Before the season started, Liberty head wrestling coach Dustin Brewer noted that his 2025-26 squad didn’t have as much experience as the Blue Jays’ last six state championship teams.
That doesn’t mean that the expectations for Liberty have lowered, however.
If you ask wrestlers like senior Cade Dunn and sophomore Rowdy Angst, the team still aims to be the best team in the state as it will look for its seventh consecutive Missouri State High School Wrestling Championships team title.
The Blue Jays competed in one of the most competitive tournaments in the state – the Winnetonka Invitational Friday, and were in the running for first place. However, they ended up taking second place with 221.5 points. Indianola out of Iowa, which is ranked third in Class 3A according to the Iowa High School Athletic Association, took first with 244 points.
Lafayette-Wildwood finished with 180 points which was good for third place.
“When I came into this program, we had been dominating for the past five years,” Angst said. “We’re always going to be the team to beat. We are the best in the state and the country.”
Added Dunn: “I don’t scare what anyone says, no one is working harder than us in the state of Missouri. Every practice, we have something to work on. I truly believe we are the No. 1 team in the state.”
Angst (113 pounds) and Dunn (132) led the way for Liberty as both of them won their bracket. Liberty was missing defending state champion Roman Stewart, who didn’t compete Friday.
Angst had a tough battle with Indianola freshman Cain Crosson in the championship match of his division. It was a back-and-forth battle that featured four lead changes and the sophomore got a reversal and four-point near fall right before time expired in the third period to take a 13-8 decision.
During the match, Angst wrestled with a broken finger, but that didn’t stop him from being able to execute his moves. He got the majority of his points during scrambles.
“I got around him and grabbed his leg and ended up getting the reversal and back points,” Angst said. “My coach told me I had to put five or six moves together during the blood time in the last 30 seconds or so.
“I scramble a lot in practice with my partners. It just transfers over from the room.”
Dunn was able to control his championship match with Seckman sophomore Carson Owens from start to finish as he won a few scrambles as he had two takedowns and three reversals in a 13-4 major decision victory.
“I was staying patient mentally and I kept the hand fighting going,” Dunn said. “I was waiting for openings. I felt pretty good. I felt like I could finish better on my feet instead of going to a back side double.”
Other Blue Jays to finish in the top three Friday were John Cox (second place, 120 pounds), Will Pfieffer (third, 126), Cooper Kirkham (second, 157) and Donovan Hodges (second, 175).
Below is a summary of the championship matches for Missouri wrestlers not already mentioned:
106: Seckman sophomore Kaemen Orine rolled to a 17-2 tech fall win against Ozark freshman Parker Hansen.
120: Park Hill senior Mason Brayfield improved his record to 25-3 on the reason as he used two takedowns to take a 8-3 win over Cox.
126: Lafayette-Wildwood junior Riley Sumner had a pin and two tech falls leading up to his championship match with Fort Osage senior Kaison Schreier, who had to exit the tournament due to a medical forfeit, giving Sumner first place.
138: Fort Osage senior Antonio Martinez continued his breakout season and improved to 29-3 following a 11-3 major decision victory against Ozark sophomore Colton Wilson.
144: Staley senior Miller Sipes was excellent on his feet as he had seven takedowns in his 22-9 major decision win over Ozark senior Teagon Patterson.
150: Seckman junior Chance Ruble finished in second place after he won three matches by tech fall, before falling 4-2 to Indianola junior Elijah Blewitt in the title bout.
157: Odessa junior Jet Brown was a takedown machine in his championship match with Kirkham as he had seven of them in a 21-6 tech fall victory in 2:31.
165: Odessa junior Lake Water had two pins and a win by tech fall going into the championship match with Indianola junior Mac Crosson. In that bout, he had to exit by medical forfeit and finished in second place.
175: Nixa senior Owen Diemoz had three takedowns in his 9-2 victory against Hodges in the title bout.
190: Fort Osage senior Isaac Ward ended his match quickly against Kearney junior Cohen Dray as he got seven takedowns in a 21-6 victory in 1:53.
