Two of Mid-Buchanan’s three qualifiers for the Class 1 Missouri State Wrestling Championships will hail from North Platte.
Parker Rotterman (145 pounds) and Jake Williams (126 pounds) were both top-four finishers for Mid-Buchanan on Saturday, Feb. 13 in the Class 1 District 3 tournament held in Lawson, Mo. Both compete for the Dragons as part of a cooperative agreement between the two schools.
Mid-Buchanan finished ninth out of 16 teams in the final team standings.
A junior, Rotterman won his first district title to advance to state for the first time. He improved to 37-16 this season, upsetting No. 2 seed Colton Williams of Lawson in the semifinals (5-2 decision) before topping No. 4 seed Justin Wright in the final (3-2 decision).
Jake Williams finished fourth to earn a second straight trip to state.
Reaching the semifinals at 126, Williams won a technical fall in the bubble round but lost 4-2 to Lafayette County’s Cody Rankin in the third-place match. Williams, a sophomore, went 1-2 at state in the 120 bracket last year.
West Platte also ended up with three qualifiers, coming in one spot back of Mid-Buchanan in the team standings.
Justin Rhodes, a senior for the Bluejays, won his fourth straight district title, upping his career win total to 192 with a 3-2 decision against Holden’s Andrew Martin, ranked No. 4 at 152 pounds according to missouriwrestling.com. Ranked No. 1, Rhodes (47-1) enters state looking for his third career medal after runner-up finishes in 2013 at 126 and 2015 at 152.
The state bracket for 152 puts Rhodes in position for a quarterfinal rematch with South Harrison’s Mason Doll, who handed him his lone loss on the season.
West Platte’s other two qualifiers went through the consolation bracket after losing in the quarterfinals. Michael Devers (195) and Cameron Johnson (220) will both be first-time qualifiers after fourth-place finishes.
Devers, a senior, needed a 3-2 win in ultimate tiebreaker to beat Lexington’s Kwamae Simmons in the consolation semifinals to earn his spot. Johnson lost twice to Lone Jack’s Justin Leath, the second a 4-2 decision with a takedown in overtime.