Park Hill junior Allison Gonier was a reigning state champion but came up short of that title and becoming the 120-pound fourth-place finisher at the Class 4 State Wrestling Championships at Mizzou Arena on Feb. 24.
COLUMBIA – Park Hill was stunned twice in the Class 2 State Girls’ Wrestling Championship when Allison Gonier and Angelina Vargas were upset and came up short of state titles at Mizzou Arena on Feb. 24.
With the Park Hill junior duo being reigning state champions in their respective weight classes, Gonier and Vargas both ended with state medals but not first-place finishes. Gonier was the fourth-place 120-pound wrestler and Vargas was the runner-up in the 125-weight class.
Gonier was knocked off in the semifinals in a 10-1 decision loss to Kailey Benson (Francis Howell Central). Gonier responded with a 1-0 decision win over Hannah Henderson (Lafayette) to make it to the third-place match.
Gonier met with Jazlyn Smith-Freeman (Smith-Cotton) in the final match of the season and once again fell short, being pinned in 4:54. The Park Hill junior has never finished a winter without a state medal and has a chance to bring home another next year.
Vargas cruised her way to the championship – opening the tournament with a 26-second and 25-second pin – to meet up with Ft. Zumwalt South’s Jena Gumahin. The 125-pound wrestlers were in a battle before Gumahin eventually pinned Vargas in 4:19.
Vargas is also a 3-time state medalist and entered the state championship match with a 32-1 record on the season. She will look to get back to work this offseason and finish her high school career with another state title.
The Lady Trojans sent three other wrestlers to state, but all of them were double eliminated on the first day. Ava Myers (105), Reilly Kastner (130) and Rylin Beatty (135) ended their seasons with a trip to the biggest stage.
For the Park Hill boys, who of the five Trojans were all-state wrestlers. Mason Brayfield took fifth place in the 106-weight class and Erik Egstad earned third place in the 113-weight class.
Brayfield kicked off the tournament with back-to-back wins by decision before losing his next two versus Eli Porter from Northwest (Cedar Hill) and Gunner Dahms from Staley. Brayfield met up with Tanner Putt from Carthage in the fifth-place match and the Trojan prevailed with a 4-0 decision.
Egstad’s sole loss of the weekend came in the semifinals on a 13-2 major decision to Hank Benter (Hickman). Egstad responded with a 4-3 decision over Cade Dunn (Liberty) and a 3-0 decision over Chase Gray (Francis Howell Central), becoming an all-stater.
Out of the three Park Hill wrestlers who fell short of medaling, Noah Johnson was the only one who won more than one match. The 144-pounder went 2-2 at districts to finish 27-12 on the season.
Sammy Mormino’s only win out of three tries came against 150-pounder Kaleb Belcher Northwest (Cedar Hill) in the first round of wrestlebacks. Park Hill senior Jim Humphrey fell short in both of his state matches to end an impressive high school career.