When a Missouri High School wrestling fan thinks of the Staley boys’ team, there are a few big names that come to mind.
Grapplers like David Gleason, Zayne Reynolds, Gunner Dahms, Parker Leverknight, Miller Sipes, Kamah’o Grace and Merrick Murray have all found a good amount of success in the folkstyle and freestyle scene.
But the Falcons have depth. They have some wrestlers who have flown under the radar and could make some noise for the remainder of the season.
Seniors Maer Deng (215 pounds) and Matthew Shomin (144) and sophomores Joshua Hopkins (113), Alejandro Contreras (190) and Karsyn Redeker (126) are all wrestlers who have not qualified for the state tournament in their careers. However, they showed the potential to do that this season in Thursday’s dual with Lee’s Summit.
All four come away with wins as they helped heir team cruise to a 56-13 at Lee’s Summit High School.
Hopkins said he wasn’t completely satisfied with how he wrestled in his match with Caden Buhmen, but he was the aggressor and got multiple takedowns and ended his match with a tilt for a four-point near fall, winning by tech fall, 17-2.
“The match went OK, it could have gone a little bit better,” Hopkins said. “There are ups and downs that I got to fix, and the team has to fix. We are going to get that done.”
Deng found his success on top against sophomore Alikzander McGuire. Deng started in the top position in the second period and used a half to turn his opponent and get a pin in 3:32. Deng, who is 6-foot-3, has a height advantage over most of his opponents and he’s used that to his advantage in some matches, using his long reach to get takedowns.
“I am looking to excel and grow with my wrestling on top,” Deng said. “(His height) is one of my God-given abilities and I used it a lot.”
Redeker nearly got pinned in the final 10 seconds of his match with Ni’Trae Flowers but managed to avoid it as he used four takedowns to take a 16-12 decision. Shomin didn’t give up a point in his match as he pinned Tristan Moran in 4:17. Contreras started on top in the second period and used that to his advantage by pinned Michael Helm in 2:27.
The returning state medalists also found success on Thursday.
Grace (285), who finished fifth at state last season, has a tough bracket as he will see two-time state champion Elmotie Williams of Liberty North and multiple-time state medalist Trenton Bindel of Liberty in the district tournament.
He will have his handful in his weight class in the district tournament in two weeks, but on Thursday he showed can be a contender for an individual state championship. He started from the top position in the third period and pinned Hayden Hinkle in 4:33.
“That pin took a lot of time and a lot of coaching,” Grace said. “My coaches spent a lot of time with me on that and I got the job done. I went out there with a plan and I executed perfectly on my part.”
Reynolds (132) appeared to barely break a sweat in his match with Luke Nally as he used a corkscrew type move on top to get Nally on his back and get a pin in 52 seconds. Reynolds normally wrestles in the 126-pound weight class but bumped up for this dual.
“It doesn’t matter to me. I just do what the coaches tell me to do,” Reynolds said of bumping up. “I wrestled pretty good. I did what I planned to do.”
Dahms (106) contributed to the team victory, as well. He pinned Benjamin Johnson in 1:04; Leverknight won by fall over Mathew Sartin in 52 seconds; Murray (165) pinned Grant James in 1:31; and Sage Wilson (175) won by forfeit.
The Tigers had three winners, including junior Caden Mense (157). Julian Bravard took him down early in the match but after he escaped from bottom, he caught Bravaard with a headlock throw and pin in 1:44.
“I like doing throws,” Mense said. “It was how the pressure was feeling. It kind of loaded itself up. It’s almost muscle memory when you get into that position.”
Sophomore Austin Cornett (150) had control of his match with Brextin Marrah from start to finish as he took a 11-1 major decision, and senior AJ Wishne edged Creighton Daniels 6-4, scoring all of his points on takedowns.