Platte County’s EmmaLyn Burnett took fourth place in the 125-weight class in the Kansas City Stampede at Bartle Hall on Dec. 16.
KANSAS CITY – Jake Fernandez, Nicole Fernandez and Emmalyn Burnett stood out for the Platte County wrestling team when the trio came away with medals from the Kansas City Stampede at Bartle Hall on Dec. 16.
The tournament takes place over two days with schools from all over traveling to compete. Jake Fernandez had the best finish for the Platte County boys as the fourth place overall among 215-pounders.
Fernandez opened the tournament up with a 10-2 major decision over Ezra Waege (Luxemburg-Casco) before back-to-back wins by fall to advance to the quarterfinals. The Pirates pulled out an 8-7 decision against Fort Osage’s Gavin Gallman, then lost in a tiebreaker to Buford’s Aaron Riner.
Fernandez fought his way to the third-place match and lost into another tiebreaker, this time to Avery Clark (Thompson). To get to that match, the Platte County senior won a 1-0 decision in a match with Christopher Wash Jr. (Shawnee-Mill Valley).
Fernandez was the only Platte County boy to be undefeated on the opening day. Jaxson Shute ended the tournament with a 5-2 record to earn 13.5 points as the 106-pounder was pinned in the second round and lost on a 4-1 decision to Park Hill’s Mason Brayfield in his last match.
Shane Leary had a solid outing in the 157-weight class after being pinned in his first match. Leary pulled out a 21-1 major decision versus Lawdon Tanck (Luxemburg-Casco) and followed that with two straight pins before losing on a 3-2 decision to Ethan Turner (Farmington).
In the 285-weight class, Quinn Lightle claimed nine points with four wins and two losses. Caden Hulett earned his 100th career win at the tournament but was double eliminated after four 120-pound matches.
Grant Fadler had 1.5 points with a 2-2 record in the 132-weight class to help Platte County finish with 59 total points. The Pirates took 41st place out of 74 varsity teams.
For the girls, Burnett moves to 17-6 on the year after taking fourth place in the 125-weight class. She won five matches by fall in the tournament with her first loss being by a pin to Jefferson’s Millie Hughes in the quarterfinals.
Nicole Fernandez claimed sixth place in the 190-weight class, pinning her first two opponents to reach the semifinals where she was pinned in her next three matches. She currently has an 8-10 record after the KC Stampede.
Platte County 170-pounder Alivia Juarez was pinned by Sienna Batiste (Klein) in the first match and responded with back-to-back wins by fall. In what ended up being her final match of the tournament, Juarez was pinned by Alyssa Bartlett from Paola.
In the 235-weight class, Madeleine Stone went 2-2 – with both her wins being pins – to earn six points. Taylor Lavery (145), Mila Cucchiara (140), Charley Sims (120) and Karrington Friddell all earned three points for Platte County.