The Blue Springs wrestling team could not have started the season with a much tougher opponent.
The Wildcats’ program has been rebuilding for the past few years and have only two seniors in the line up this season. On Dec. 2, they faced a difficult matchup against Liberty, a team that has won six consecutive state championships. In that bout, the Wildcats fell 71-0.
Fast forward eight days later, they had a chance to rebound from the lopsided loss against Grain Valley, a program that has consistently sent four to five wrestlers to the state tournament in recent seasons.
Blue Springs bounced back in a big way and got some big performances from its middle weight wrestlers, including junior Jackson Paulson and senior Brock Combs. Both earned pins to help their team take a 41-33 victory Wednesday at home.
“We are building onto what Coach (Bobbe) Lowe built here,” said Alan Hull, who is the Blue Springs activities director and is in his first season coaching the Wildcats. “We have a lot of young kids and we are making some progress.
“I think we are on the right track, but we have a lot of work to do, especially to compete in our conference.”
Paulsen (150 pounds) is the Wildcats’ lone returning state medalist as he finished fifth in 2024-25. He went against junior Brody Braa and got a quick takedown and pin using a half nelson in just 50 seconds.
After his pin, the Blue Springs bench and crowd erupted in cheers.
“There was a lot of energy from our guys and the fans,” Paulsen said. “We got on a roll and the team energy was really high. We were cheering for each other and that really helped.”
Combs (157) followed up with a pin of his own of senior Aiden Larson in 2:44.
“Last week, I had a rough match and got pinned,” Combs said. “This week, I had to come in with a different mindset and get the win.”
Sophomore Rylon Collier (132) also picked up a key victory against returning state qualifier Justin King, a senior. King started with a 4-0 lead in the second period after an escape and a takedown, but Collier countered with a reversal and a four-point nearfall to take a 6-4 lead and he eventually won 7-5.
“Collier just kept coming and coming and coming, and that made a big difference in his match,” Hull said.
Other Wildcats to pick up a win were junior Kade Schmidli (215), who won 1-0 over senior Alec Fenstermaker; and senior Dominic Payne (144), who dominated and took an 18-2 tech fall victory over first-year varsity wrestler Josh Bolds, a sophomore.
Sophomore Ian Kephart (106), junior Taylor Plattner (113) and freshman Timothy Ekart (120) all picked up wins by forfeit for Blue Springs.
After Combs’ win, Grain Valley needed pins in the final five matches to win the dual. The Eagles got pins four out of the five matches and fell just short after trailing 38-9.
Sophomore Brodie Davis (165) started a spurt of three consecutive pins for the Eagles, and after two takedowns, he used an armbar to turn junior Anthony Brown Jr. for a pin in 3:05. Fellow sophomore Dalton Burch (175) used a headlock takedown to get a pin in 1:53 over freshman Grady McKinnon and sophomore Grant Burd (190) worked an inside cradle to win by fall in 1:56 against senior Addox Sharky-Beebe.
“Grant and Dalton both did a great job,” Grain Valley head wrestling coach Donald Horner said. “They were super coachable and focused on what they needed to do. Dalton did a great job moving his feet and wrestling through position. Grant did a great job looking to move to the next attack and pushing the pace on his opponent.”
Junior Maui Sua (285), a returning state medalist in Class 3 and a transfer from Kansas City North East, won his debut match against junior Silas Babaloa as he used a throw to set up his pin in 4:37.
Earlier in the dual, two-time state medalist Zac Bleess (138), a senior, pinned freshman Gabriel New in 43 seconds and senior Tyler Jones (126) was in a battle with junior Aiden Bowman, but used multiple double-leg takedowns to take a 20-13 win.
Girls
The Blue Springs girls wrestling team was awarded 24 points on open spots from Grain Valley and won four of six contest matches to cruise to a 45-24 victory.
Freshman Reece Woodruff (115) got the scoring started for Blue Springs as she used a half nelson to turn Grain Valley freshman Abigail Cairns for a pin in 1 minute and 40 seconds. Freshman Kiley Digusto (125) made quick work of Eagles freshman Evelyn Allison and used a headlock takedown and got a pin in 43 seconds.
Wildcat junior Riley Baylor (140) trailed Grain Valley junior Lucy Dampf 10-0 but countered with a surprise throw and pin in the third period.
Senior Ari Batholomew (155), a returning state qualifier, controlled her match from start to finish against freshman Brooklyn Koepkey to take a 7-0 decision.
Audrey Scharfer (105), Peytyn Conard (120), Rylie Ambrusko (145) and Mikhaela Fitzgerald (170) all won by forfeit for the Wildcats.
For Grain Valley, sophomore Aubrielle Boos (235) countered takedown attempts from Blue Springs senior Christy Horton into her own. After three takedowns, she worked a pin in 2:53 to win her bout.
Junior Tairyn Blocker (130) got the Eagles’ first win in a contested match after getting a quick takedown and using a power half nelson to turn freshman La’Naya Spears for a win by fall in 1:04.
Freshman Adalynn Burch (135) won by forfeit for the Eagles.
