Missouri Wrestling
Blue Jays defeat defending KS state champs but dropped a heartbreaking 28-26 decision to perennial powerhouse and reigning Oklahoma Class 6A state champion Broken Arrow
6 min read
By Chris Geinosky
For most high school student athletes, winter break officially started last week. That was not the case for the Liberty High School wrestling team.
To say the reigning MSHSAA Class 4 state champion Blue Jays still had work to do would be quite the understatement. Liberty faced off against four other defending state champs from Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma in two separate events in less than 24 hours this past weekend.
“This is exactly what we needed,” Liberty head coach Dustin Brewer said. “With everything going on, it’s been tough for scheduling this year, and this worked out well for us. This would normally be the weekend for the KC Stampede, which was cancelled a while ago. This doesn’t completely make up for the Stampede, but at least it was a replacement.
“… We need our guys to get out there and have top-level matches, and this year, we thought that might not be able to happen as much as we want because of the (CoVid-19) restrictions. Fortunately, this opportunity came about, and some teams reached out. We had two tough days of wrestling with a shorter overnight, so it really worked out well for us in terms of the challenges and the quick turnaround you face in the big tournaments at the end of the season.”
