The race for first place went down to the wire in Saturday’s Greater Kansas City Suburban Conference Tournament
Staley and Lee’s Summit West were battling for first place until the end of the tournament and JJ Reed was the difference in the team’s score. He won the third-place match in the 215-pound weight class as he pinned Belton’s Jameson Lyons.
West had a chance to win it when heavyweight Noah Patton took on Kearney’s JD Romero in the championship match, which was the final bout of the day. The senior could have put West ahead in the team point totals with a major decision or better. He won his match 4-2 and the Titans fell just short of taking first as Stalty edged them 163.5-162.5 for the top spot.
Blue Springs took third with 134.5 points and Fort Osage had four wrestlers win their brackets as it finished fourth with 123 points.
The Falcons are coming off a 2024-25 season in which they had four state medalists, a state champion. There were five others who were state qualifiers. All nine Falcons to compete at state graduated, so they feature a bevy of newcomers in the lineup this season.
“I feel like we have a pretty good squad,” Staley senior Miller Sipes said. “We are not where we were last year, but I wouldn’t say we are in a full rebuild. I think a lot of people are going to see that we’re going to do a lot better than they think we will at state tournament time.”
Sipes is not one of those newcomers. He has been a varsity wrestler since his freshman season, but missed all of last season with a torn labrum he suffered during football season. He tried to wrestle through it last season, but his shoulder kept separating, so he had to end his season early.
The senior is nationally ranked according to FloWrestling.com as he’s No. 14 in his weight class in the United States. He showed why on Saturday as he won by tech fall in all of his matches, including a 17-2 win in 2 minutes over Liberty North sophomore Brian Seoane Cancino in the championship bout of the 144-pound division.
“I feel like I did pretty well,” Sipes said. “There are a couple of things I need to fix in the (wrestling) room. I feel like I was moving my feet well and was blocking with my head well. I just stayed on offense.”
Redeker (120 pounds) is in his second year wrestling for the varsity squad and he showed that he could be ready to take the leap into contending for a state medal. He edged Blue Springs freshman Timothy Ekart 5-3 in the semifinals before taking a 8-0 major decision over Liberty North junior Noah Perez in the finals.
“I had to cut weight to make it to my class today and that had a little bit of a factor in my wrestling,” Redeker said. “After I got some food in me, I felt rejuvenated.”
Other Falcons to finish in the top four were Bodie Fitcher (132, second place), Alejandro Contreras (175, third) and Noah Cooper (285, fourth).
West still had a great tournament despite falling just short of a team title. Sophomore Jaxin Johnston (106) and senior Grady Mortensen (157) joined Patton as Titans who won their weight bracket.
Johnson pinned all three of his opponents, including one he got in 3:21 over Blue Springs sophomore Ian Kephart as he took first place.
“At the start, I was ready for him,” Johnson said of his title match with Kephart. “I wrestled him before and I knew he was going to be hot off the whistle and we would be charging and shooting. I was ready for it and I was able to set up my shots well.”
Mortensen improved to 38-0 on the season as he won all four of his matches and he ended his day with a pin of Blue Springs senior Brock Combs in 1:23 to take his bracket.
“I’ve definitely been in a little bit of a slump lately, but this tournament was my moment,” Mortensen said. “I was getting back in my flow and I felt really good in this tournament. I got my attacks well. I feel like myself again.”
Below is a summary of the championship matches that were not already mentioned:
113: North Kansas City sophomore Elias Padash rolled to a 17-0 tech fall victory over Raytown’s David Ayala to earn his spot atop the podium.
126: Fort Osage senior Kaison Schrerier rolled to a 19-4 tech fall win over Raymore-Peculiar’s Kamdon VanHolton.
132: Fort Osage junior Luke Steffens earned a pin in 2:37 over Fichter to earn a first-place medal.
138: Fort Osage senior Antonio Martinez got a key takedown with 4 seconds left to take a 8-5 victory against Grain Valley senior Zac Bleess.
150: Blue Springs junior Jackson Paulsen improved to 27-1 following a 19-4 tech fall win over Grain Valley’s Brody Braa.
165: Grain Valley junior Sjoeren Aumua recently returned from a shoulder injury he suffered during the football season and he’s starting to gain steam. In the championship match, he took down Oak Park senior Elijah Redmond 10-2 to win his bracket.
175: Belton senior Quinten Attebury pinned Liberty North junior Wyatt True in 1:08 to earn his gold metal.
190: Fort Osage senior Isaac Ward has three takedowns and an escape in a 10-3 victory over Blue Springs South junior Cy Wilmes.
215: Two-time state champion Carter Temple edged Northtown’s Kobe Rhymes 5-2 to take his division.