The past few seasons, Lee’s Summit West dominated the Coffman Invitational at Truman High School in the second week of December.
This season, the Titans tried competing in a new tournament in the second week of December as they competed in the Lee’s Summit North Invitational Saturday,
West continued their success in early December tournaments as it finished in first place with 418 points. Oak Grove was second with 382.5 and Maize (Kan.) was third with 344.5.
Noah Patton put the exclamation point on West’s tournament win in the final bout of the 285-pound weight class. He lost a match 2-1 to Lee’s Summit North’s Barrett Lawless in a dual earlier in the season but bounced back and earned a 12-3 major decision over his rival.
He put the match away after getting a takedown and near fall in the third period.
“I knew I was up and that he had to come from behind,” Patton said. “I just had to sit there and look for my stuff and not rush anything. He started pushing and rushing his stuff and I capitalized on him not being in the right position.”
Returning state medalist Grady Mortensen (157) dominated his bracket as he got a pin or tech fall in every match. He took on Warrensburg’s Tate Cook in the championship match and cruised to a 17-2 tech fall to capture first place.
“I was making sure to keep everything clean and smooth,” Mortensen said. “These matches weren’t the toughest so I just focused on making sure I ran my stuff. I wanted to get in my shots and high crotches.
“This was a warm up to get it going for the rest of the season.”
Jaxin Johnson had a big impact on the Titans as he won the 106-pound bracket. He pinned everyone in the pool round and then capped his day with a win by fall in 1:34 over Lee’s Summit North’s Colton Larimer.
Other Titans to finish in the top four of their weight brackets were Christopher Schroeder (113, third), Austin Seaboldt (215, fourth), Jaxton Fetterson (144, fourth) and Jett Drehle (126, fourth).
Below are summaries of the top Missouri finishers in the weight divisions not already mentioned:
113: Oak Grove returning state medalist Kale Martin pinned his first two opponents in his bracket matches to set up a championship match with Maize’s Canon Husen, and he used two takedowns and a nearfall to take a 9-1 decision and win his bracket.
120: Oak Grove’s Lex Johnson had a tight match with Maize’s Gavin Munoz in the title match of the weight class. He went into the third period down 4-1 and got two takedowns to earn a 7-5 decision to earn his spot atop the podium.
126: Two-time defending state champion Kaison Schreier rolled through his bracket and took down returning state medalist Perry Morgan of Oak Grove 18-1 in a tech fall victory to earn first place.
132: Warrensburg’s Dayton Dunn took third place after getting a pin in 2:20 over Fort Osage’s Brendan Mathis in the consolation finals.
138: It’s not often when a wrestler scores more than 20 points in a match. But how about 30? That’s what Warrensburg’s Jaylen Civil did in his championship bout against Fort Osage’s Luke Steffens. He scored a whopping 30 points, which included six takedowns in a 30-12 tech fall win as Civil took first place.
144: Republic’s Keaton Overcast took third place after taking a 10-2 major decision over Fetters in the consolation finals.
150: Warrensburg’s Justus Griffth took third place after earning a 11-3 major decision over Lansing (Kansas’) Carson Ellington in the consolation championship.
165: Republic’s Kameron Sutton made it to the championship after winning seven matches, including a 7-3 decision over Liberty North’s Nicholas Sanders in the semifinals. However, he got pinned in the championship against Emerson Tjaden of DeSoto, Kan., as he took second place.
175: Lee’s Summit North’s Ben Wirth was in a tight battle with Liberty North’s Wyatt True. Wirth trailed 7-1 going into the third period, but bounced back with three takedowns to win 11-9 and take first place.
190: Defending state champion Isaac Ward of Fort Osage had four wins by tech fall and two by pin to qualify for the championship bout in his weight bracket. He dominated the title bout against Oak Grove’s Elliott Atwell and took a 17-2 tech fall victory to claim the bracket championship.
215: Republic’s Ethan Montiel took third place after pinning Seaboldt in 3:31 in the consolation championship bout.
