It was a good day to be an area wrestler.
Competing during the opening day of the MSHSAA Wrestling Championships at the Mizzou Arena in Columbia, 26 of the area’s 39 state qualifiers survived through the first two rounds.
That included 18 first-round winners and eight wrestleback winners. A total of 13 area wrestlers were eliminated from action on the opening day.
The best success came in Class 3, where 12 won in the opening round, six won in wrestlebacks and only three were eliminated.
Among the area’s Class 2 wrestlers, six won first-round matches, two won in the wrestlebacks and 10 were eliminated.
Washington was the area’s most successful team, holding third place in Class 3 with 26 points after one day.
Neosho led the field with 45 points with Platte County holding second at 30 points. Farmington and Kearney shared fourth place with 24 points apiece.
Washington advanced all 10 of its wrestlers to the second day with six first-round winners and four wrestleback winners.
Union also had a perfect first day with all five of its qualifiers making it through the second day. Three won in the opening round and two made it through wrestlebacks.
Union was tied for ninth after one day with Carthage. Both teams had 17 points and were just 1.5 points out of seventh.
Pacific, which advanced three first-round winners, but lost three others, stood 19th with 9.5 points.
Oak Grove led the Class 2 team standings with 30.5 points. Fulton was second at 28 and Fulton and Kirksville were tied for third with 27 points apiece.
Owensville led the area teams in Class 2 after one day of action with seven points, good for a 25th-place tie.
St. Clair was 27th with six points. St. James, which had both qualifiers win in the opening round, was 32nd at four points and Sullivan was 37th with three points.
First-Round Winners
Class 3:
• Washington’s Cody Gardner (120) picked up a 14-6 major decision against Republic’s Tanner (Willis) Edgen.
• Washington’s Nicholas Solter (126) pinned Ft. Zumwalt North’s Eric Byers in 2:49.
• Washington’s Cole Hamai (138) earned a 2-0 decision over Willard’s Connar Loderhose.
• Washington’s Spencer Baird (152) picked up a 9-0 major decision over Kearney’s Jaxton Bingham.
• Washington’s Caleb Summers (160) picked up a 12-11 decision over Hillcrest’s Jesse Kerr.
• Washington’s Kyle Summers (170) pinned Westminster Christian’s Brink Thompson in 2:25.
• Union’s Alex Gaebe (138) picked up a 9-1 major decision against Neosho’s Jason Box.
• Union’s Devon Fennessey (145) pinned Carthage’s Tommy Bradshaw in 40 seconds.
• Union’s Dalton Kuenzel (160) pinned Neosho’s Chance Branstetter in 3:45.
• Pacific’s Josh Franek (106) earned a 16-0 technical fall over Staley’s Seth Otis.
• Pacific’s Jeff Miller (132) edged Belton’s Clay Stine by an 8-7 decision.
• Pacific’s Austin Repp pinned Chaminade’s Alec Chrismer in 1:21.
Class 2:
• St. Clair’s Skyler Hutchison (182) pinned St. Charles West’s Ryan Meyer in 1:12.
• St. Clair’s Matt Gordon (195) opened a 3-1 sudden victory winner over Will Simpson of Excelsior Springs.
• Sullivan’s William Corson (160) earned a sudden victory win over Owensville’s Cody Dolles, 7-5.
• Owensville’s Alton Harrell (195) pinned St. Charles West’s Andelson Perez in 2:34.
• Daniel Davis (138) of St. James earned a 7-5 sudden victory over Maurice Maggitt of Roosevelt.
• Marshall Woolsey (170) of St. James earned an 11-5 decision over Dalton Brinegar of Oak Grove.
Wrestleback Winners
Class 3:
• Washington’s Parker Neptune (113) lost his opening bout to Dylan Lisenbardt in 4:57, but rallied to pin Westminster Christian’s Joe Welker in 1:32.
• Washington’s Cody Summers (132) lost in the first round to Blake Clevenger of Kearney by a 10-2 major decision, but rallied to beat Ft. Zumwalt South’s Matthew Estrada, 5-2.
• Washington’s Logan Baird (195) lost a 3-0 decision to Staley’s Daltan Sweet, but came back with a 1:45 pin over Ft. Zumwalt North’s Evan Miller.
