Park Hill and Platte County were both represented on the 120-pound gold-medal stand at the 95th Boys MSHSAA Wrestling Championships held Feb. 28 and March 1 at Mizzou Arena.
Erik Egstad of Park Hill and Jaxson Shute of Platte County were crowned state champions in Class 4 and Class 3, respectively, at 120 pounds.
Egstad’s Class 4 title at 120 pounds was his second state championship in the past three years, previously win- ning the 106-pound title in 2023. The four-time state qualifier had a dream conclusion to his Trojan career as a district and state champion.
On Day 1, Egstad was the beneficiary of a forfeit before his quarterfinal pin at 5:55 against Seckman’s Carson Owens. On Day 2, Egstad got a semifinal triumph after pinning Jackson’s Grady Rice at 4:55, setting the Trojan up for the first-place match.
In his final match wearing the Park Hill singlet, Egstad etched his name further into Park Hill wrestling history. He became the 19th Trojan to win multiple state championships after earning an 8-1 decision in the championship match against Hickman’s Hogan Benter.
Shute’s state championship was the first 120-pound championship claimed by Platte County in the 42 years the di- vision has been up for competition.
The Pirate history-maker started with a technical fall victory against Christian Benhumea of McDonald County before a 4-1 decision in the quarter- final against Brenton Drummond of DeSoto. Shute booked his first-place match after an 8-4 decision against Carter Foglesong of Carl Junction.
In the championship match against Hannibal’s Austin Brown, Shute trailed 4-2 going into the final seconds. The Pirate sophomore found an extra gear to score a three-point takedown just before the clock expired, dramatically securing his first state title with a 5-4 decision.
Platte County finished fourth overall in Class 3 with 103.5 team points, narrowly topping St. Michael the Arch- angel. The Pirates benefitted from Shute’s 23.5 points alongside other placers.
Evan MacCuish (150 pounds) and Cole Johnson (215 pounds) both finished second in their divisions. MacCuish wrapped up his career at Platte County as a district champion and state runner-up after giving the Pirates 19 points from a major decision win and two standard decision wins before losing the championship match via major decision to Whitfield’s Rome Tate. Johnson delivered 22 points with two pins and a decision before falling in the championship to Jackson Rotterman of St. Pius X.
The Pirates had two more fifth-place finishers at state through Cade Craw- ford (106 pounds) and Darrell Smith (157 pounds).
Crawford was sent to the consolations after a quarterfinal defeat, but battled back to take fifth after pinning Warrenton’s Nathan Donovan within 25 seconds. Smith also lost his quarterfinal and went through the consolations before pinning Kamron Watson of Hazelwood East to take fifth.
Park Hill narrowly missed a spot on the Class 4 podium, finishing seventh and 2.5 points behind sixth-place Christian Brothers College. Egstad delivered the Trojans 28 team points and found assistance from three other placers.
Sammy Mormino (165 pounds) and Mason Brayfield (113 pounds) both finished second. Mormino had 23 points after a pin and two tech falls before Hickman’s Luke Hayden got the pin in the championship match. Mason Brayfield got a tech fall and a pair of decision victories before losing a major decision to Kaison Schreier of Fort Osage for first.
Caden Brayfield’s fourth-place finish rounded out Park Hill at 106 pounds. The sophomore went into the consolation rounds after his quarterfinal de- feat and took fourth after losing the third-place match with a 6-1 decision favoring Kosta Hatzigeorgiou of Christian Brothers College.