The Warrensburg wrestling team is in the tough Missouri River Valley Conference West and there are not a lot of easy matchups for the Tigers.
Defending Class 2 state champion Odessa and other solid teams like Harrisonville and Pleasant Hill are teams Warrensburg has to contend with in the conference.
On Thursday, the Tigers got to up against conference opponents – Pleasant Hill and Kansas City Center in a tri dual at Center High School. They proved they could be a team to look out for in Class 3 and in the conference as they crushed Center 66-18 and defeated the Roosters 44-27.
Pleasant Hill won its dual over Center 48-29.
Junior Jaylen Civil (126) led the way for the Tigers as he’s the only wrestler from the team in the top 10 of MissouriWrestling.com’s rankings (fifth). He showed why as he pinned Pleasant Hill’s Samual Jerabek and won by forfeit over the Yellowjackets.
“I thought I wrestled pretty good,” Civil said. “I was working all my stuff and got a pin for the team. I just punched the half and tried everything and anything.”
Junior Tate Cook (138) joined Civil among those who went 2-0 for Warrensburg. He pinned Center’s Terrwain McClinton Jr. in 3:11 and won by a 17-0 tech fall against Ethan Sanders of Pleasant Hill.
Following he match, it was apparent Cook had high standards for himself as he was critical of his dominant performance.
“I felt like I could have done better in the match where I got a tech fall,” Cook said. “I should have pinned him. I made some mistakes but I was able to overcome that. I could have taken better shots and could have been more confident.”
Junior Justice Griffith (144), like Cook, admitted he made some mistakes in his matches but was still dominant. He earned a 15-0 tech fall over the Roosters’ Morgan Anspaugh and pinned the Yellowjackets’ William Banks in 1:50.
“I like to ride legs and look for cradles,” Griffith said. “I like to keep pressure on top and look for a fall. We just have to keep trying to keep cleaning up or technique before districts.
Others for the Tigers to finish 2-0 included AJ Josa (113), Tristen Jonaitis (106), Taylan Gordon (165) and Reid Kearfott (215).
Pleasant Hill had four wrestlers finish the day unbeaten including junior Victor Schmalz (120), who is the No. 1 ranked wrestler in his division in Class 2. He displayed why he is a top contender Thursday as he pinned Center’s Kaiden Dean and earned a 19-7 major decision over Warrensburg’s Dayton Dunn.
“I felt like I faked well into my slide by,” Schmalz said. “I also got to my sweep to the legs. On top, I like to get in a chest wrap and grab the wrists for a nice near fall.”
His teammate, senior Gannon Lyons (150), appeared to be just as dominant. Lyons, the younger brother of former state champion and graduate Garrett Lyons, won by fall over the Tigers’ Adam Wisocky and the Yellowjackets’ Elijah Brown.
“I feel like was pretty good,” Lyons said. “I am getting back from a knee injury and I am getting the feeling of things. I am getting close to (100 percent). I am feeling a lot better.”
Other Roosters to finish the day 2-0 were Nicholas Pimental (285) and William King (175).
Center had two wrestlers finish with a 2-0 record. Benjamin Fortner was one of those Yellowjackets to have an unblemished record on Thursday as he pinned Warrensburg’s Jacob Bott and won by forfeit over Pleasant Hill.
“I have grown a lot and I have gotten better at taking shots,” Fortner said.
Davion Wilson (132), who is ranked seventh, earned a 17- tech fall over Pleasant Hill’s Jayden Young and pinned Warrensburg’s Henry Wheeler in the second round.
Girls
On the girls side, Warrensburg split a pair of duals, defeating Pleasant Hill 36-24 and falling to Center 41-36.
Adrianna Cole (100) helped lead the way for the Tigers as she pinned Pleasant Hill’s Willa Franklin and got a forfeit against Center.
“When I went into the match, I was just trying to take it slow,” Cole said. “I was feeling them out for the first 30 seconds then I did whatever I needed to do to get the pin. I got to my shots and got some firemans in. I do that every match.”
Milayna Garcia (105), Alexis Ilnicky (110) and Cerissa Holsey (115) all earned two wins for the Tigers.
In the other dual, Pleasant Hill tied Center at 36-36, but won by tiebreaker due to having more forfeit victories. It was a big day for Skylar Cyr-Coe (140) , who got to hold up a banner showing she earned her 100th win after pinning Warrensburg’s Adrienne Keller. She finished 2-0, also pinning Center’s Lillian Damiano. Her actual 100th win was actually accomplished two weeks prior to the dual but she got to finally celebrate it Thursday.
“I feel pretty accomplished since I wasn’t able to get it last year,” Cyr-Coe said of her 100th win. “When I first started wrestling, I didn’t think I’d reach 100 wins.”
Defending state champion Alana Thelin (170) and Amiah Peterson (120) joined the ranks of the unbeaten for Pleasant Hill, as well.
For Center, Julia Frank (190), Daina Tsafack (145), Courtney Williams (135), Jayana Mattingly-Essex (130), Lynn Nyange (125) and Aireona Ealy each finished 2-0 on the night.
