#1 St. Pius X (Kansas City) takes on #2 St. Michael the Archangel

It was a match both teams look forward to every year.

But this season, the matchup was even bigger as the St. Pius X and St. Michael The Archangel Catholic boys wrestling teams faced off in a dual featuring teams expected to be in the running for a team state championship.

Wrestler Interviews:

• St. Pius X’s Noah Gonzalez (165)
• St. Pius X’s Jackson Rotterman (190)
• St. Pius X’s Marco Dalkishvili (150)
• St. Michael’s Parker Lutz (113)
• St. Michael’s Sampson Stillwell (285)
• St. Michael’s Lucas Estes (175)
• St. Michael head coach Matt Infranca
• St. Michael’s Lucas Barry (132)

Currently, the Warriors are ranked No. 1 in the Class 1 MissouriWrestling.com team poll, while St. Michael is No. 2 behind Odessa in the Class 2 rankings. In the clash between two Kansas City area powerhouses, the Warriors beat the Guardians for the first time in a 39-30 victory Thursday at St. Michael The Archangel Catholic High School.

“It is a big dual for us because we have never beat them before,” St Pius senior Marco Dalakishvili said. “Beating them is a big step for our program.”

Senior Jackson Rotterman, ranked No. 1,(190) sealed the victory for his Warriors after three near falls in a 17-1 tech fall win over No.-4 ranked Brodie Purtle. During the freestyle season in the summer, Rotterman and Purtle match up often, but this was the senior’s first time facing the St. Michael sophomore in Folkstyle.

“He’s a stud,” Rotterman said of Purtle. “I love wrestling him.”

During the match, Rotterman was able to stay on his feet on a pair of occasions where Purtle got a hold of his leg for a takedown attempt.

 Whenever guys get in our legs, we just have to be comfortable there,” he said. “When I practice against Ty (Ward), he gets on my legs all the time. We are comfortable there.”

Dalakishvili (150) and junior Noah Gonzalez (165) also notched some big victories for the Warriors on Wednesday.

Dalakishvili said he wanted to have fun in his match and did so in the 1 minute and 5 seconds it lasted as he pinned Jongwoo Na. 

“I was just trying to have some fun and throw in some headlocks,” Dalkishvili said. “I didn’t get to throw one, so I just got in and out.”

Photo Gallery by Mark Lundy

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Gonzalez also ended his match early as he pinned Griffin Moses in 1:45.

“I was just feeling the kid out and not force anything,” Gonzalez said. “Once I took him down, I got him in my crossface cradle and got the pin.”

For St. Michael, sophomore Parker Lutz (113), who is ranked No. 2 in his weight class, had a marquee matchup vs. Dylan Hall, who is ranked No. 3 in his division. 

Lutz managed to get four takedowns on his way to a 10-3 decision to help tie the dual at 3-all early.

“I was excited to wrestle him and try new moves,” Lutz said. “I wanted a pin to help out with the team points. I was going for the major (decision) at the end, but didn’t quite get it.”

After the Warriors held a 10-9 lead, before senior Lucas Barry (132), ranked No. 3, pinned Austin Westfall with a cradle in 29 seconds to put his team back up 15-10.

“Going into the dual, coach told us we needed to get as many points as possible,” Barry said. “My goal was to get the six for the fall. The cradle is my bread and butter so that’s what I went to.”

St. Michael junior Sampson Stillwell (285), ranked No. 1, used a cradle to win by fall in 55 seconds against No. 4-ranked Kyler Kuhn.

The cradle is a move Stillwell does not use often but he saw an opening for it against Kuhn. 

“It’s been a long time since I’ve used it,” Stillwell said. “I just think, ‘You know, if it’s there, let’s just take it.’ I’ll take what he gives me so that’s what I did.”

Below are the results of the other matches not already mentioned:

106: Two takedowns was all it took for No. 1-ranked Jordan Bell, a St. Pius freshman, to defeat No. 2-ranked Landon Lane, in a 4-0 victory.

120: St. Pius junior Andrew Garcia, ranked No. 2, was in a battle with St. Michael’s Austin Stevick and ended up hanging on in a 9-4 decision win.

126: St. Michael sophomore Jack Abraham made quickwork of Jake McNeil using a headlock to get a takedown and a pin in 31 seconds.

132: St. Pius junior Dillan Chisam controlled his match from start to finish to cruise to a 14-0 major decision against senior Trevor Green.

138: No. 3-ranked Lucas Barry of St. Michael went to the cradle and pinned Austin Westfall in 29 seconds to take the win.

144: St. Pius junior Gable Gross, a junior who is ranked No. 1, hooked in a cradle of his own after building a 6-1 lead to pin sophomore Braden Knipp in 1:55.

157: Freshman Lance Barry just recently cracked the varsity lineup for St. Michael and proved he belonged as he earned a 8-4 victory against Josh Quintaero.

175: St. Michael senior Lucas Estes, ranked No. 2, dominated his match and pinned Ty Ward in 2:47 to win his match.

215: St. Pius junior Rylan Kuhn got his victory by forfeit.