215: Lafayette-Wildwood junior Carter Brown was named the top wrestler of the tournament for his strong performance throughout. In his championship match against two-time state champion Carter Temple, he won 10-3, which was spearheaded by two takedowns in the second period.
285: Ozark sophomore Isaiah Collins had a pin and a 6-3 win over Liberty’s Masen Bindel in the semifinals to set up a championship match with Indianola junior Aiden Curtis. In that match, Curtis fell 2-1 in overtime to take second place.
FULL RESULTS
TEAM SCORES
| 1 | INDIANOLA | 244.0 |
| 2 | LIBERTY | 221.5 |
| 3 | LAFAYETTE-Wildwood | 180.0 |
| 4 | SECKMAN | 149.5 |
| 5 | KEARNEY | 133.5 |
| 6 | OZARK | 126.5 |
| 7 | PARK HILL | 125.5 |
| 8 | STALEY | 112.0 |
| 9 | ODESSA | 102.5 |
| 10 | NIXA | 99.5 |
| 11 | FORT OSAGE | 96.5 |
| 12 | FH CENTRAL | 82.5 |
| 13 | RAY-PEC | 61.0 |
| 14 | NORTH KANSAS CITY | 60.5 |
| 15 | LEES SUMMIT | 58.0 |
| 16 | ST THOMAS AQUINAS | 45.0 |
| 17 | WINNETONKA | 43.5 |
| 18 | LIBERTY NORTH | 39.5 |
| 19 | ozark-2 | 21.5 |
| 20 | indianola-2 | 20.0 |
| 21 | north kansas city-2 | 15.0 |
| 22 | fort osage-2 | 14.0 |
| 23 | lafayette-wildwood-2 | 7.0 |
| 24 | OAK PARK | 6.0 |
| 25 | park hill south-2 | 5. |
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
Here is the tournament data formatted for an article or results page. I have removed the redundant rankings lists and focused on the match results for each placement.
106 Pounds
- 1st Place Match: Kaemen Orine (SECKMAN) 28-5, So. over Parker Hansen (OZARK) 32-2, Fr. (TF-1.5 4:48 (17-2))
- 3rd Place Match: Chandler Brown (INDIANOLA) 22-7, Fr. over Tyler Bell (KEARNEY) 27-7, Fr. (Fall 2:20)
- 5th Place Match: Aden Hendricks (LIBERTY) 18-7, So. over Josh Laney (ozark-2) 27-10, Fr. (M. For.)
- 7th Place Match: Omran Ghuniem (LAFAYETTE-Wildwood) 19-12, So. over Brennan Leeds (fort osage-2) 23-13, Fr. (M. For.)
113 Pounds
- 1st Place Match: Rowdy Angst (LIBERTY) 22-8, So. over Cain Crosson (INDIANOLA) 25-2, Fr. (Dec 13-8)
- 3rd Place Match: Caden Brayfield (PARK HILL) 24-4, Jr. over Colton Gray (FH CENTRAL) 17-5, So. (M. For.)
- 5th Place Match: Elyas Padash (NORTH KANSAS CITY) 19-5, So. over Taiga Kwon (OZARK) 27-9, Fr. (Dec 5-4)
- 7th Place Match: Rylan Shaw (STALEY) 15-15, So. over Jackson Peek (RAY-PEC) 21-16, So. (Fall 2:52)
120 Pounds
- 1st Place Match: Mason Brayfield (PARK HILL) 25-3, Sr. over John Cox (LIBERTY) 20-11, So. (Dec 8-3)
- 3rd Place Match: Sawyer Nelson (INDIANOLA) 20-5, Jr. over Kamdon VonHolten (RAY-PEC) 23-4, Sr. (Dec 12-11)
- 5th Place Match: Ahmad Ghuneim (LAFAYETTE-Wildwood) 11-4, Sr. over Mohammad Mahboobi (NORTH KANSAS CITY) 23-12, So. (Fall 1:36)
- 7th Place Match: Noah Perez (LIBERTY NORTH) 18-8, Jr. over Gavin McAtee (NIXA) 14-16, Jr. (Dec 4-3)
126 Pounds
- 1st Place Match: Riley Sumner (LAFAYETTE-Wildwood) 29-3, Jr. over Kaison Schreier (FORT OSAGE) 32-1, Sr. (M. For.)
