The Mexico wrestling team may be one to look out for in the 2025-26 season.
The Bulldogs finished in 11th place at the Class 2 Missouri State High School Wrestling Championships last February and are looking to move up the ranks this year.
In Saturday’s Grain Valley Invitational, Mexico was tested in an event that included some Class4 schools, including Blue Springs South, Lee’s Summit West, Grain Valley and Fort Osage. Despite going up against some bigger schools, Mexico showed it can compete against higher-level competition.
Mexico had four wrestlers win their weight divisions as it took first place overall with 182 points. Fort Osage captured second with 141 points and Lee’s Summit West was right behind them in third with 140.
“We are doing as we should and hopefully we keep it going,” Mexico junior Carlos Juarez-Ramirez said. “We are an experienced team but we have a couple of younger guys in the lineup.”
Trevor Cole (106 pounds) is a newcomer to high school varsity wrestling and he appears to be a wrestler to watch coming into the season. He won by fall against all five of his opponents as he coasted to a first-place finish in his weight class.
“I think I wrestled well and I was in constant motion,” Cole said. “I just got the job done. I felt like I wrestled some of the best matches today. I used the armbar and half (nelson) on top and I think I got a cow catcher, too.”
Juarez-Ramirez (113), on the other hand, is an experienced wrestler who is coming back for Mexico. He is a two-time state runner-up as he is looking to break through to get his first state championship this season. He easily won all three matches of his round-robin bracket, getting all pins to take first.
“Most of the time my first few matches are sloppy but I think I did better than I usually do,” Juarez-Ramirez said. “I did just a normal half to get my pins. There is nothing better to use.”
Bulldog sophomore Logan Hilderman (132) didn’t have a lot of trouble winning his division as he had two wins by tech fall and one pin. In the championship match, he had three takedowns and a pair of near falls to cruise to a 18-2 victory over West’s Braylen Koelzer.
“I’ve really been putting in the work this summer,” Hilderman said. “I feel like my entire wrestling has gotten better, especially because of my partner, Carlos. Neutral is my strongest position. That’s where I scored most of my points.
Brenden Wilson (175) also won his division for the Bulldogs as he won by fall in all three of his matches, with the last one coming against Blue Springs South’s Charles Rinehart in 2:37.
Other Bulldogs to finish in the top three include Braydon Arnold (third, 126), Evan Blair (second, 120), Kyler Carr (second, 157) and Travis Shramel (second, 285).
120: Maysville’s Eli Griffith was a part of a round-robin bracket and he won all four of his matches. Three came by pin and won by tech fall as he finished in first place.
126: Two-time defending state champion Kaison Schreier of Fort Osage cruised through his bracket as he won two matches by tech fall, two by pin and one my forfeit as he captured his bracket.
138: Grain Valley senior Zac Bleess won his first bout by pin and cruised by Sedalia Smith-Cotton’s Hunter Langdon 20-3 in the semifinals to face his freestyle practice partner and Fort Osage’s Luke Staffens. Bleess controlled move of the match and won a handful of scrambles to take a 17-7 major decision and capture first place.
144: Fort Osage senior Antonio Martinez will be looking for his first state medal this season and he should have a good chance of getting one. He showed why as he pinned Sedalia Smith-Cotton’s Chrystopher Hawkins in 4 minutes to win his bracket.
150: Grain Valley junior Brody Braa got off to a hot start in his second varsity season as he won by fall in his first two matches before earning a tech fall over South’s Vincent Leiker in the finals.
157: Two-time state medalist Grady Mortensen of Lee’s Summit West only gave up nine points in five matches as he had three pins, a tech fall and a 8-4 decision over Carr as he captured first place.
165: Raytown’s Edgar Orozco went 5-0 in his round-robin bracket and had his toughest match with Grain Valley sophomore Brodie Davis, as he won that bout 19-17 to help win his bracket.
190: Defending state champion Isaac Ward of Fort Osage pinned Grain Valley’s Grant Burd in the first round, earned a 20-7 major decision over South’s Cy Wilmes in the semifinals before earning a big 13-3 win over Maysville’s Carter Harms, a state champion in Class 1 last season, in the championship bout.
215: South’s Alexander Ultican edged Raytown’s Adonis Holguin 10-6 in the semifinals before pinning West’s Morrison West in the third period as he took his bracket.
285: West’s Noah Patton pinned his first two opponents before he took down Shramek by a 15-0 tech fall in the championship to earn his spot atop the podium.
