KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Freshmen don’t operate with the typical learning curve when entering Park Hill’s starting lineup.
The perennial powerhouse didn’t want to make any excuses Saturday, Dec. 1 in the Park Hill Duals Invitational at Park High School. Minus two starters to start the day and minus one more due to injury, the Trojans didn’t lead in the decisive dual against Waukee (Iowa) until the dual ended.
Park Hill freshman Tyson Moore completed a solid debut tournament with a first period pin of Jermaine Samler at 145 pounds to deliver the Trojans a dramatic 33-32 win and the result needed to take the tournament title.
“Was it the way I drew it up? Definitely not,” first-year Park Hill coach Jacob Beck said. “But those are fun battles. It was a great dual. (Waukee) wrestled us super hard, put us in tough positions and tested us very well so it was fun to watch.”
Park Hill (6-0) garnered the No. 1 seed in its 27th annual home tournament but went in shorthanded with junior state medalists Ashton Sharp and Trey Crawford out. Further complicating the lineup, Phoenix Thomas suffered an apparent head injury in a win over Lebanon to leave the Trojans with an open for the final three of five duals.
Depth won out for nationally ranked Park Hill with senior Devin Winston (195, a two-time state finalist and 2017 state champion), sophomores Ethen Miller (126) and Grayston DiBlasi (132) and freshman Kal Miller (120) going a perfect 5-0 on the day.
ROSS MARTIN/Special to the Citizen
Park Hill’s Ethen Miller, top, battles Waynesville’s Kevin Cruz in a 126-pound match on Saturday, Dec. 1 at the Park Hill Duals in Kansas City, Mo. Miller won the match by a pin. The Trojans won the team title
Park Hill came in after opening the season the night before with a 40-26 win over nationally ranked Broken Arrow (Okla.).
“We work hard,” Beck said. “We want it to be tough so we can have tests. We don’t schedule these teams to come here — Broken Arrow and all these teams — to have an easy road. We want to see who we are.”
Park Hill didn’t receive much of a challenge in five duals outside of the matchup with Waukee, which ended up second despite having the No. 3 seed.
The dual started at 152 with Waukee taking a forfeit due to Thomas’ absence. Park Hill senior Carter Goslee followed with a pin to tie the score at 6-6, but the Warriors were winners by decision at 170 and major decision at 182 to take a 13-6 advantage.
Winston scored a quick pin to close the gap to one, but Park Hill trailed 29-12 after the 113 matchup, leaving the Trojans with five matches to make up the difference.
Kal Miller won a 5-1 decision at 120 for Park Hill to start a run of three straight wins. Overall, the Trojans won just six of 14 weight classes, but pins from Ethen Miller and Grayston DiBlasi in the next two matches provided the big points needed to give them a chance at the comeback.
“They know the situation,” Beck said. “They’ve wrestled for years. They’re going to try and get a fall no matter what, but it’s great for them to actually be in that situation where they have to do that. We’re looking for individual effort on every basis.”
Park Hill ended up winning four of the final five matchs, and Trey Safford keeping the score to 3-0 in a decision loss at 138 provided the final opening. Waukee went into the final match with a 32-27 lead, meaning Moore needed a pin to win.
After scoring the initial takedown, Moore worked Sammler into a cradle and got the pin at 1 minute, 32 seconds. Moore went 4-1 on the day with lone loss a 4-0 decision for Waynesville senior and returning Class 4 state medalist Gaven Sax.
“It’s huge for (Moore),” Beck said. “He works hard in the room every day. He’s learning on a daily basis. He wants to be in that position.”
Park Hill opened the tournament with a 71-0 whitewash of Lewis Central (Iowa). Lebanon — a surprise third-place finisher in the Black Pool — won just three matches against the Trojans, who had four pins and five decisions in a balanced 48-18 victory.
Against Waynesville, Park Hill was open at 152 after Thomas’ injury in the dual with Lebanon but had wins by fall, injury default or forfeit from Goslee, senior Blake Hopson (170), Justin Partridge (182) and Winston to from down 9-0 to up 24-9. Simon Tesfamarian followed with a major decision at 220 before Waynesville won its final match of the dual at 285.
Park Hill closed out the 61-15 win with five more pins or forfeits, a run starting with freshmen Cael Keck (106) and Ryker Smith (113). Then came the Trojans come-from-behind effort against Waukee.
Kearney, which earned the No. 2 seed, entered the final dual already with two losses and couldn’t spring the upset.
Goslee lost a tight 6-5 decision to Coby Aebersold at 160 to start the dual, but Park Hill won the next four by pin or forfeit — Hopson, Partridge, Winston and Tesfamarian — to take the lead for good. Kearney closed to within 24-23 with three straight wins, but Kal Miller won a 13-0 major decision over 2017 state finalist and two-time state medalist James Freitag at 120.
Park Hill went on to win 50-23.