Michael Smith
Late January and early February is a good time to be at your best if you’re a Missouri high school wrestler.
Especially win the boys district tournament starts in two weeks as was the case for the Titans. West won seven of 12 contested matches in a Thursday home dual against Liberty North, taking a 45-30 victory.
Wrestler Interviews:
- Lee’s Summit West’s Amina Abdulqaadir (125)
- Lee’s Summit West’s Donivan Nelson (144)
- Lee’s Summit West’s Keaton Miller (157)
- Liberty North’s Shad Seely (165)
- Lee’s Summit West’s Tony Manfredi (175)
- Liberty North’s Braedon Taylor (126)
- Lee’s Summit West’s Chase Hinton (132)
Tony Manfredi will have some momentum going into districts as he wrestled well above his weight. He weighed in at 159.9 pounds before the dual but ended up competing in the 175-pound bout. He matched up against Cooper Bolling and got a pin in the second period.
“I have to use my speed and strength,” Manfredi said of wrestling up a weight class. “I have been wrestling for about four years so I definitely have to use my strength.
“I like to wait until they shoot, spawl and then get them in a headlock. Then I will used a head and arm and spin them around.”
Chase Hinton (132) seemed to have a similar defensive approach in his match with Yurem Garcia. He didn’t give up a single point as he came away with a 7-0 decision.
“I thought I wrestled pretty well,” Hinton said. “I think I could have got more turns on top. I thought I hit my neutral moves well.”
Like Hinton, Keaton Miller (157) wrestled for a full six minutes as he was able to grind out a 8-2 decision vs. Nicholas Erpelding.
“My main goal this year has been to get to my shots and to get to the legs,” Miller said. “I know I am fast enough and strong enough to finish.”
Other Titans to earn victories were Donivan Nelson (144), who bumped up to varsity from the JV squad to pin Easton Nickels in 51 seconds; Grady Mortensen (150), who took a 13-1 major decision against Brock Winship; Cameron Tomlinson (190), who pinned Spencer Deuschle in 3:07; and Christopher Schroeder (106) and Kallen Koelzer (120), both of who won by forfeit.
Liberty North Shad Seely (165) has some momentum