- 3rd Place Match: Will Pfeifer (LIBERTY) 20-12, Sr. over Dax Folsom (PARK HILL) 13-4, Fr. (MD 13-5)
- 5th Place Match: Tyrre Broom (WINNETONKA) 22-3, Sr. over Wyatt Ford (ODESSA) 15-14, Jr. (Dec 7-2)
- 7th Place Match: Conner Anderson (STALEY) 15-12, Jr. over Braden Williams (SECKMAN) 18-14, Sr. (Dec 5-1)
132 Pounds
- 1st Place Match: Cade Dunn (LIBERTY) 18-8, Sr. over Carson Owens (SECKMAN) 25-7, So. (MD 13-4)
- 3rd Place Match: Phoenix Shelton (KEARNEY) 23-7, Jr. over Luke Steffens (FORT OSAGE) 23-8, Jr. (MD 10-1)
- 5th Place Match: Caleb Frankenberger (LAFAYETTE-Wildwood) 21-2, Jr. over Ayden Swedberg (INDIANOLA) 16-14, So. (Fall 0:26)
- 7th Place Match: Bodie Fichter (STALEY) 24-12, Fr. over Jax Adams (NIXA) 15-10, Jr. (Fall 1:57)
138 Pounds
- 1st Place Match: Antonio Martinez (FORT OSAGE) 29-3, Sr. over Colton Wilson (OZARK) 23-1, So. (MD 11-3)
- 3rd Place Match: Makai Smalley (ODESSA) 21-11, So. over Jacob Vanderiet (SECKMAN) 25-9, So. (Dec 4-2)
- 5th Place Match: Grady Nelsen (INDIANOLA) 22-14, Jr. over Ian Griffin (NIXA) 21-15, Fr. (MD 11-0)
- 7th Place Match: Luke Nally (LEES SUMMIT) 22-6, Sr. over Til`myrius Wilson (RAY-PEC) 21-10, So. (Fall 0:28)
144 Pounds
- 1st Place Match: Miller Sipes (STALEY) 20-4, Sr. over Teagon Patterson (OZARK) 31-9, Sr. (MD 22-9)
- 3rd Place Match: Kyle Grewal (ST THOMAS AQUINAS) 18-3, Jr. over Matthew Wilson (LAFAYETTE-Wildwood) 19-12, Jr. (Dec 1-0)
- 5th Place Match: Stoney Wood (INDIANOLA) 29-5, Jr. over Elijah Woods (SECKMAN) 15-12, Sr. (TF-1.5 1:48 (15-0))
- 7th Place Match: Evan Gatlin (RAY-PEC) 24-5, Sr. over Landon Sherman (WINNETONKA) 14-6, Jr. (MD 10-1)
150 Pounds
- 1st Place Match: Elijah Blewitt (INDIANOLA) 29-1, Jr. over Chance Ruble (SECKMAN) 34-4, Jr. (Dec 4-2)
- 3rd Place Match: Kamden Hooper (ODESSA) 18-4, Jr. over Ross Davis (LIBERTY) 12-8, So. (Dec 2-1)
- 5th Place Match: Carter Stritzel (LAFAYETTE-Wildwood) 20-10, So. over Tristan Morgan (LEES SUMMIT) 15-13, Jr. (TF-1.5 5:00 (18-2))
- 7th Place Match: Talyn Van Horn (OZARK) 24-16, Sr. over Kendahl Davis (KEARNEY) 11-12, Sr. (Fall 2:15)
157 Pounds
- 1st Place Match: Jet Brown (ODESSA) 28-1, Jr. over Cooper Kirkham (LIBERTY) 16-7, Jr. (TF-1.5 2:31 (21-6))
- 3rd Place Match: Hank Kolich (ST THOMAS AQUINAS) 21-5, Jr. over Reed Wilson (NIXA) 19-6, Jr. (Dec 4-1)
- 5th Place Match: Rylan Hilton (INDIANOLA) 17-4, Jr. over Grant Armentrout (PARK HILL) 28-10, Jr. (MD 13-3)
- 7th Place Match: Kale Davis (KEARNEY) 20-8, Jr. over Trevor Sundlie (OZARK) 20-16, Fr. (Fall 3:40)
165 Pounds
- 1st Place Match: Mac Crosson (INDIANOLA) 26-0, Jr. over Lake Waters (ODESSA) 15-5, Jr. (M. For.)
