Michael Smith
Even while missing some of its top wrestlers like Cooper Rider and Kyle Dutton, Liberty proved its still a tough team to deal with.
The Blue Jays competed in one of the biggest tournament in the Kansas City area, the Winnetonka Invitational.
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The tournament featured 24 teams that included some of the best teams in the city, some from other parts of the state and even Iowa. However, Liberty, which has won the last two state championships in Missouri, proved it has plenty of depth, even without Dutton and Rider.
The Blue Jays earned 347 team points to take first place, Saturday at Winnetonka High School. They were four points ahead of Lafayette Wildwood (343) and 36 ahead of third-place Staley (311). Liberty had six wrestlers place in the top six which included four that won their weight bracket.
Below is a breakdown of all the winners from each bracket:
106: Unranked Ryder Shelton of Kearney proved he may be deserving of being on the top 6 rankings of the MissouriWrestling.com poll. In a bracket that featured No. 3-ranked Devon Harrison of Liberty and No. 2-ranked Damien Moseley of Ozark, Shelton came out on top.
He defeated No. 6-ranked Eric Egstad of Park Hill by a 10-0 major decision before edging Moseley in the finals 5-2 to take first.
“I just had to watch out for his moves he pinned everyone else with,” Shelton said of wrestling Moseley. “I just had to stay away from those.”
Top six placers:
1st: Ryder Shelton, Kearney
2nd: Damien Moseley, Ozark
3rd: Devon Harrison, Liberty
4th: Parker Leverknight, Staley
5th: Eric Egstad, Park Hill
6th: John Nguyen, Winnetonka
