Michael Smith
The Independence City Championships is something many local wrestlers mark on their calendar.
That was the sentiment Fort Osage seniors Gavin Gallman and Rylan Mansfield expressed Wednesday at Van Horn High School.
They were two of the nine wrestlers who finished the quad dual unbeaten against the Indians three rival schools – Van Horn, Truman and William Chrisman.
Watch Interviews from:
- William Chrisman’s Rony Guardiola (126)
- Truman’s Jericho Vahle (150)
- William Chrisman’s Vershawn Dudley (175)
- Fort Osage’s Brendan Mathis (132)
- Van Horn’s CJ Nelson (215)
- Fort Osage’s Rylan Mansfield (144)
- Fort Osage head coach Brandon Wackerman
- Fort Osage’s Gavin Gallman (215)
- Van Horn head coach Craig Addison
Fort Osage dominated the event, defeating Truman 68-12, Van Horn 72-12 and Chrisman 58-10. Van Horn finished 2-1 with a 36-33 victory over Chrisman and a 65-12 triumph against Truman. The Bears topped the Patriots 58-18 in their only dual victory.
“It’s really fun wrestling kids we grew up with and wrestled with,” Gallman said.
Added Mansfield: “It’s a fun event. You know your opponents and what you are going to have. You are going to wrestle guys you’re around a lot. I knew who I was going to face before the event happened, so that definitely helped.”
Fort Osage had wrestling coach echoed the sentiments of Mansfield and Gallman.
“Some of these guys from youth clubs with our kids growing up,” Wackerman said. “Some of them were Fort kids at one time. We know these guys. This event is fun. I like these coaches a lot and we are all friends.
“We enjoyed being the kings of Independence for one night.”
Gallman (215), ranked No. 4 in his weight class by MissouriWrestling.com, was the king of his weight class Wednesday as he went 3-0 with two forfeit wins and a pin over Chrisman’s John Bolas.
“I wrestled pretty well,” Gallman said. “I didn’t get to wrestle (CJ Nelson) to avenge a loss I had (earlier in the season). It didn’t happen, but it’s all right.”
Mansfield (144), ranked No. 5, was dominant in all thee of his contested matches as he notched all first-period pins.
“I was moving well but I would have like to shoot more,” Mansfield said.
While Fort Osage’s seasoned wrestlers took care of business, Brendan Mathis (132), wrestling in the varsity lineup for the first time, had an impressive showing. He had two pins and a forfeit victory to finish his night 3-0 to help his team complete a tournament sweep.
“I did a lot of new moves today and learned some new stuff,” Mathis said. “I worked on the shin wizard mostly. Everyone is going for shots so that move helps a lot.”
Other Patriots to finish 3-0 were Kaison Schreier (106), Luke Steffens (113), Antonio Martinez (120), and Paxton Onka (157). Grayson Moore (138) won both his matches to finish 2-0 and Colby Gray (150) got a pin in his only bout….
