Michael Smith
The No. 2-ranked team in Class 4 according to the MissouriWrestling.com poll was missing two of their ranked wrestlers David Gleason (144) and Miller Sipes (132) and had another ranked competitor, Merrick Murray get injured in the semifinals.
Despite missing key wrestlers from their lineup, Staley still managed to take first place as a team with 159 points at Staley High School. Fort Osage took second with 148.5 and Kearney was third with 140.5.
Watch Interviews from:
- Lee’s Summit North’s Charlie Dykes (126)
- Kearney’s Ryder Shelton (120)
- Fort Osage’s Kaison Schreier (106)
- Grain Valley’s Sjoeren Aumua (144)
- Staley’s Parker Leverknight (113)
- Staley’s Zayne Reynolds (132)
- Fort Osage’s Colby Gray (150)
- Lee’s Summit North’s Luke Steinbrugge (165)
- Fort Osage’s Isaac Ward (190)
- Staley’s Kamah’o Grace (285)
- Fort Osage head coach Brandon Wackerman
“I think we can 100 percent compete for a state title,” Staley junior Zayne Reynolds said. “We just have to stay health and keep training like we have been.”
Reynolds (132), who is ranked No. 1 at 126 pounds, bumped up a weight class and was a huge reason his team ended up taking first place. He took down previously unbeaten Norman Schneider of Raytown South in a 15-0 tech fall victory in 2 minutes and 33 seconds to capture first place.
“Before the tournament, I wanted to emphasize staying in good position and just finding what opens up and attacking,” Reynolds said.
Junior Parker Leverknight (113) was another big key to the Falcons winning the tournament. He came in with a misleading 11-6 record as many of his losses came in some of the biggest tournaments in the Midwest against out-of-state competition.
On Saturday, he got pins in his first two matches to set up a title match with Grain Valley junior Colston Parks. In that one, he won 9-2 to earn himself a gold trophy.
“It’s helped because different states wrestle different,” Leverknight said of wrestling in out-of-state tournaments. “It helped me get better in different areas. I wrestled at Wisconsin this past weekend and they’re good at top. That helped me get better when I am on bottom.”
Staley junior Kamaha’o Grace earned a big bracket win that featured the second, fourth and fifth ranked wrestlers in his division. Ranked at No. 3, he topped No. 2-ranked Conor Tindle 3-1 in overtime after getting a clutch reversal.
“I am glad to see all the hard work I am putting in the room is paying off,” Grace said. “My coaches just told me to keep moving so that’s what my game plan was on bottom. I didn’t expect him to latch on, but he did, and I capitalized on it.”
Other Staley wrestlers to place in the top four were Gunner Dahms (106, second), Creighton Daniels (132, third), TJ Shanks (190, fourth) and Tyler Bower (165, fourth).
Below is a recap of the championship matches not already mentioned:
106: This weight class had a marquee matchup between No. 1-ranked Kaison Schreier of Fort Osage and Dahms, who is No. 4. Schreier remained unbeaten after earning a 4-2 victory against Dahms as he added another first-place tournament victory under his belt.
“The match was really slow and I wish I would have picked up the pace more,” Schreier said. “After,. I score points, I need to keep scoring instead of just winning by a little. I need to stay on the attack…
