The St. Pius X wrestling team has been on a roll in recent years.
The Warriors have won Missouri state team titles in the last two seasons in Class 1 and 3, with the latter coming in 2024-25.
Last March, they ran away with first place, scoring 201.5 points, which was 47 points ahead of second-place Hillsboro.
Things are likely going to change for St. Pius going into the 2025-26 season. It graduated multiple seniors in 2025, including three state champions – Jackson Rotterman, Noah Gonzalez and Gable Gross.
Not only that, but veteran head coach Kirk Gross has taken over as head coach, replacing Josh Crawford, and his team bumping up to Class 4 because of the school’s increased enrollment and the private school multiplier.
“We’re looking pretty good, but when you lose the seniors that we did, you have a little bit of a rebuild that you have to do,” said Gross. “We have some state placers coming back.
“We have a group of freshmen coming in. We’re excited with where we are at. We went to Nebraska and participated in some camps and some of the kids wrestled freestyle over the summer.”
Junior Jordan Bell said the transition of head coaches has been a smooth one for the team.
“Coach Gross has made the team a lot more like a family,” Bell said. “I think our team is really close. We are closer than we have ever been.”
Bell is one of the key wrestlers coming back for the Warriors as he is a two-time state champion. Last season, he won the state 113-pound weight class and defeated Ft. Zumwalt South’s Kanyon Shurtz by a 17-2 tech fall.
This season, he will likely wrestle at 126 or 132, which will be a big jump in weight for the talented junior.
“Especially since I have been going up in weight class, I have been working on increasing my strength,” Bell said. “I have been in the weight room with Luke Cline’s dad. I want to get a lot stronger and move people around.
“I want to carry over my defense. I don’t think I was an offensive wrestler last year. I was very defensive. I just waited for my opponent to come to me and reattack off what they did. I want to use that and add on to my offense this offseason.”
Junior heavyweight Kyler Kuhn joins Bell as those on the Warriors who are coming back with a state championship to their name. Last season, Kuhn he finished with a 44-3 record and won the Class 3, 285-pound bracket at the state tournament following a 5-3 victory over Helias Catholic’s Zyan Knollmeyer.
He said he is looking to add more moves to his repertoire in preparation for a potential bump up to Class 4.
“My underhook series is the strong point of my game,” Kuhn said. “I am pretty versatile on top and the goal is not to let anyone hold me down on bottom. I am working to add a snatch to my underhook game. I feel like I can be pretty versatile if I can develop a couple of shots that I am good at.
“My goal is to go undefeated and win another state championship.”
Sophomore Luke Cline comes back as one of the team’s returning state medalists as he finished in third place at 132 pounds at state in 2024-25. Junior Dylan Hall also is a key returner as he finished in sixth place at 120 pounds. Junior Patrick Hickey also comes back with some state tournament experience as he was a qualifier at 106 last season.
“I am looking to find different setups and looking to attack from different angles,” Cline said. I am wanting to get that state title this year. I have been in the venue. The nerves got to me last time, but I will be ready this year.”
The Warriors also welcome Park Hill South transfer Landon McDowell. He is a talented wrestler who is consistently ranked in the top six of his weight class in the MissouriWrestling.com poll. Last season, he qualified but didn’t place.
“Landen is poised for a breakout,” Gross said. “He’s poised for a really special season. He had a really good camp in Nebraska in the offseason.”
Other newcomers who could have an impact and make the lineup include Owen Corcoran, Dalton McDaniel, Cruz Enderle, Alex Hall, George Bringus and Charles Litzau.
Even after losing a lot of talented seniors from last year’s season class, Gross and his wrestlers are still aiming to make a run at a state championship no matter what class they are in.
“We lost a lot of our guys last year, and some people aren’t expecting a lot out of us this year,” Bell said. “We have always had some tough guys and we will again this year. We still have a lot of confidence in our team. I like being the underdog. I am excited to see what we can do this year.”