Platte County’s varsity did not wrestle this week and instead prepared for the 10th Kansas City Stampede scheduled for Friday and Saturday, Dec. 18-19 at Hale Arena near Kemper Arena in downtown Kansas City, Mo.
This year, 38 teams are slated to appear this year coming from all across the country for one of the nation’s premier high school tournaments. Archer (Ga.) is the two-time defending champion, and Park Hill (2008) is the only Missouri team to top the team standings.
Park Hill and Platte County are among the Missouri teams competing.
Last year, Platte County finished ninth with four medalists, and three of them return, including two-time state champion Ethan Karsten — a finalist at 145 a year ago. Matthew Schmitt, also a two-time state champion, finished fifth at 126 last year, losing just once.
Park Hill placed 17th last year while without three standouts, including Sean Hosford and Canten Marriott. Now owners of a combined three state titles, both will be in the field this week, along with returning Stampede medalist Weston DiBlasi (seventh, 120).
Polo Duals
Platte County’s junior varsity won the Polo Duals Tournament, going 5-0 against Class 1 schools Saturday, Dec. 12 in Polo, Mo. The Pirates were second a year ago.
Seven wrestlers turned in unbeaten performances, including Nick Maddux, Nolan Saale, Nick Filger, Omar Garcia, Jackson Phan and Bradley Poos going 5-0. Amaad Holt went 4-0.
Platte County went unbeaten in its pool with wins against Stanberry (57-15), Lafayette County (51-18), West Platte (60-21) and Rock Port (56-27). The Pirates then beat Brookfield 48-36 in the championship dual.
“Overall, a great day,” Platte County coach Reggie Burress said. “Young guys getting matches is what it is about.”
West Platte finished sixth while wrestling without its two returning state qualifiers.
Justin Rhodes and Dalton Larison — both seniors — were unavailable due to the ACT test. However, the Bluejays went 2-2 in its pool with wins against Lafayette County (36-18) and Rock Port (30-24). They lost to Polo 30-24 in the fifth-place dual.
Mitch Moppin (182) and Michael Devers (195) both went a perfect 5-0 in the five duals for West Platte. Noah Conway (152) and Cameron Johnson (220) went 4-1.
Lee’s Summit North Invitational
Park Hill South finished 12th out of 14 teams Saturday, Dec. 12 with Travis Fisher earning the Panthers’ lone medal. Only seven wrestlers participated for Park Hill South, which finished with 53 points.
Fisher went 7-0 in his pool with the biggest win a medical forfeit from Kearney’s Zac Courtoise, a state runner-up in Class 3 at 182 pounds last year. Courtoise was hurt in his second match.
In the championship, Cameron’s Tyler Gerber pinned Fisher just 9 seconds into the third period. Gerber was a Class 2 state qualifier at 182 last season for the Dragons.
Duals
Park Hill 58, Lee’s Summit 15
The Trojans scored seven pins and one forfeit on the way to a dominant victory Tuesday, Dec. 8 at Park Hill High School in Kansas City, Mo. Overall, they won 10 of 13 matches.
Carter Goslee (138) and Blake Hopson (145) — both freshmen — won decisions for Park Hill, starting a string of seven straight victories that locked up the result. The Trojans led from the outset with Josh Steele — one of four returning state qualifiers in the lineup for the Trojans — scoring 14 unanswered points in a 14-2 win at 120 to open the dual.
Lee’s Summit West 63, Park Hill South 12
The Panthers won just a pair of matches Tuesday, Dec. 8 in Lee’s Summit, Mo., dropping to 3-3 on the season in duals.
With five returning state qualifiers in the lineup, Lee’s Summit West scored 18 points from opens. Park Hill South’s AJ Bishop benefited from an open at 285, and Ring Deng’s third period pin of Dylan Bestgen in the 182 match ended up being the Panthers’ lone head-to-head win.
Deng trailed 2-0 after allowing the opening takedown but held a 5-2 advantage when he turned Bestgen and scored the pin at the 5:21 mark.
West Platte 27, Hogan Prep 27
The two teams went to most matches won for tiebreaker winner Tuesday, Dec. 8 in Kansas City, Mo.
West Platte ended up with the win thanks to a 3-2 advantage. West Platte won 3 of 5 head-to-head matchups total, but Hogan Prep enjoyed an advantage receiving three forfeits (18 points) compared to two for the Bluejays (12 points) to create the tie.
Rhodes (160) and Johnson (285) both scored pins for West Platte, while Devers scored a 6-1 decision at 220. Hogan Prep’s one victory by decision came at 145 with Jaden Reed winning 12-10 against Gavin Davis.
Pembroke Hill 45, West Platte 30
The Bluejays dropped to 3-1 overall with the loss in their other third of the triangular.
Only four matches total were wrestled, and the two teams split those. Rhodes (160) and Moppin (182) were the winners for West Platte, both scoring pins.