The degree of difficulty has gone up for the Platte County wrestling team for the 2025-26 season.
The Pirates have been bumped up from Class 3 to Class 4, so they will be competing against the largest programs in the state.
They seem up for the challenge.
It certainly appeared that way in a Suburban White Conference matchup with Truman Thursday on the road. Platte County improved its dual record to 6-3 following a 57-22 victory.
“We did good, but we had a couple of guys out of the lineup,” junior Jaxson Shute said. “We didn’t have some of our core guys like Jack Johnson at 165 and Cade didn’t have a match at 113.”
Shute (138), who won a state championship in Class 3 last season, is looking forward to the challenge of competing at a higher level. He looked sharp on Thursday as he got a takedown and hooked an inside cradle for a pin over Kevin Padilla in 1:17.
He said he is wrestling through a torn labrum in his shoulder, but confident he can still fare well despite the injury.
“It slows my movement a little bit,” Shute said. “It’s just weaker because I haven’t been able to work it out a lot.
“The kid I wrestled was kind of short, and he just kind of balled up when I took him down and I got him flat and got the crossface cradle and pinned him.”
Grant Fadler (150) also picked up a nice win for the Pirates as he used a butcher to hold down Daylen Curry for a pin in 1:41 after giving up an early takedown.
“I thought I wrestled well today,” Fadler said. “I got to my shots and my turns. I was able to get my turns quickly after my shots.”
Other wins for the Pirates are summarized below:
106: Lennon Fitzpatrick won by forfeit.
113: Cade Crawford won by forfeit.
132: Hassan Alyssari was aggressive from the jump and earned a dominant 19 second pin against Anthony Sherrow.
144: Chase Hulett erased a 6-4 deficit after the first period and caught Kylan Bolin with a cradle for a pin in 2:35.
157: Hank Marriott got a quick takedown and used a double chicken wing to turn Brandon Coffman and get a pin in 58 seconds.
190: Cooper Hammontree had three takedowns of Abdullah Zmerda before using a hammerlock to get a turn and pin in 1:50.
215: Phin McMain jumped out to an 8-1 lead before pinning Aaron Baylie in 1:04.
285; Quinn Lightle grinded out a 10-6 victory over Noah Talato.
“We bumped some guys up and some guys who usually don’t wrestle (at the varsity level) got a win,” Platte County veteran head coach Reggie Burress said. “ Hassan was one of those guys and he did great. It was good to see that and give those young guys some opportunities.”
For Truman, Casey O’Hara (120 pounds) pinned Preston Harp in 1:53; Emilio Recarte (126) took a 13-5 major decision over Liam Franksen; Marc Gonzalez (165) won by fall in 2:53 against Kyle McGee; and Gabriel Soliz (175) in 2:26 against Justice Martin.
Girls
The Platte County girls team earned 36 team points of Truman forfeits and that aided in its 53-3 blowout.
Platte County’s Ariel Humphreys (105) pinned Carmen Williams in 1:18; Charley Sims (115) won by fall in 2:32 against Molly Saak; and Gabriella Ciccarelli (120) took a 17-0 tech fall win against KeNiyah Coleman in 5:26.
Those to win by forfeit for Platte County were Harper Golden (110), Katelyn Newberry (125), Anna Wiesehan (130), Ava Blankenship (135), Leighton McGaughy (140) and Arieana De La Cruz (155).
Truman’s A’Nyla Davis (235) picked up her team’s lone win as she defeated Nicole Fernandez 6-2.
