Because of the flu, Northwest was able to take just nine wrestlers to Jefferson City for the Capital City Invitational last week.
But the Lions who weren’t sidelined represented well, with six of them qualifying for the semifinals. Northwest finished sixth overall with 186.5 points. Lafayette won the team title with 304.5 points.
Sophomore Chase Stegall (31-2) won Northwest’s only title of the tournament at 182 pounds with a 1-0 decision over Raymore-Peculiar junior Clint Herrick.
“We knew it was going to be tough and it came down to Chase riding out on top to win the match,” Northwest head coach Ron Wilhelm said. “He’s lost two decisions to defending state champions.”
Wilhelm’s nephew, junior Carter Wilhelm, lost the championship match at 113 by technical fall to Lafayette junior Kayden Carson.
“(Carter Wilhelm) pinned his way to the finals, giving us some big team points,” Ron Wilhelm said. “He lost a tough match to a returning state medal winner. He’s having a great season for us.”
The Lions were without Tyler Green (145), Calvin Cromer (220) and Darrell Reed (285), all out sick.
Cannon Newhouse (120), Adam Stout (126), Austin Akins (138) and Caleb Camacho (160) all won their third-place matches for the Lions.
“It was a great last round because they’re all tough matches,” Wilhelm said. “Akins lost to a kid in pool play, then beat him for third. Caleb wrestled a great third-place match after losing a heartbreaker in the semifinals.”
As tough as the tournament in Jefferson City was, it doesn’t get any easier for the Lions, who compete in a tournament at Columbia Hickman Friday and Saturday, then face top-ranked Lafayette in a Suburban Conference dual meet on Jan. 24. Northwest travels to St. Charles for the Kyle Thrasher Tournament at Francis Howell on Jan. 26-27.
“The grind is here,” Wilhelm said. “We’ve got two big tournaments coming up and we’ll literally see the best competition in the state and we do that purposely every year because we don’t want any surprises when we go to (Columbia) in February.”
Jags finish second at St. Charles West
Like Northwest, the Seckman wrestling team competed at the St. Charles West Warrior Classic on Friday and Saturday without a few of their top wrestlers. Some of the Jaguars missed because of illness, while others were held out by head coach Ryan Moyer to heal from the bumps and bruises of the season.
Eleven of the 13 wrestlers Seckman took to West made it out of their pool brackets and grappled for medals. The Jaguars came in second with 190.5 points. Francis Howell won the tournament with 202.5 points.
“We didn’t have all of our starters but we really wrestled well,” Moyer said. “We really brought together a good team effort. We’ve had the flu bug like everyone else and we’re battling some bumps and bruises. We sat guys out to get ready for districts and state.”
There was a Seckman wrestler in the championship of the each of the first three weight classes on Saturday. At 106 pounds, two young wrestlers vied for the title and Blue Springs freshman Korbin Shepherd pinned Seckman sophomore Skyler Akers at 4:10. Akers’ only other loss this season was the Khyler Brewer of Staley, who beat Seckman’s Jack Wrocklage to finish third in Class 4 last season.
“We were flat and (Shepherd) got us,” Moyer said about Akers’ loss on Saturday. “Skyler wrestled great. His bracket had five of the top six kids in the state.”
Wrocklage brought home the title at 113 with a 3-2 decision against De Smet’s Eric Lovelace. Lovelace led 2-0 after a first-period takedown. Wrocklage tied the match 2-2 with a reversal in the second, chose the up position for the third and rode out Lovelace for the victory.
“It was a tough match,” Moyer said. “Jack wrestled well, as did Lovelace. We’re still in a building phase with Jack. He’s always looking to get better. This isn’t the best he’s wrestled.”
The Jaguars claimed their second title when defending state champion Kai Orine (first in Class 4 at 113 last year) pinned Ritenour junior Austin Cornell in the first period. None of Orine’s matches made it to the second period as he won them all by fall and improved to 27-2.
Moyer said he can’t wait to see what Orine can do at this weekend’s tournament in Winnetonka, which he said is the second-toughest tourney the Jaguars wrestle in behind the Kansas City Stampede.
“He’ll have some tough competition and we’re really looking forward to it,” Moyer said.
Seckman junior Jeremy Ashlock had the unenviable task of facing Eureka senior Kyle Dickhaus for the championship at 182. Dickhaus is 22-1 and the defending Class 4 champion at 182 and pinned Ashlock in 38 seconds.
“Those two have a good background,” Moyer said. “Two years ago they wrestled almost every week and they were all good matches. They’re throwers and we locked up a body lock and when we stepped behind, we didn’t sag our hips and he threw us. It could have gone either way. It’s not a bad loss.”
The other Seckman wrestlers to earn medals were Tyler Lowe (fourth, 126 pounds), Anthony Chellew (fourth, 138), James Hummel (second, 145), Gavin Moore (fourth, 152), Blake Fritz (third, 160) and Andrew Warren (fifth, 195).
Windsor finished fifth at the 141 Rumble
At the tournament at Rockwood Summit on Saturday, the Owls edged Jefferson County Activities Association rival Hillsboro by a point (119-118) to finish fifth.
In all, nine Windsor wrestlers went back to Imperial with medals and senior Ryan Yarnell won the championship at 182 pounds. Yarnell improved to 26-0 this season and he’s working toward competing for his second state medal next month.
Two Owls, sophomores Grant Pauli (145) and Seifeldin Elkhashab (195) won their third-place matches. Pauli, also a returning state qualifier, beat Parkway South senior Kai Myers 9-3 on Saturday. Elkhashab pinned Washington senior Michael Boehlein in the first period of his third-place match.
The other Owls to medal were senior Andrew Kinder, who came in fourth at 120; freshman Michael Wolcott was fourth at 132; junior Brandon Ruegge finished fourth at 152; and senior Connor Richey claimed sixth at 160.