• Washington’s Matt Pecka (285) lost a close 2-1 decision to McCluer’s Xavier Jenkins but came back to take a 1-0 decision over Carthage’s Blaine Perry.
• Union’s Cody Pace (152) lost by a 3:43 pin to Oak Park’s Dominic Cervantes, but came back to pin Westminster Christian’s Keegan Brown in 1:43.
• Union’s Joe Lasky (220) lost by a 2:55 pin to McDonald County’s Jordan Moffett, but stayed alive with a 4:38 pin over Westminster Christian’s Wes Park.
Class 2:
• Sullivan’s Danton Creek (182) won his wrestleback match over Bolivar’s TJ Ridge, 8-3. Creek lost in the first round by a pin against Payton Turner of Mexico in 5:23.
• Owensville’s Christopher Dolles (170) lost a 12-2 major decision to Odessa’s Levi Turley in the opening round, but then came back to pin Joseph Yuede of Cape Notre Dame in the wrestleback round in 3:46.
Eliminated Wrestlers
Pacific
The only area school in Class 3 to have wrestlers knocked out on the opening day was Pacific, which lost half of its six qualifiers.
• Joseph Rind (120) lost his opener to Neosho’s River Buttram by an 18-3 technical fall. He then lost an 11-5 decision to Ft. Zumwalt North’s Trenton Jaco. Rind ended the season at 39-17.
• Joon Kim (145) was pinned by Kyle Hostetter of Neosho in 1:49 and James Culp of Warrensburg in 1:33. Kim ended the season at 22-28.
• Dalton Voyles (152) dropped his opener by a 12-1 major decision against Jayden Bears of Staley.
In the wrestlebacks, Willard’s Thomas Massengale earned a 5-3 sudden victory decision over Voyles. Voyles ended the season at 35-17.
St. Clair
Four of the six St. Clair wrestlers were knocked out on the first day.
• Ethan Koenig (113) lost by a pin in the opening round to Cameron’s Trevor Burkhart in 1:37.
He was eliminated by St. Charles West’s Austin Schuler on a 4-1 decision, ending the season at 18-19.
• Chris Algiere (120) lost by an 18-2 technical fall to Osage’s Chris Johnson. He was eliminated by Fulton’s Jason Pae by a 2:20 pin. Algiere finished the season with a 22-23 record.
• Chase Cohen (126) was pinned by Mexico’s Jordan Jones in 3:30.
In the wrestlebacks, he lost a 15-10 decision to Bret Rider of Excelsior Springs.
• Dustin Conner (170) lost an 8-0 major decision to Zach Benner of Fulton in the opening round.
In the wrestlebacks, Conner was pinned by Monett’s Wesley Abramovitz in 2:57. Conner ended the season at 26-8.
Sullivan
Only two of the seven Sullivan qualifiers lasted past the first two rounds. The five ending the season Thursday were:
• Austin Mertz (138) lost by a pin to Brian Dickey of Logan-Rogersville in 2:37 and then dropped a 3-0 decision to MICDS wrestler Nick Scherer. Mertz ended at 41-13.
• Clayton Mayer (152) dropped an 8-5 decision to Odessa’s Evan Young and then lost an 8-0 major decision to Mexico’s Samuel Fayad. Mayer went 37-19 this season.
• Alexander Crooks was pinned by Kirksville’s Kylan Easley in 4:37 and then knocked out by Haryl Starkey of Bolivar via injury default in 1:26. Crooks ended at 20-8.
• Dalton Turner (195) lost by a 1:43 pin to Smithville’s Jacob Bohlken and the lost a 3:19 pin to Kirksville’s Kade Proctor. Turner went 35-11.
• Luke Pryor (220) was pinned by Clinton’s Logan Nold in 3:13 and then dropped a 2:30 pin to Clayton Robinette of Smithville. Pryor finished the season at 31-11.
Owensville
Owensville lost only one of its three wrestlers.
• Cody Dolles (160) lost to Corson in the first round and was pinned by Cameron’s Kevin Sugden in the wrestlebacks in 1:55. He finished the season at 34-16.
Please check www.mshsaa.org for updates.
