BENTON — February 18, 2023–it’s a day that Benton’s Mason Tieffel thinks about a lot.

That’s the day Tieffel defeated Newman Central Catholic’s Carter Rude to win the 1A 138 pound state championship.

Sidelined by a broken foot suffered late in the spring baseball season, Tieffel found a new summer activity–coaching. He worked with several junior wrestlers twice a week for about a month over the summer.

While the kids have been learning new moves and techniques from a state champ, Tieffel says teaching benefits him as well, and the soft spoken senior says the summer camp has given him an even greater level of respect for his coaches.

For now, Tieffel has hung up his coaching hat and will focus on cross country in the fall, setting the stage for a quest to repeat as a state champ in wrestling this winter.