Michael Smith
St. Michael The Archangel Catholic wrestling coach Matt Infranca is starting to build his annual Kumite Championships into a yearly event.
Last Saturday was the second annual Kumite Championship Tournament and it’s one of the only in Missouri to feature a girls Greco-Roman division.
“We did girls Greco last year for the first time and it was a success,” Infranca said. “We want to build on that and give girls the opportunity to wrestle Greco. What we noticed is that regional tournaments have started to offer girls Greco, so we feel like we were in front of that a little bit.
The tournament featured wrestlers from elementary age to high school and there was girls and boys divisions for both Greco-Roman and freestyle.
Infranca, who is the head of the Kobra Kai Wrestling Club said he hopes to move the tournament earlier in the year, sometime in April.
“That might help us get some more numbers,” Infranca said. “We are happy with our turnout. We would like to find a weekend in April we can settle on.”
Video interviews from:
- St. Michael’s Sampson Stillwell
- St. Michael’s Lucas Estes
- St. Michael’s Lucas Barry
- St. Michael’s Drew Stanfield
- St. Michael’s head coach Matt Infranca
- Fort Osage’s Kaison Schreier
- Staley’s Craig Omozeje
- Staley’s Watson Reed
- Lebanon’s Mariyah Brumley
- Cathage’s David Recinos
- Marquette’s Madeline Burton
- Lee’s Summit’s Damien Kimble
- Park Hill South’s Kavan Slater
- Platte County’s Caden Hulett
- Belton’s Brady Littleton
- Centralia’s Luke Hayden
- Staley’s Kaden Trickey
Below is a breakdown of the winners of the high school division winners for Greco and freestyle:
High School girls Greco
100-106: Troy Buchnan’s Zoey Haney won the Greco bracket for the second year in a row, getting two tech fall victories and an injury forfeit to take her round-robin bracket.
