The North Kansas City boys wrestling team showed it could be a team to look out for the rest of the 2026 season.
The Hornets hosted the 65th annual Joe Crouthers Invitational Saturday and ran away with the team title as they scored 270 points to capture the first-place trophy. Park Hill was second with 173 points and Blue Springs South was third with 160 points.
“We are looking great,” North Kansas City junior Kobe Rhymes said. “We have a lot of good dues that are doing good things. They just needed some time to develop and they have done that. It’s showing on the mat.”
Northtown had four wrestlers win their brackets including Elyas Padash (113 pounds), Mohammad Manboobi (120), Aaron Colvon (165) and Kobe Rhymes (215).
Rhymes put the exclamation point on Northtown’s dominant victory as he pinned Blue Springs South’s David Schibler in the semifinals before earning a third-period over Blue Springs South’s Alex Ultican in the championship bout.
“I feel good, but there are definitely some things I need to improve on…I knew I had (Ultican) before the match even started. He was scared. He was shivering in his boots. That’s when I knew I was going to win.”
– Kobe Rhymes, North KC
Manboobi had a similar dominant win in his championship match. He pinned Summit Christian’s Garrett Gordon in 1:45 to win the championship match. In the semifinals, he took a 12-2 major decision over Briscoe Woolston of Liberty North.
“He shot a low single and I bounced back with my own shot. Once I got him down, I threw in half for the pin,” Manboobi said. “The ankle pick got a lot of my takedowns.”
Colvon got some momentum after starting the season with a 2-10 record. He pinned Raytown’s Edward Orozco in 3::48 in the semifinals before winning by fall in 2:17 against Truman’s Marc Gonzalez.
“I just needed to keep up with the pace,” Colvon said. “I came into the tournament with a 2-10 record, so I knew I needed to go into practice with a good attitude. This is a big flip around for me. I had to cut 10 pounds.
“(Gonzalez) tried to sit out and I dug in a wing and I pulled his head and he went backward. I was able to get the pin right there.”
Padash started things off for the Hornets on the right foot as he was the first one to win his division. He lost his first match by fall to Raytown’s David Ayala, who eventually had to exit the tournament because of an injury.
Padash went on to win his next four matches, including the championship bout in which he won by 1 17-1 tech fall over teammate Pegnam Mohammadi.
Below is a summary of the championship matches not already mentioned:
106: Liberty’s Paul Donnici won by a 11-3 major decision over teammate Aden Hendricks to capture first.
126: Park Hill’s Dax Folsom won by fall in 1:49 against Blue Springs South’s Alex Mills to take first.
132: Raytown’s Lehi Butler edged Kansas City Northeast’s Lecardo Mwamba 11-8 in the title bout to earn his spot atop the podium.
138: Blue Springs South’s Xander Minton pinned Liberty’s Justin Mikessell in the second period in the championship bout.
144: Park Hill South’s Tommy Wolfgeher got a takedown in overtime to defeat Park Hill’s Robby Hanna White 8-5.
150: Raytown’s Josiah Hogan controlled his match from start to finish and dominated in a 20-6 major decision against Daylen Curry.
157: Park Hill’s Grant Armentrout won by fall in 3:32 over Blue Springs South’s Caleb Hart.
175: Summit Christian Academy’s Dakota Cobb avenged a 21-9 loss to Northtown’s Latayvia Woods-Smith earlier in the tournament, and met him in the championship and won 8-6 to capture first place.
“Last night, I was feeling foggy and a little bit tired,” Cobb said. (Woods-Smith) beat me last night, and I was mad. It was tearing me up inside. I woke up early this morning and went for a run. I came here and I said, ‘I am going to beat him today!’ And I took him out.”
190: Blue Springs South’s Cy Wilmes pinned Northtown’s Laith Alhashemi in 1:55 to take first.
285: Van Horn’s Jaylen Mitchell pinned Staley’s Halatoa Ofahulu in 5:51 after leading 4-1.