- 3rd Place Match: Noah Johnson (PARK HILL) 25-7, Sr. over Justice Williams (LIBERTY) 11-11, So. (Fall 1:45)
- 5th Place Match: Kaden Young (NIXA) 17-4, Jr. over Nicholas Sanders (LIBERTY NORTH) 16-13, Jr. (Dec 5-4)
- 7th Place Match: Corwin Cambron (indianola-2) 18-11, Jr. over Michael McCrady (FH CENTRAL) 13-10, So. (MD 13-4)
175 Pounds
- 1st Place Match: Owen Diemoz (NIXA) 28-4, Sr. over Donovan Hodges (LIBERTY) 12-5, Sr. (Dec 9-2)
- 3rd Place Match: Samuel Golden (FH CENTRAL) 16-7, Jr. over Carter Welsh (LAFAYETTE-Wildwood) 13-6, Sr. (Dec 4-1)
- 5th Place Match: Eli Cox (INDIANOLA) 11-5, Jr. over Alejandro Contreras (STALEY) 20-13, Jr. (Dec 7-3)
- 7th Place Match: Jacob Horman (SECKMAN) 16-13, So. over Robby Desmond (LEES SUMMIT) 18-10, Sr. (MD 15-6)
190 Pounds
- 1st Place Match: Isaac Ward (FORT OSAGE) 31-2, Sr. over Cohen Dray (KEARNEY) 10-9, Jr. (TF-1.5 1:53 (21-6))
- 3rd Place Match: Brady Christensen (INDIANOLA) 15-10, Jr. over Victor Martin (SECKMAN) 21-11, Fr. (Dec 3-1)
- 5th Place Match: Will Been (LAFAYETTE-Wildwood) 14-6, Fr. over Gavin Groves (FH CENTRAL) 14-9, Jr. (Fall 1:44)
- 7th Place Match: Grant James (LEES SUMMIT) 10-10, So. over Maddox Samson (RAY-PEC) 7-4, Jr. (Fall 1:47)
215 Pounds
- 1st Place Match: Carter Brown (LAFAYETTE-Wildwood) 31-2, Jr. over Carter Temple (KEARNEY) 14-1, Jr. (Dec 10-3)
- 3rd Place Match: Kobe Rhymes (NORTH KANSAS CITY) 30-3, Jr. over Dominic Stinson (LIBERTY) 17-8, So. (Dec 7-3)
- 5th Place Match: Garo Sams (FH CENTRAL) 20-5, Sr. over Louis Van Batavia (PARK HILL) 25-5, Jr. (M. For.)
- 7th Place Match: JJ Reed (STALEY) 20-14, Jr. over Weston Weldon (NIXA) 16-5, Jr. (M. For.)
285 Pounds
- 1st Place Match: Aiden Curtis (INDIANOLA) 27-4, Jr. over Isaiah Collins (OZARK) 32-8, So. (TB-1 2-1)
- 3rd Place Match: JD Romero (KEARNEY) 16-2, Jr. over Masen Bindel (LIBERTY) 12-3, Jr. (Fall 4:05)
- 5th Place Match: Halatoa Ofahulu (STALEY) 20-7, Jr. over Jacobi Guinn (PARK HILL) 17-10, Jr. (Dec 7-1)
- 7th Place Match: Luke Dale (LIBERTY NORTH) 15-12, Sr. over Hayden Hinkle (LEES SUMMIT) 10-11, Jr. (Dec 4-0)
