Lucas Oitker capped off his Park Hill South wrestling career with his first medal, while Maddie Kubicki added to her impressive resume at state wrestling on Feb. 19.
Park Hill South Lucas Oitker, above, ended his high school wrestling career with his first ever state medal in the 220-weight class with a third-place finish at Mizzou Arena on Feb. 19.
Winning a state championship has become an anomaly for Kubicki as the junior has now won three straight titles and has done so with perfection. The 3:41 pin over Marquette junior Rebecca Strong gave Kubicki her 108th victory – with zero career losses – but the 141-pound Panther still isn’t satisfied.
“It just feels like part of the process I guess,” Kubicki said. “I’ve been doing it for so long that it just feels like another accomplishment down the road and there is a lot more to come, so you have to prepare for that.”
Before winning her third consecutive state title and 108th career match without a loss, Kubicki had three pins – two of which were under one minute – to advance to the championship. The junior pinned Katie Fitzgerald (Harrisonville) in 30 seconds, Lila Eckert (Sikeston) in 54 seconds and Taylor Johnson (Lebanon) in 1:42.
“I feel like other people try and make me feel like I have pressure like, ‘Oh, someone is going to be coming after you for that title to take it away from you,’ but I don’t let that affect me. I just go out there and do my thing; if someone is coming after me, I am just going to do my best to try and keep my streak going,” Kubicki said.
Aniya Coleman ended her junior campaign with a 27-16 overall record and 2-2 record at state in the 100-weight class. Coleman won every other match, starting with the opening round tie-breaker victory over Parkview’s Becca Waterman.
On the boys’ side, Oitker (220) entered the state tournament with only two losses on the season and pinned his first opponent – Peyton Nevels of Nixa – in 1:01. In the next round, Oitker received his only loss of the three days of wrestling action when Ethan Venable (Oakville) won on a 4-3 decision.
“I should have rode him out to finish the match, but I cut him and finished the match,” Oitker said. “I cut him and thought I’d just be able to dance and be okay. In a lot of people’s minds, they didn’t think it was two, but the ref said it was two, so I shouldn’t have put myself in that situation and that’s on me.”
Oitker bounced back with a 14-0 major decision win over Lee’s Summit North’s Hank Natali and a 3:56 pin over Poplar Bluff’s Desmond Howell. Oitker won on an 8-2 decision in the consolation semifinals to advance to the third-place match where he finished his Panther career off with a 5-1 decision victory over Jacob Stockard (Liberty North).
“It’s been a long ride since my freshman year and to finish top-3 in the hardest class, I’m blessed and it feels great, and I am truly shocked looking back. My freshman year I wasn’t the best – I was way above .500, but my senior year I ended it the way I wanted to and that was placing at state,” Oitker said.
The only other state qualifier on the Park Hill South boys’ wrestling team was senior Roger Guillory. The 195-pound wrestler was pinned in 5:55 in his first match of the tournament by Dylan Carlton from Seckman. Guillory bounced back with a pair of wins to advance to the third round of consolations.
The Panther advanced past Battle’s Elijah Segovia on a medical forfeit and pinned Ft. Zumwalt South’s William Pierce in 4:06. The Park Hill South senior’s wrestling career came to an end by the hands of Brennan Carey (Nixa), who won by fall in 37 seconds.