The Platte County boys wrestling team continues to have an impressive season.
Not only are the Pirates on pace to win the Suburban White Conference title, they showed they can be a force in Saturday’s Lydia Lights Tournament at Blue Springs South High School.
Platte County dominated the tournament as seven of their wrestlers won their respective brackets and the team ran away with first place with 323 points. Lee’s Summit took second place with 244 points and Raytown was third with 163.5.
Your Blue Spring South: Lydia’s Lights Tournament Champions @PCWRESTLE @PCHSAthletics1 Great work boys! pic.twitter.com/q3stLVM7UU
— Tyler Crawford (@gymclasspirate) February 1, 2025
“I think we are all getting in the room and doing a great job,” Platte County junior Cole Johnson said. “We are all getting in the room and working hard. We are doing it as a team.”
Added junior Cooper Hammontree: “We have a pretty solid team. We have a couple of guys out with injuries, but they are coming back before districts. I think we can place high.”
Hammontree (190 pounds) and Johnson (215) were among the Pirates that finished in first place in their brackets. Hamontree improved to 19-7 on the season after going 4-0. He pinned Lee’s Summit junior Michale Held in 3:01 in the championship match.
“I think I got a lot of my points out of scrambling,” said Hammtontree, who is No. 9 in his weight class according to the MissouriWrestling.com’s rankings in Class 3. “The only pin I can tell you about came from an armbar. It was a lot of scrambles.”
Johnson is ranked No. 7 and is having a standout season. He continued that in the Lydia Lights Tournament, improving to 20-3, with pins in all four of his matches, including one over Lee’s Summit junior Zander McGuire.
Like Johnson and Hammontree, pinning their way through their brackets seemed to be a theme for the Pirates as they had others who did the same, including freshman Cade Crawford (106), who won by fall in all five of his matches. He ended his day with a pin in 1:48 against Raytown freshman Drake Harley.
“I think I wrestled pretty well, but I could have got to my shots faster,” Crawford said. “I could have got more points on top, but overall, it was pretty good.”
No. 8-ranked Grant Fadler (144) earned three pins in his round-robin bracket and his other two victories came by forfeit. He finished the tournament with a pin in 2:52 against Blue Springs sophomore Jackson Paulsen.
Platte County senior Evan MacCuish (150) earned pins in three of his five matches and earned major decision in the other two. One of those came against Lee’s Summit sophomore Austin Cornett as he got three takedowns on his way to a 15-3 major decision in the finals.
“My ducks were working really well,” MacCuish said. “I was trying to get to my head outside shots, but that wasn’t work well. I frustrated (Cornett) a little bit. He started pressuring in and that set up my duck perfectly and I threw my legs in and got to work.”
Pirate Sophomore Jaxson Shute (120), like his teammates, dominated his bracket even with Pleasant Hill junior Victor Schmalz, who is ranked No. 1 in his weight division in Class 2, in it. Shute had three wins by tech fall and one pin going into his marquee matchup with Schmalz. The Pirate sophomore controlled the match throughout and came away with a 14-5 major decision, getting four takedowns.
“It wasn’t my best match, I could have got to my attacks more,” said Shute, who is ranked No. 1 in Class 3. “I got the job and I am happy I won. I thought I did well with my fakes and setting up by shots. I rode everyone tough on top.”
Platte County junior Quinn Lightle (285) didn’t have as many matches as other wrestlers in the tournament as he got a late start to the season due to winning a Class 5 state championship with the football team. He also missed some matches last week due to a skin infection, so his finals match against Blue Springs’ Carter Atagi was just his 13th bout of the season. He won that one 5-1 to take his bracket.
“In that match, I should have had heavier hands and shot more,” said Lightle, who improved to 13-0, “but a win is a win. My snaps were good, and I hit a few shots.”
Below is a breakdown of the other winners of the weight classes not already mentioned:
113: Raytown junior David Ayala has been on a roll recently as he won his bracket the weekend before at the Alan Isom Tournament at Kansas City Center High School. He continued his momentum in his round-robin bracket and finished 4-0 with three pins and a tech fall.
126: Raytown freshman Lehi Butler was in a competitive match with Platte County freshman Hank Marriott in the finals. He was down 8-6 late in his match, but Butler got a reversal and a two-point near fall in the final 15 seconds to escape with a 9-8 victory.
132: Lee’s Summit junior Luke Nally won all three of his matches in his round-robin bracket, getting two pins and a 20-3 tech fall victory over Blue Springs South freshman Xander Minton to take first place.
138: Rockhurst senior Kade Tholen improved to 23-3 after dominating his bracket. He had three pins by fall and two by tech fall. In his championship match against Lee’s Summit junior AJ Wishne, he won by an 18-0 tech fall in 5:47.
157: Lee’s Summit North freshman Ben Wirth was the lone Bronco to win his bracket. He had two wins by tech fall and earned a 12-4 major decision against Raytown junior Edgar Orozco in his round robin bracket as he took first.
165: Blue Springs South sophomore Cy Wilmes is looking for his first state appearance this season as he just missed out last year after falling in the bubble match at districts. On Saturday, he had four pins and one win by tech fall in his round-robin bracket to capture first.
175: Rockhurst sophomore Anthony Totta only had one match under his belt coming into the tournament as he recently just returned to action after recovering from a broken fibula in his right leg. It appeared that he recovered well as he finished 5-0 in his round-robin bracket, getting a 9-3 decision in his final match over Lee’s Summit junior Robby Desmond to seal his first-place finish.
