Platte County had five wrestlers reach place matches at the annual Cheesehead Invitational held Jan. 3-4 in Kaukauna, Wisc.
The Pirates didn’t take a full lineup to the competition with teams from throughout the United States competing
The highlight of the event was a fifth-place showing from Eli Rocha.
The sophomore posted five wins in the event, including four in a row to reach the semifinals.
Rocha got wins by major decision, pins and a decision in pool matches. He then bested Chris Kelly of St. Paris Graham (Ohio) by a 6-1 decision in the quarterfinals.
In the semifinals, Army commit Cameron Johnson of Aurora Christian posted a 3-1 win against Rocha.
In the consolation portion, Rocha lost 6-4 against Joel Jesuorga of Southeast Polk (Iowa)
Rocha, a sophomore, ended with a win by medical forfeit against Logan Vaughn of Kasson-Mantorville in the fifth-place match.
The next highest finisher was Grant Stathopoulos (113), who took 14th place after losing his final match to Chase Shortreed of DeForest, Wisc.
Jesse Schillinger (220) went 2-2 and took 18th place for Platte County.
Trey Phan (120) took 21st place, getting four wins, while Jonathan Owens (195) was 22nd.
59th annual Joe Crouthers Invitational
Park Hill took a mix of varsity and JV wrestlers to the Winnetonka meet and took eighth place on Saturday, Jan. 4 in Kansas City.
The Trojans took eighth place in the deep field, which was won by Liberty North.
Four wrestlers reached the third-place match for Park Hill, winning three of them.
Josef Moreno (113), Antonio Pacheco (126) and Jack Vande Ven (152) ended with a win, while Logan Lasater (285) took fourth place.
Moreno went 4-1 and ended with a 9-2 decision over Staley’s Nick Kanatzar in the third-place match.
Pacheco lost his first match but then won four straight, capped with a 7-2 decision against Ethan Hunter of St. Pius X.
Vande Ven lost in the semifinals to Khayman Tatum of Liberty North by a 7-3 decision but won his next two matches to take third. He beat Ethan Reicks of Riverside Community by a pin, while pinning Oak Park’s Logan Linard in the third-place match.
Lasater also reached the semifinals but lost by a pin, but pinned John Hughes of North Kansas City in the consolation bracket. In the third-place match, Truman’s David Brack got a 7-5 decision over Lasater.