedown midway through the third and took full control of the match with another two-count near fall, ultimately solidifying the 8-5 victory and fifth-place medal.

Glossip finished his debut season for Nixa with a record of 34-13 and his first state medal.

View the final 144-lbs bracket here.

After only winning one match a year ago in his first state appearance, junior Aidan Ward battled illness all tournament and placed sixth in the 138-lbs division. Ward advanced to the quarterfinals after pinning Francis Howell's Owen McCracken in the second period, and then, decided to default and not exert all of his energy in the quarterfinal bout. Thus, Ward dropped to round two of wrestlebacks. Ward responded next by ousting Northwest's Evan Porter 8-4 and then pinned Lebanon's Jonathon Perryman at 1:37, securing his state medal. He fell in the consolation semifinals to Timberland's Ty Shelton 9-0 and in the fifth-place match to Ft. Osage's Rylan Mansfield 4-0.

Ward capped off his junior season by winning a state medal with a record of 41-16.

View the final 138-lbs bracket here.

Although he did not place, 2022 state qualifier 175-lbs Nate Brower had a strong outing and was one victory away from notching a state medal. Brower went winless a year ago at state and this year doubled his total. He fell in the opening round match 5-3 to Hickman's Cole Harrell, and responded back to win his next two matches, including a technical fall victory 16-0 over Seckman's Michael Stivers, before falling in the third round of wrestlebacks 6-1 to Liberty North's Nathan Sola.

Brower finished his Nixa finale with a record of 41-12 and a 2x state qualifier.

View the final 175-lbs bracket here.

View tournament photos here.
View video highlights of Fugitt's and Carey's championship bouts here.
View the full results of the tournament here.