The Mid-Buchanan wrestling team took fourth place at the Panther Classic on Saturday, Feb. 8 in Oak Grove.
The Dragons held their own against some top-tier competition in the field. Monett, the Class 2 champion, was the tournament champions. Fort Osage was second and Blue Springs took third.
Four different North Platte students placed for the Dragons, part of a co-op between the KCI Conference schools.
Aden Woolard had the highest finish of the North Platte contingent by placing fifth. He won his final two matches, pinning Fort Osage’s Conner Barney and then Belton’s Kalvin Cochran in the fifth-place match.
Clayton Rotterman (120) and Seth Cruz (195) were both sixth-place finishers.
Rotterman got two wins and lost twice to Marshall’s Tytus Bellamy, including by a pin in the fifth-place match.
Cruz won two matches as well but lost 3-1 in sudden death overtime against Belton’s Alex Hill.
JP Hartigan (220) finished eighth, falling by a pin to William Chrisman’s Lyndon Shell Jr. in the seventh-place match.
OTHER MATCHES
Grain Valley 45, Platte County 28
The Pirates won five matches against the Eagles in a Suburban Conference Blue Division win on Tuesday, Feb. 4.
Draiden Chilcoat (106) won by forfeit for Platte County, while Trey Phan (132) got a 13-4 major decision against Austin Pederson. Ben McDaniel (160) pinned Jayden Jacobson, before the Pirates won two in a row as Jonathan Owen (195) and Jesse Schillinger (1220) each won by pins.
Mid-Buchanan 72, St. Joseph Lafayette 12
Mid-Buchanan 78, Stanberry 6
The Dragons got three wins from North Platte students in a thrashing of the Fighting Irish and four against Stanberry on Senior Night on Tuesday, Feb. 4 in Faucett.
Clayton Rotterman (120) pinned Austin Allen in 1:25 to get the dual started against Lafayette. Seth Cruz (195) pinned Brett Lynch in 58 seconds, while JP Hartigan (220) got a forfeit victory.
Facing the Bulldogs of Stanberry, Rotterman, Aden Woolard (182), Cruz and Hartigan all won by forfeits.
West Platte Invitational
The Bluejays took third place and the Platte County JV team was fifth in the West Platte Invitational, held on Saturday, Feb. 1 in Weston.
West Platte had 112 points, while the Pirates JV team had 82 points. Piper High School from Kansas City, Kan., won the meet, while Liberty North JV was second.
West Platte’s Josh Brown (113) won a championship, posting a 4-0 mark and getting three wins by fall.
Peyson Chandler (126), Cameron Williams (145), Jacob Brown (170) and Lamar Henderson (195) were all runners-up for West Platte. Williams and Jacob Brown each had a first-place match, while the other results were from pool matches.
Macon McDonald (220) finished third for West Platte, going 3-2.
Platte County’s Jessie Schillinger (220) went 5-0 and beat Liberty North JV’s Charles Donnici by a 10-5 decision in the first-place match.
Mason Greer (106) took third for the Pirates.
Benton Dual Tournament
Mid-Buchanan went 3-2 at the Benton Dual Tournament on Saturday, Feb. 1 in St. Joseph.
The Dragons beat Savannah, 46-34; Lincoln College Prep, 60-21 and St. Joseph Lafayette, 69-12.
Aden Woolard (182) pinned Landon Berger, while Seth Cruz (195) followed with a pin against Dillon Spicer against Savannah.
Facing Lincoln College Prep, Clayton Rotterman (120) and Woolard each got wins by forfeits for Mid-Buchanan.
Woolard got another forfeit win against Lafayette, while Rotterman, Cruz and JP Hartigan (220) each got pins.
Lawson beat Mid-Buchanan 51-27, while Pleasant Hill defeated the Dragons 42-25.
Cruz got the lone win by North Platte wrestlers against Lawson, pinning Blayne Pike in 2:59. Cruz also had the lone win by a Panther against Pleasant Hill, winning by forfeit.
Mid-Buchanan 40, Gallatin 30
The Dragons beat the Bulldogs in a dual on Thursday, Jan. 30 in Gallatin.
The lone win for a North Platte wrestler came from JP Hartigan (220), who won by a forfeit.
KCI Night No. 3
Mid-Buchanan 37, Lawson 36
Mid-Buchanan 63, Plattsburg 15
Mid-Buchanan 45, Lathrop 27
The Dragons won a KCI Conference title for the first time since 2009 during KCI Night No. 3 on Tuesday, Jan. 28 in Lathrop.
Two North Platte students got wins against Lathrop, with Clayton Rotterman (120) getting a 6-5 decision against Noah Walters, while Seth Cruz (195) pinned Xander Mavel in 4:46.
Rotterman and Cruz got wins against Plattsburg.
Rotterman pinned Lathrop’s Jaiden DeFries in 4:53 for the only win by a North Platte grappler in this dual.
Smithville 42, Platte County 28
The Warriors got a Suburban Conference Blue Division win on Tuesday, Jan. 28 in Platte City.
Trey Phan (126), Eli Rocha (132), Ben McDaniel (160), Drake Lacina (170), Gabe Harmon (182) and Jonathan Owen (195) all got wins for the Pirates.
Phan, Lacina and Harmon all won by pins, while Owen got a 3-1 win sudden victory in overtime.
KCI Night No. 2
Mid-Buchanan 78, West Platte 0
Mid-Buchanan 60, Penney 24
All four Dragons wrestlers from North Platte got pins against West Platte in a double dual on Tuesday, Jan. 28 in Plattsburg.
Clayton Rotterman (120) pinned McKanan Reade in 1:28, while Aden Woolard (182) pinned Lane Scott in 1:01. Seth Cruz (195) pinned Lamar Henderson in 1:15, while JP Hartigan (220) got a pin against Mason McDonald in 1:43.
Rotterman got a win by forfeit against the Hornets.