Sean Mael
Class One State Preview
By: Sean Mael
Overall Thoughts: The team race between Mid- Buchanan and Centralia should be electric. I have Mid-Buchanan winning a tight one.
I like Fatima to take third and have Brookfield taking the last spot on the team podium. Random musing here, but I picked a lot of #1 ranked guys to win in Class 1. Two reasons for this are the tightened-up fields and the one-day tournament. The favorites win more often with both less opponents and in grinds of tournaments, especially where they are guaranteed a bye. All rankings were utilized courtesy of Flowrestling or Missouriwrestling.com on Rokfin.
No offense or disrespect is ever intended to any athlete and I hope that everyone stays healthy and has a chance to live out their goals this season. Thanks for reading!
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Notable First Round Matches (Team Race or Ranked vs. Ranked):
#4 Weston Ward, Centralia vs. Dalton McNeal, Lawson
Notable Potential Quarters:
#2 Kaden Crane, Palmyra vs. #6 Levi Wilhelm, Knob Noster
#1 Cody Strope, Fatima vs. #4 Ward or McNeal
Thoughts: There is a lot of youth in this bracket. Five of the six ranked wrestlers are all freshman.
Our first quarter will be between #2 Kaden Crane and #6 Levi Wilhelm. These two did not meet this past season. They both own a win over #5 Ryder Coons, Mid-Buchanan.
Crane is a senior and I will take him to advance in what should be a competitive bout here.
Our second quarter here will feature #3 Lucas Barry, St. Michael the Archangel. He is a solid favorite to advance to the semis. The semifinal between #2 Crane and #3 Barry should be pretty entertaining. Both have been pretty dominating this season and have beaten a lot of good opponents. I am taking Crane to win a tight one here. He has seen a tougher schedule this season.
In our third quarter we will see #1 Cody Strope likely against #4 Weston Ward.
