Platte County finished pretty much in the middle of an elite 31-team field over the weekend.
Making a trip to the Cheesehead Invitational for a second straight year, the Pirates didn’t have any finalists but ended up with five medalists in Kaukauna, Wisc. Cody Phippen (113 pounds) and Casey Jumps (220) both reached the semifinals of their brackets, helping Platte County put up 251 points.
Platte County was 15th overall.
A junior, Phippen finished second at 106 in his first Cheesehead trip but needed a 2-0 win in ultimate tiebreaker over Lockport (Ill.)’s Anthony Molton to win his 113 pool this year. Phippen then won a 1-0 decision in quarterfinals before losing 5-3 to Ryan Sokol of Simley (Minn.), who ended up as runner-up.
Phippen beat Molton for a second time in the consolation bracket, and a 5-0 decision over Noah Surtin of Edwardsville (Ill.) put Phippen third for Platte County’s best finish.
A fifth-place finisher at 220 last year at Cheesehead, Jumps also needed a tight 9-8 decision against Aric Bohn of Mukwonago (Wisc.) to win his pool this year. Jumps also reached the semifinals before losing 4-2 to Evan Foster of St. Michael-Albertville (Minn.) to enter the consolation bracket.
Jumps also reached the third place match but lost to Mohn in a rematch, this one a lower-scoring 5-3 decision.
Dakota Schmidt (170) and Sage Smart (195) — both juniors — were pool runners-up for Platte County. Both lost in the quarterfinals but battled back for a consolation win to before losing two straight to finish the tournament.
Schmidt and Smart were both sixth-place finishers.
Austin Kincaid (126), another junior, also finished second in his pool for Platte County but lost three straight to end up eighth with the team’s final medal. Last season, the Pirates were sixth in the team standings in 2016 with only four medalists — three of them finalists, including Phippen.
Platte County 78, Park Hill South 0
Tight decision victories for Nick Filger and Bradley Poos highlighted the Pirates’ shutout Tuesday, Jan. 3 at Park Hill South High School in Riverside, Mo.
Starting at 106, the dual featured six pins and six forfeits for Platte County, nearly leading to a perfect score of 84. After pins from Phippen (113), Blake Bils (120) and Kincaid (126), Filger took a 5-3 decision over Park Hill South’s Andrew Mikuls in the 138 match.
The two were tied 2-2 after two periods when Filger turned Mikuls, one match away from qualifying for the Class 4 Missouri State Wrestling Championships last season, to score the winning three points.
Platte County’s Jackson Phan (145) and Colton Davis (152) also had pins before Poos’ 4-3 decision at 160. He grabbed a 2-0 lead on Park Hill South’s Cameron Gillespie with a takedown in the first period before an exchange of reversals made it 4-2 in favor of Poos entering the third period. Poos survived despite giving up a late caution penalty point.
Matthew Knopp finished off the dual with a first period pin at 285 for Platte County.