Gravette Team Dominates Lineman Challenge

GRAVETTE - Cody Robinson is projected to be the starting nose tackle for Gravette’s football team this fall, but he still runs like he did when he was the Lions’ starting running back last season.

The senior played an integral role in his team’s overwhelming victory Friday morning during the 4-States Sports Lineman Challenge. Robinson was paired with Ryan Bolduc, Michael Olvera, Avery Burrow and Hunter Grimes on a Gravette 2 team that won all but one event in a competition that included a Gravette 1 team, Parkers Chapel and Stafford, Mo.

The Gravette 2 team finished with 26 out of a maximum 28 points, while Parkers Chapel edged Stafford 18-17 for second place. The Gravette 1 team - which consisted of Jacob Taylor, Caleb Toney, Austin Kennedy, Matt Stelting and Noah Moore - finished fourth with nine points.

“I was really proud of our linemen and how they competed,” Gravette coach Bill Harrelson said. “I saw 13 kids out here since we had two varsity teams and one junior varsity team, and every one of them competed as hard as they could. They did a great job out there.”

Robinson ran the final leg and helped Gravette2 break records in two events - the tire flip, where each person on a five-man team had to flip a large tire five times as fast as possible, and the medicine ball relay, where each person ran 40 yards with a medicine ball. The Gravette 2 team’s time of 29.87 seconds in the medicine ball relay broke the previous mark of 29.93 set by Mount Pleasant, Texas, earlier this year, while its time of 41.08 seconds in the tire flip smashed the previous record of 44.13 set by Gravette last year.

The only blemish on Gravette’s scoring was in the wheelbarrow drive, where the participants had to run 20 yards while dodging cones and pushing a wheelbarrow loaded with 90 pounds in weights. Stafford actually won that event, while Parkers Chapel took second.

The Gravette 1 team had its highest finish in the tire flip, when it finished right behind the Gravette 2 team.

The outing capped a busy week for the Lions, who took part Monday in the Rogers High Team Camp and the NWA Passing League while also doing daily workouts.

“It’s that time of year,” Harrelson said. “When we hit July, we’re in football mode. We’re trying to get back into our routine and back into football, and we’re excited about it.”