Missouri Wrestling
By: Ross Martin
Included in this 2000+ word recap:
- Elam stays unbeaten, leads Staley
- Falcons have more individual champions than team champ Liberty
- Neosho medals four, places seventh
- Caden Green of Kearney beats Hampton of Smithville to be only Class 3 Missouri finalist at Stampede
- Park Hill places ninth despite being without Millers
- Trojans have Crawford in finals for third time; DiBlasi second finalist for his family
- Whitfield up from 25th to 12th with five medalists
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Two full days of wrestling in the books, Staley senior Rocky Elam retreated to the far end of HyVee Arena and began jogging back and forth in solitude. He had just earned his first Kansas City Stampede individual title with a dominant run through the 195-pound bracket, but despite all of his obvious talent and prominent national rankings, there’s no time to rest.
So after all the work done Friday and Saturday, forgive Elam if he had trouble remembering details about his recent high-level run of success — like when the last time he gave up an offensive point to an opponent.
“Ummmm, yeah, it was some time. I think … I don’t know,” said Elam, now a three-time medalist at Stampede (second at 182, 2018 and second at 170, 2017). “I’m not trying to be cocky, but it’s been a while so that’s a good thing. Defense has improved.”
Liberty earned a program-defining team championship at Stampede behind senior four-time individual champion Jeremiah Reno — the tournament’s 2019 Most Outstanding Wrestler. Staley showed what makes them a candidate to potentially spoil the Blue Jays’ anticipated run to a Class 4 Missouri State Wrestling team title.
Staley ended up with more individual titles than Liberty (2-1) and came in sixth out of 49 teams at one of the region’s largest and most arduous team competitions.
Aiden Johnson, another senior for Staley and returning state finalist, ended up with the 170 title and his first medal at Stampede. He previously spent time as a freshman at Platte County and a sophomore at Park Hill before finding his place with the Falcons.
