North Platte senior Parker Rotterman repeated as a champion, while West Platte junior Brayan Rodriguez earned his first berth to the Class 1 Missouri State Wrestling Championships over the weekend.
Rotterman, who wrestles for Mid-Buchanan as part of a cooperative agreement, topped the 152-pound bracket in the Class 1 District 4 tournament with a dramatic victory Saturday, Feb. 11 in Lathrop, Mo. but ended up with a tough draw in his return to state. Rodriguez reached the 132 final to guarantee his spot as the Bluejays’ lone qualifier.
Ranked No. 5 in Class 1 at 152 according to missouriwrestling.com, Rotterman ended up with the No. 2 seed but rolled into the finals with three first period pins.
The final required more than three periods to win. Facing off with unbeaten Colton Williams of Lawson, the match went into overtime at 1-1 and remained at that score after a 1-minute sudden death period. The two then exchanged escapes in two 30-second tiebreaker periods, sending the match to ultimate tiebreaker.
With the option of choice after scoring first, Rotterman chose down in the final 30-second period and earned an escape for a 3-2 victory, improving to 42-8 overall. He’s believed to be the first two-time district champion in history for North Platte, which shuttered its program after the 2011-12 season.
As a freshman, Rotterman missed state by just one win but then missed his entire sophomore season while recovering from a broken femur. He surged to an upset title at 145 in the Class 1 District 3 tournament a year ago, a run that included a semifinal win against Williams before going 1-2 at state.
Rotterman enters state looking for his first medal but faces a potential second round matchup with No. 2-ranked Seneca senior Trey Smith after he lost 4-2 to No. 1-ranked Jarrett Jacques of Father Tolton Catholic in Saturday’s District 2 final.
West Platte finished 14th out of 15 teams in the final standings but kept its streak of sending at least one wrestler on to state alive.
Rodriguez, who didn’t wrestle last year, was the No. 3 seed at 132 but avenged a prior loss by beating Plattsburg junior Gage Rush in a 7-2 decision in the semifinals. Lawson freshman Tyler Ross (41-4) won a 16-0 technical fall in the finals to earn the district title.
As a freshman, Rodriguez missed state qualification by one match at 120. He improved to 25-10 in his return season but faces a potential matchup with No. 1-ranked Alex Hollingsworth of Lexington in the quarterfinals.
Blake Davidson (126) missed qualification for West Platte by just one match after winning two in a row in the consolation bracket. Justin Howard (152) and Mason Taylor (170) were the only other two to win matches for the Bluejays, who brought a roster of seven.