With last year’s only two state qualifiers both graduating, the Park Hill South boys’ wrestling team will look at a new set of athletes this winter.
Park Hill South junior Connor Jackson is a set to be three-year starter and brings back wrestling skill and talent.
The Panthers have six seniors – Dylan Taylor, Connor Detty, Logan Schilling, Ashton Kuhn, Taylor Zehr and Jordan Hilsinger – who lack state exposure, but have wrestling experience. Park Hill South boys head wrestling coach Corey Sterling tells the Platte County Citizen who he expects to make the jump to the state level.
“Dylan Taylor has worked extremely hard this offseason, has shown great leadership to start the season and seems dedicated to achieving his goals,” Sterling said. “Ashton Kuhn has improved from last season to this season and sophomore Tobi Falubi has potential this season.”
Connor Jackson is returning as a junior and this will be his third year in the Panthers’ starting lineup. Junior Marcus Parker has had an impressive start to the season as well, winning all of his matches by fall.
“With us being in one of the toughest – if not the toughest – district in the state, it’s really challenging to get wrestlers qualified. At any given weight-class you are looking at multiple wrestlers ranked in the top-5 in the state and some weight classes with multiple wrestlers ranked nationally. With that said, I think we have multiple wrestlers that are on the verge of being state qualifiers this season,” Sterling said.
Park Hill South is in the loaded Class 4 District 4 with 16 total teams, including a few conference opponents. The Panthers have shifted over to the Silver Division in the Kansas City Suburban Conference this season, as well.
“Our goal is to be competitive in every dual we have this year, to continue to get better as the year goes on and to learn how to do things the right way. We have a lot of great senior leadership that we will rely on this year, so we’ll go as far as they take us,” Sterling said.