Well, the first day of the State Wrestling Championship are upon us, and I wanted to take a quick look at how Smithville’s seven wrestlers might fare down at Mizzou Arena this weekend.

I’ll be heading down to Mizzou Arena this morning and kick off three consecutive days of live-blogging with Bill Knust and Chris Geinosky, and I can’t wait to get going. For now, however, here’s a very brief look at each of the Warriors and how their weekend might transpire. Similar to the district breakdown, I’ve ranked each wrestler’s difficulty (on a scale of five) on how tough their path to a Class 2 medal will be.

Please join us throughout the tournament for live coverage and analysis, as well as multimedia coverage of the season-ending event, by going to Smithvilleherald.com and following the link.

106 — Brody Lamb (35-13), freshman; Difficulty: 4/5

Competing in probably the most youthful of the brackets, Lamb runs smack-dab into another talented freshman in the first round — Hank White of Reeds Spring. White has history on his side, as his pinned Lamb last month at the Odessa Tournament, and with a loss the Warriors’ freshman is likely to run into Richard House (No. 3) in his second wrestleback match. It’ll be tough sledding, regardless.

132 — Jimmy Migletz (36-13), junior; Difficulty: 4/5

Go ahead and disregard Migletz’s No. 10 ranking. After all, he knocked off two higher-ranked opponents last weekend on the way to a third-place district finish. He draws an unranked opponent (Courtney Williams of Sumner) in the first round, but with a win, he will face No. 1 stud Austin Roper of Kirksville. From there, it gets difficult to predict, but Migletz is no stranger to pulling off upsets and it would not be a surprise to see him end up with a medal.

138 — Dalton Tipton (39-12), sophomore; Difficulty: 5/5

This might be one of the most tough-luck draws in the entire tournament, regardless of class. After fighting back to state in a tough bracket, who should fall into Tipton’s lap but three-time state champ Justin VanHoose (51-0) of Kirksville? Oof. And if things hold true to the rankings, he will have to knock off at least two more opponents ranked in the top five just to get to the bubble round. Again, it’s one of the toughest draws I’ve ever seen. (Remember, too, that Tipton sprung a big upset in the first round last year. This one would be one of the biggest upsets of all time, though.)

170 — Bailey Wilson (34-16), sophomore; Difficulty: 4/5

At his best, Wilson can hang with just about anyone. I had forgotten that he lost by decision (6-3) to Michael Boyd back at the Harrisonville Tournament, for example. And he will have to be on his game if he wants to win in the first round against Clinton’s Gabe Suthoff (No. 5). If he loses, however, he is likely to run into Fulton’s John Kingsley, another solid sophomore early in the second day. He showed plenty of guts just to get here, and that characteristic will serve him well in Columbia.

182 — Matt Ray (43-5), junior; Difficulty: 3/5

Ray’s hopes for making the final basically came down to one thing — is he on the same side of the bracket as undefeated and No. 1-ranked Travis Lang of Kirksville. Unfortunately, the answer is yes. The Smithville junior has a favorable path to the semifinals, where he is likely to collide with Lang, who is 50-0. Ray has been focused on reaching the finals all year long, but it would still be a significant step for him if he is able to come away with a medal.

220 — Clayton Robinette(26-19), junior; Difficulty: 5/5

Yet another tough first-round match up for the Warriors, as Robinette runs into No. 3-ranked Gareth Behr from Bolivar. Win or lose, the junior will have an unranked wrestler in his second match, however, and could end up with a win if he is at his best. From there, it gets murky. The way things set up, he would have to wrestle a top-four wrestler early on Friday — either Bennett Lewis (No. 1) or Kyle Cook (No. 4) — just to keep his medal chances alive.

285 — Joe Mattli (33-15), senior; Difficulty: 4/5

The Warriors’ senior might be the ultimate wild card this bracket. Mattli has yet to wrestle a full match to this point, as it’s either pin or be pinned with him. That’s crazy when you consider he’s been healthy all year and has almost 50 matches at this point. He finds himself in a competitive pod, as all four wrestlers are ranked, but if he keeps himself in good position and remains aggressive, it will be interesting to see how far he goes.