Fred Liggett
The sport of wrestling continues to grow at Center High School in South Kansas City and evidence of this was on display at Senior night activities held on Thursday February 2nd.
Center Boys and Girls wrestling teams hosted a triangular meet against nearby rivals Ruskin and Grandview. This helped draw one of the larger crowds of the season as parents & Alumni came to see the three schools compete. Center Head Coach Charles Misher is happy about the growth of the Yellowjacket program “Increasing our numbers, excited for our guys program”. Misher adds the Girls program “Is definitely growing” as 20 girls came out for the sport this season.
The event began with visiting Ruskin and Grandview Girls & Boys finding their way to the mat. Then host Center met Grandview before ending the night going up against Ruskin. Center Girls beat Grandview 39-24 before Center Boys won 43-36 over Grandview. Center Coach Misher admits “It’s always good to go up against South Kansas City schools, do stuff we do”.
After a brief break it was time for Center to meet Ruskin where the Center Girls easily defeated Ruskin 54-6. A competitive match would end the evening where Center fell to Ruskin 39-30. After the event Coach Misher said of his senior group “Feel proud of them, Some of them have been with program Six years including time at Middle School”. Misher adds “lots of hard work, excited to see it, they come own the mat”.
A total of 8 Seniors were honored on this night, 7 wrestlers and 1 manager. One of the wrestlers was Raul Baca who competes at 175. Baca came into the night 31-11 on the season a good mark for only being a 2 year wrestler. The former soccer player feels Wrestling “helps with discipline, Hardest thing Ive ever done”. Baca says “once I got into it I fell in love with it, satisfied with it”.
Another Senior for Center is Harold Tsafack a familiar face for those following High School sports in the area. Harold started this season as a heavyweight but he was soon able to return to his normal 215 weight class thanks to dropping weight after Football season. Harold as a Linebacker for the Center Football team won the Bobby Bell award given to the best Linebacker in the KC Metro area.
Harold says of Wrestling at Center “had a great time, Going to miss it a lot, has been a blessing”. Harold admits “At first went out for wrestling to stay in shape, then got better at it”. Harold adds “Started as a chore, but now enjoy it”. Harold has signed with Missouri S&T to continue his football career.
Up next for the Center Yellowjackets is district tournaments to be held over the next two weekends. The class of 2023 showed up in bigger numbers for Center Wrestling & a larger crowd was on hand to cheer them on.
