Nearly back to full strength, West Platte came in second at its home tournament Saturday, Jan. 28 in Weston, Mo.
The Bluejays put all seven wrestlers in the top four with two champions in the West Platte Invitational to finish 16 points back of St. Pius X for the team title. Brayan Rodriguez and Julian Trelow both won medals after recent absences from the lineup, while lone senior Noah Conway wrestled junior varsity in his return, finishing third at 152 pounds.
Rodriguez, a junior for West Platte, won the 132 bracket with three pins and an injury default to improve his record to 19-6. He nearly qualified for state as a freshman before taking last year off.
NICK INGRAM/Citizen photo
West Platte sophomore Thomas Tharp, top, controls Platte County sophomore Glen Gammill in a 285-pound match during the West Platte Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 28 in Weston, Mo.
Thomas Tharp, a sophomore, won all five of his round robin matches but just one against a varsity opponent. He pinned Richard Stokes of Central Academy of Excellence in just 33 seconds. In addition to an injury default victory, Tharp also won a pair of decisions — the closest 2-1 against Platte County’s Glen Gammill.
In addition to the two champions, West Platte’s Blake Davidson went 1-1 at 126 to finish second, while Justin Howard was 3-1 at 152 with a pin of Conway, normally at 145 for the Bluejays, to also claim a runner-up spot. Trelow (138) and Mason Taylor (170) both came in third place, while Wyatt Kleman was fourth at 145 with a pair of wins.
Platte County brought a junior varsity squad and finished fourth with 96 points in a field of 17 teams — nine of them varsity.
The Pirates put seven in the top four with Matt Dubreuil (126) winning a title and Gammill, Vincent Cesaro (106) and Carsten Jumps (113) finishing as runners-up. Brice Bills (third, 120), Omar Garcia (fourth, 132) and Garrett Watson (third, 160) were also medalists.
Garcia went 1-1 in his first two matches but injury defaulted his last three.