Cassville's Artherton speaks on historic State wrestling medal
Fortner and Artherton
February 27, 2019
Vinnie Roberts
Cassville wrestler Keaton Artherton has had a spectacular senior year. After edging his way into the fourth place spot at District Finals in Monett on February 9, Artherton finished his senior wrestling season off with a tremendous comeback from an early round loss that won him fourth place overall at state finals in Columbia on February 16.
Artherton began the tournament with a heartbreaking loss in the final ten seconds of his first round.
“I was pretty down, it wasn’t looking good for me,” said Artherton. “I knew it was my senior year, and I needed to fight my hardest.”
Cassville wrestling coach Nathan Fortner said he knew Keaton was walking in to hard fought struggle based on their trials getting to state. Through the nerves of competition, Fortner said he came to admire Artherton's tenacity.
“This is the toughest district I’ve ever seen. We’re not in an easy district to qualify for state in,” said Fortner. “I used to coach at Seneca. I’ve been around state before, but I’ve never coached someone like Keaton. It’s hard to lose your first match and come back to the medals.”
Artherton took this motivation and fought hard later on that evening, taking home a 2-1 win over his opponent in the second round. This earned Keaton a spot in the semi-finals later that evening.
“It feels good that I could that I could battle back after the first loss,” said Artherton.
Hot off his previous victory and with a renewed fighting spirit, Artherton fought hard and reversed his luck from his first round, pinning his opponent in the final seconds of the match. This not only won Keaton the match but also guaranteed him a spot in the finals the next day and, more importantly, a place on the podium.
During the competition, coach Fortner, himself a former wrestler, said that he felt nervous for his wrestler as he would have to rely on his training to get him through.
“I think I’m more nervous as a coach than I was as a wrestler,” said Fortner. “It’s out of my control what they’re doing out there.”
Artherton, however, said he had no such reaction and what he needed to do was clear to him.
“I went to state for the first time during my junior year so, I got all those nerves out of the way then,” said Artherton. “This was my senior year and I knew that I had to do what I had to do to win.”
Artherton kept his momentum up in his first round of the finals, taking down yet another opponent with a pin and winning himself the opportunity to wrestle for third in the next round.
Unfortunately for Artherton, he went on to lose his final round of the day, landing him in fourth place.
“He went through some really tough kids to get to that podium,” said Fortner. “I know it took a lot of heart and Grit. He does everything the right way. He manages his weight and never misses practice. He deserves and earned this.”
Artherton and coach Fortner don’t despair, though. In the three years that wrestling has been a varsity sport at Cassville, Artherton is the first wrestler to get this far at a state competition.
“I wanted to win it, but, it was a hard fought match,” said Artherton.
“Both matches he lost were heartbreakers,” said Fortner “Both matches that he lost were in the last few seconds. He was winning to the very end of both of them and then just got tripped up. He could have been on the very top of the podium.”
Keaton and the team trained hard for the event, running through drills and live practices on a daily basis.
“I practiced every day. Morning, noon and night. I was pushing myself,” said Artherton.
“Any time [the team] wants to come in and do an extra workout, we’ll come in in the morning and drill,” said Fortner. “We’ll spend a little extra time working on the little things.”
Artherton says that while he was initially glum he didn’t place higher on the podium, his family has helped keep him grounded and encouraged him to be proud of his accomplishments.
“My family supports me,” said Artherton. “They knew I was down that I didn’t get the top of the podium. But they keep reminding me that this was the best I could do, especially after that first loss.”
Keaton Artherton is hanging up his pads and tights, ending his wrestling career on a high note. He is expected to graduate this spring and plans on spending the next two years doing mission work for his church, the Church of Latter Day Saints of Cassville.
Vinnie Roberts
Cassville wrestler Keaton Artherton has had a spectacular senior year. After edging his way into the fourth place spot at District Finals in Monett on February 9, Artherton finished his senior wrestling season off with a tremendous comeback from an early round loss that won him fourth place overall at state finals in Columbia on February 16.
Artherton began the tournament with a heartbreaking loss in the final ten seconds of his first round.
“I was pretty down, it wasn’t looking good for me,” said Artherton. “I knew it was my senior year, and I needed to fight my hardest.”
Cassville wrestling coach Nathan Fortner said he knew Keaton was walking in to hard fought struggle based on their trials getting to state. Through the nerves of competition, Fortner said he came to admire Artherton's tenacity.
“This is the toughest district I’ve ever seen. We’re not in an easy district to qualify for state in,” said Fortner. “I used to coach at Seneca. I’ve been around state before, but I’ve never coached someone like Keaton. It’s hard to lose your first match and come back to the medals.”
Artherton took this motivation and fought hard later on that evening, taking home a 2-1 win over his opponent in the second round. This earned Keaton a spot in the semi-finals later that evening.
“It feels good that I could that I could battle back after the first loss,” said Artherton.
Hot off his previous victory and with a renewed fighting spirit, Artherton fought hard and reversed his luck from his first round, pinning his opponent in the final seconds of the match. This not only won Keaton the match but also guaranteed him a spot in the finals the next day and, more importantly, a place on the podium.
During the competition, coach Fortner, himself a former wrestler, said that he felt nervous for his wrestler as he would have to rely on his training to get him through.
“I think I’m more nervous as a coach than I was as a wrestler,” said Fortner. “It’s out of my control what they’re doing out there.”
Artherton, however, said he had no such reaction and what he needed to do was clear to him.
“I went to state for the first time during my junior year so, I got all those nerves out of the way then,” said Artherton. “This was my senior year and I knew that I had to do what I had to do to win.”
Artherton kept his momentum up in his first round of the finals, taking down yet another opponent with a pin and winning himself the opportunity to wrestle for third in the next round.
Unfortunately for Artherton, he went on to lose his final round of the day, landing him in fourth place.
“He went through some really tough kids to get to that podium,” said Fortner. “I know it took a lot of heart and Grit. He does everything the right way. He manages his weight and never misses practice. He deserves and earned this.”
Artherton and coach Fortner don’t despair, though. In the three years that wrestling has been a varsity sport at Cassville, Artherton is the first wrestler to get this far at a state competition.
“I wanted to win it, but, it was a hard fought match,” said Artherton.
“Both matches he lost were heartbreakers,” said Fortner “Both matches that he lost were in the last few seconds. He was winning to the very end of both of them and then just got tripped up. He could have been on the very top of the podium.”
Keaton and the team trained hard for the event, running through drills and live practices on a daily basis.
“I practiced every day. Morning, noon and night. I was pushing myself,” said Artherton.
“Any time [the team] wants to come in and do an extra workout, we’ll come in in the morning and drill,” said Fortner. “We’ll spend a little extra time working on the little things.”
Artherton says that while he was initially glum he didn’t place higher on the podium, his family has helped keep him grounded and encouraged him to be proud of his accomplishments.
“My family supports me,” said Artherton. “They knew I was down that I didn’t get the top of the podium. But they keep reminding me that this was the best I could do, especially after that first loss.”
Keaton Artherton is hanging up his pads and tights, ending his wrestling career on a high note. He is expected to graduate this spring and plans on spending the next two years doing mission work for his church, the Church of Latter Day Saints of Cassville.