Michael Smith
COLUMBIA, Mo. — For the first time in school history, the Hannibal Pirates are state champions.
They closed out the season by taking first place in the Class 3 division of the Missouri State High School Wrestling Championships Saturday at Mizzou Arena, scoring 156.5 points.
Hillsboro took second with 132, Whitfield was third with 96.5 and Kearney was fourth with 92.
Hannibal had three state champions and five others who won state medals. The champions included Austin Brown (113),Tristen Essig (132) and Cody Culp (144).
“We dreamed about (winning a state championship) since the beginning of the season,” Essig said. “We knew we needed to put the work in.:
Below is a breakdown of the championship matches and a list of the medal winners in each division:
106: Branson Ryzen Isringhausen has thought about being a state champion for a while. He didn’t waste any time making it happen. As a freshman, he won a state championship as he topped Platte County freshman, Jaxson Shute, 4-2 in overtime to win it.
“It feels great,” Isringhausen said. “Ihave always wanted to be here and I was able to come and do it.”
State medalists:
- 1st Place – Ryzen Isringhausen of Branson
- 2nd Place – Jaxson Shute of Platte County
- 3rd Place – Aiden Hahn of Farmington
- 4th Place – Daemen Duemmel of Helias Catholic
- 5th Place – Gable Ohm of Washington
- 6th Place – Zayden Teson of Warrenton
113: After placing third last year at state, Hannibal sophomore Austin Brown got his first state championship this time. He pinned Carl Junction junior Carter Foglesong in the finals to win it.
State medalists:
- 1st Place – Austin Brown of Hannibal
- 2nd Place – Carter Foglesong of Carl Junction
- 3rd Place – Evan Litzsinger of Hillsboro
- 4th Place – Manny McCauley of Warrenton
- 5th Place – Tyrre Broom of Winnetonka
- 6th Place – Landon Westfall of Kearney
120: A controversial call at the end of the match decided the bout between Hillsboro sophomore Carter Wallis and Kearney junior Ryder Shelton. A late reversal by Shelton initially awarded him two points and the win at the end of the match. But after the officials discussed it, the call was waived off and no points were awarded to Shelton as Wallis won 2-1 to take his second state championship.
State medalists:
- 1st Place – Carter Wallis of Hillsboro
- 2nd Place – Ryder Shelton of Kearney
- 3rd Place – Caden Hulett of Platte County
- 4th Place – Brody Kell of North Point
- 5th Place – Reign Creech of Hannibal
- 6th Place – Sam Melton of Carl Junction
126: To likely no one’s surprise, Whitfield senior Porter Matecki joined the short list of Missouri high school wrestlers to win four state championships in a career. He defeated Farmington junior Presley Johnson 5-0 to win state title No. 4.
“I feel like I wrestled well,” Matecki said. “He didn’t score on me. I was dominant. It was nice and easy.”
