Austin Repp and Jeff Miller, both juniors, earned all-state honors for Pacific Thursday through Saturday at the MSHSAA Wrestling Championships at Mizzou Arena in Columbia.
The Indians placed 14th in the Class 3 team standings with 41.5 points.
Repp won the 170-pound title with a 1-0 victory over Winnetonka’s Casey Bryan.
Repp (56-2) pinned his first three state foes, Chaminade’s Alec Chrismer in the first round in 1:21, Warrensburg’s Brett Marr in the quarterfinals in 1:31, and Farmington’s Garrison Jones in the semifinals in 2:25.
“It feels good to get where I finally am and where I’ve always wanted to be,” Repp said. “I’ve worked hard to get here.”
Repp, a three-time state qualifier, won his second state medal after placing third at 145 pounds last year.
“Austin really took his wrestling up a notch this season,” said Pacific Head Coach Rob Schimsa. “He worked harder in the room. He’s just very solid.”
Miller (48-9) finished in fifth place at 132 pounds to earn his second career medal in three trips to state. He also won a fifth-place medal last season.
Miller posted a 3-2 tournament record. He opened with an 8-7 win over Belton’s Clay Stine and followed that with a 14-4 major decision over McDonald County’s Josh Kinser in the quarterfinals.
In the semifinals, Miller was pinned by eventual and three-time state champion Nate Rodriguez of Neosho. He then lost to Carthage’s Seth Logan in the consolation semifinals.
Miller won the fifth-place match 10-3 over De Soto’s Aaron Minx, who he lost to in the district tournament.
“It was a good tournament. I wish I would have wrestled better in the wrestlebacks to get higher on the medal stand. I wrestled good in the fifth-place match. He beat me at districts 6-5, so I’m glad I got this one,” Miller said. “It was a good season. I hope to wrestle more this offseason and get better. I’m hoping to go up some weight classes, but we’ll see.”
Schimsa was pleased with Miller’s performance.
“Jeff wrestled a good revenge match for fifth place against Minx after losing to him at districts. He just wrestled his match,” Schimsa said. “I thought Jeff would finish in the top four, but he had a good season and a good tournament. I look for bigger things from him next year.”
Four other Indians competed at the state tournament.
Freshman Josh Franek (106) won his opening match by technical fall 16-0 over Staley’s Seth Otis.
Franek (47-7) then lost in the quarterfinals 5-2 to Ft. Zumwalt North’s Shaun Beeman and was eliminated in the wrestlebacks with an 11-7 loss to Ft. Zumwalt South’s Hunter Brazil.
“Josh wrestled in a tough weight class. He had a decent quarterfinal match and probably dwelled on it too much in the wrestlebacks,” Schimsa said. “Josh is a freshman who has a great future.”
Sophomore Joe Rind (120) was 0-2 in the event to end the season with a 39-17 record. He lost by technical fall 18-3 to Neosho’s River Buttram followed with an 11-5 loss to Ft. Zumwalt North’s Trenton Jaco in the wrestlebacks.
“Joe lost to a kid in the wrestlebacks who he probably should have beaten,” Schimsa said. “Joe is a solid wrestler who just had a bit of a hard time adjusting to wrestling at 120 pounds. He’ll get better.”
Senior Joon Kim (145) was 0-2 in the tourney to end with a 22-28 record. He was pinned by Neosho’s Kyle Hostetter in 1:49 and Warrensburg’s James Culp in 1:33.
“Joon is a third-year wrestler who never wrestled before that,” Schimsa said. “He was 1-14 last year, so he made huge improvements this year.”
Sophomore Dalton Voyles (152) was 0-2 at the event to end with a 35-17 record. He lost a 12-1 major decision to Staley’s Jayden Bears and followed with a 5-3 overtime loss to Willard’s Thomas Massengale.
“Dalton had a tough draw. He lost to a kid in the first round who ended up taking second place. Then he lost a heartbreaker in the wrestlebacks,” Schimsa said. “Dalton is a sophomore who has a great future ahead of him.”
Schimsa is optimistic about next year’s team.
“Five of our six state qualifers are coming back next year. We have some promising younger wrestlers in the program,” Schimsa said. “Hopefully we’ll be better in our heavier classes. I can see Dalton moving up to 170 or 182 and Austin at 170 or 182. I think we’ll be sitting pretty good. There’s a good shot for a top 10 state finish.”
