Can Liberty really win a seventh consecutive Missouri State High School Boys Wrestling Championship title?
If the Class 4 District 4 Tournament has any indication, the Blue Jays certainly have a great shot at it.
The Blue Jays had a whopping 13 wrestlers qualify for state and four of them won their bracket as they ran away with the district team title, scoring 260 points. St. Pius X was second with 202.5, Staley was third with 142 and Platte County was fourth with 115.5.
Rowdy Angst (113), Cade Dunn (132), Ross Davis (150) and Donovan Hodges (175) won their weight divisions for the Blue Jays. Kemper Thomas (106, second place), John Cox (120, third), Will Pferifer (126, third), Gavin Shelton (138, third), Roman Stewart (144, second), Cooper Kirkham (157, second), Justice Williams (165, third), Dominic Stinson (215, fourth) and Masen Bindel (285, third).
The top four finishers of each weight class qualified for state. Below is a summary of each championship match and a list of the state qualifiers:
106: No. 1-ranked Alex Hall of St. Pius X had little trouble winning his match as he pinned No. 4 Kemper Thomas in 2:30.
State qualifiers:
1st Place – Alex Hall of St. Pius X (Kansas City)
2nd Place – Kemper Thomas of Liberty
3rd Place – Ian Kephart of Blue Springs
4th Place – Kaeler Byrd of Grain Valley
113: Angst, who is ranked No. 2, controlled his match from start to finish against No. 7 St. Pius freshman Dalton McDaniel and he took a 19-4 tech fall win in 4:52.
State qualifiers:
1st Place – Rowdy Angst of Liberty
2nd Place – Dalton McDaniel of St. Pius X (Kansas City)
3rd Place – Caden Brayfield of Park Hill
4th Place – Rylan Shaw of Staley
120: St. Puis X freshman Cruz Enderle, ranked No. 1, was in a tight battle with No. 5-ranked Mason Brayfield of Park Hill and won 3-0.
State qualifiers:
1st Place – Cruz Enderle of St. Pius X (Kansas City)
2nd Place – Mason Brayfield of Park Hill
3rd Place – John Cox of Liberty
4th Place – Karsyn Redeker of Staley
126: In a marquee matchup, No. 1-ranked Kaison Schreier of Fort Osage took down No. 2 Jordan Bell of St. Pius 12-2 to earn first place.
State qualifiers:
1st Place – Kaison Schreier of Fort Osage
2nd Place – Jordan Bell of St. Pius X (Kansas City)
3rd Place – Will Pfeifer of Liberty
4th Place – Conner Anderson of Staley
132: No. 1-ranked Cade Dunn used a takedown to earn a 4-1 victory over Grain Valley senior Zac Bleess, ranked No. 3.
State qualifiers:
1st Place – Cade Dunn of Liberty
2nd Place – Zachary Bleess of Grain Valley
3rd Place – George Bringus of St. Pius X (Kansas City)
4th Place – Luke Steffens of Fort Osage
138: Platte County junior Jaxson Shute, ranked No. 2, edged No. 5-ranked Fort Osage senior Antonio Martinez 1-0 to win his bracket.
State qualifiers:
1st Place – Jaxson Shute of Platte County
2nd Place – Antonio Martinez of Fort Osage
3rd Place – Gavin Shelton of Liberty
4th Place – Wyatt Toigo of Park Hill South
144: In what could be a preview of the state championship match in this weight division, No. 1-ranked Miller Sipes of Staley edged No. 2 ranked Roman Stewart 5-4 in overtime.
State qualifiers:
1st Place – Miller Sipes of Staley
2nd Place – Roman Stewart of Liberty
3rd Place – Chase Hulett of Platte County
4th Place – Boyer Ward of St. Pius X (Kansas City)
150: Ross Davis, ranked No. 2, topped No. 3-ranked Jackson Paulsen of Blue Springs 8-3.
State qualifiers:
1st Place – Ross Davis of Liberty
2nd Place – Jackson Paulsen of Blue Springs
3rd Place – Luke Cline of St. Pius X (Kansas City)
4th Place – Grant Fadler of Platte County
157: St. Pius X junior Landen McDowell, ranked No. 3, earned a 21-5 tech fall in 5:40 against No. 4-ranked Cooper Kirkham.
State qualifiers:
1st Place – Landen McDowell of St. Pius X (Kansas City)
2nd Place – Cooper Kirkham of Liberty
3rd Place – Elijah Redmond of Oak Park
4th Place – Brodie Davis of Grain Valley
165: Park Hill senior Noah Johnson, ranked No. 4, defeated No. 7-ranked Sjoeren Aumua 9-6 to earn his spot atop the podium.
State qualifiers:
1st Place – Noah Johnson of Park Hill
2nd Place – Sjoeren Aumua of Grain Valley
3rd Place – Justice Williams of Liberty
4th Place – Jack Johnson of Platte County
175: Liberty senior Donovan Hodges pinned Staley junior Alejandro Contreras in 4:31 to earn a No. 1 seed.
State qualifiers:
1st Place – Donovan Hodges of Liberty
2nd Place – Alejandro Contreras of Staley
3rd Place – Wyatt True of Liberty North
4th Place – Gabriel Soliz of Truman
190: Fort Osage senior Isaac Ward, ranked No. 4, edged Blue Springs South junior Cy Wilmes, ranked No. 5, 4-2.
State qualifiers:
1st Place – Isaac Ward of Fort Osage
2nd Place – Cy Wilmes of Blue Springs South
3rd Place – Cooper Hammontree of Platte County
4th Place – Chase Quinn of Rockhurst
215: North Kansas City junior Kobe Rhymes, ranked No. 2, defeated Platte County senior Cole Johnson 10-4.
State qualifiers:
1st Place – Kobe Rhymes of North Kansas City
2nd Place – Cole Johnson of Platte County
3rd Place – Louis Van Batavia of Park Hill
4th Place – Dominic Stinson of Liberty
285: St. Pius junior Kyler Kuhn, ranked No. 1, edged Staley senior Noah Cooper 1-0.
State qualifiers:
1st Place – Kyler Kuhn of St. Pius X (Kansas City)
2nd Place – Noah Cooper of Staley
3rd Place – Masen Bindel of Liberty
4th Place – Carter Atagi of Blue Springs
