BELTON – Heading nearly an hour south to Belton High School, Platte County had a memorable weekend at the Class 3 District 4 Boys’ Wrestling Tournament on Feb. 16 and 17.
Platte County freshman Jaxson Shute holds the 106-pound district bracket alongside his three closest competitors after taking first place at Belton High School on Feb. 17.
Platte County was in a land of its own in third place, 18 points behind runner-up Helias Catholic and 27.5 points better than fourth-place Smithville. Finishing with 164.5 points, the Pirates missed out on a state berth as a team but have qualified nine wrestlers, including six finalists.
Along with two district champions, Jaxson Shute (106) and Jake Fernandez (215), Platte County senior 120-pounder Caden Hulett is a perfect 4-for-4 in trips to state. While Hulett has missed out on all-state honors in his first three years, he’s sitting at 32-11 on the year and will look to build off a second-place finish at districts.
Hulett opened districts up with a win by fall and 3-0 decision victory to make it to the championship. He met up with Kearney’s Ryder Shelton and lost on a 5-1 decision in what was his fourth time being a district finalist.
Shute has only lost three matches all season opposed to his 32 wins ahead of districts, so he opened up with two byes. The freshman took down Mlondani Emoyi (Van Horn) in the semifinals and beat Daemen Duemmel (Helias Catholic) in the championship.
Fernandez became a 4-time district champion in his fourth win of the weekend and his 150th career victory, a 9-7 decision win over Van Horn’s C.J. Nelson. Fernandez is the reigning 215-pound third-place wrestler after winning a state title in the 220-weight class as a junior and will look to bring home his third career state medal.
Platte County had three other wrestlers – Jack Johnson (144), Evan MacCuish (150) and Shane Leary (157) – become district runners-up. Johnson has posted an impressive 26-12 record in his freshman campaign and isn’t done yet, having high hopes at state.
MacCuish had never been a district finalist before and is looking to finish his junior year on a high note following a double-elimination state outing on the opening day a year ago. Leary’s final high school match will be at state as a No. 2 seed, having 32 wins and 15 losses so far.
Grant Fadler, Darrell Smith and Cole Johnson all made it to the third-place match at districts and all lost in that match, taking fourth place and earning a state berth.
Fadler makes it back to state for the second straight year, thanks to a bounce-back 12-7 decision win over Belton’s Adian Moody in the consolation semifinal. Smith lost both his state matches a year ago and will look for redemption with a current 18-10 record.
Cole Johnson was sitting at 9-9 on the season ahead of districts and did enough to become a 2-time state qualifier. He is one of nine Platte County wrestlers who will be gearing up for another week of practice ahead of the Class 3 State Championship at Mizzou Arena starting on Feb. 22.