For the second straight season, Liberty High School, about 15 miles northeast of Kansas City, plundered its way to the Class 4 state wrestling championship.
Last year, the Blue Jays scored 241 points to win their first-ever state title. They routed the competition with 226 this year. Christian Brothers College High, Class 4 champions in 2018 and 2019, finished a distant second with 117 points.
The chase for the four state trophies was bottlenecked for most of Saturday at the Cable Dahmer Arena in Independence. When the dust settled, Seckman finished 10th for the second straight year, upping its point total from 48 in 2020 to 64 this time. At one point during the quarterfinals the Jaguars were in second place. They jockeyed in and out all day against Holt (Wentzville), Francis Howell Central and Ozark, but ultimately Jefferson City and Nixa tied for third with 81 points, while Lafayette and Staley tied for fifth with 79.
While Seckman didn’t advance in the team standings compared to last year, the Jaguars did improve from eight to nine state qualifiers and from three to four medal winners. Freshman Draegen Orine (second, 106 pounds), freshman Matthew Cook (fourth 113), senior Devin Haag (fourth, 120) and sophomore Cole Ruble (fourth, 160) were medalists this year.
“Only returning two medalists from last year and losing a senior who didn’t come out was tough,” Seckman head coach Ryan Moyer said. “We knew this year was going to be an upward battle because we were so young. Usually there’s a giant gap between the top four teams and everyone else. There were a couple things that didn’t go our way or we could have finished in (the top four).”
Orine’s older brother, Kai, won three state championships from 2017 through 2019. Draegen entered the championship match at 106 with a record of 41-0. His opponent, CBC freshman Luke Lilledahl, had lost only once this season – to Orine in the sectional final. In their second tight match in three weeks, Lilledahl (21-1) was a little better, taking a 4-2 decision.
Asked what he would have done differently in the final, Orine said he would have trained harder and plans to forget about the match. With a second-place medal, Orine looks to have a great career.
“It’s a good feeling but I have much bigger goals than just high school wrestling,” he said.
Moyer said the difference in the rematch was Lilledahl got to Orine’s legs this match more often. “We didn’t have our best match. We were a little stagnant and he countered and took us down to go up 4-2,” Moyer said. “It was a fun match to watch. I’m excited to see what (Orine) does the next three years. It was right in his hands and it slipped away.”
Cook (24-11) made it two freshmen in a row to earn a medal for Seckman when he finished fourth at 113. In the first two rounds, Cook won by decisions of 4-3 and 6-4 before being pinned in his last two matches.
Haag, a two-time state qualifier, wrestled an abbreviated season, finishing 16-9. After winning a 2-1 decision in the quarterfinals, he was pinned in the third period of the semifinals and in the first period of the third-place match against Nixa junior Peyton Moore (40-2).
“He’s a tough kid. Last year he had the injury bug,” Moyer said. “This year he was the team leader in the room and worked hard. That (120) was a stacked weight class with multiple state champs and medalists (in the field).”
Ruble (33-11) finished third in the state at 145 last year and reached that match again this year against Jackson senior Garner Horman, who was still stinging from his first loss of the season in the quarterfinals. Horman (34-1) squeezed out a 3-2 decision over Ruble, who got to the medal round with a 5-3 sudden victory over Liberty junior Jeremiah Halter.
Freshman Drake Jenkins (126), sophomore John Bamvakais (132), junior Aydan Cook (138), freshman Jayden Ashlock (170) and junior Dylan Carlton (195) also qualified for state for the Jaguars. In the quarterfinals, Carlton lost 8-1 to Liberty senior Jack Horn, who finished second. Carlton pinned his first opponent in wrestlebacks in 29 seconds and faced off against Northwest senior Johnny Daffron for a spot in the fifth-place match.
Carlton (38-8) and Daffron (36-7) play baseball together in the summer for the Jefferson County Blazers of the St. Louis Amateur Baseball Association. They put their friendship on hold for the right to medal and Daffron scored a takedown, two near-fall points and an escape for a 5-0 victory. He finished 5-0 in his prep career against Carlton.
“They’re good friends off the mat,” Northwest head coach Ron Wilhelm said. “That was tough on both of them. I remember Johnny saying in the tunnel, ‘I’d rather be wrestling anyone than my friend.’”
Sixth at 182 last year, Daffron had a chance to move up one rung on the medal podium and did so with an 8-4 decision over Holt junior Isaiah Slaughter, who had won their previous two matches by major decision and fall. Daffron trailed in the state match 4-0 with a minute left.
“He used a submarine lap-drop, but you have to expose your back to do it,” said Wilhelm, explaining Daffron’s winning move. “Normally it’s an upper-body throw, so since (Slaughter) knew it was coming, we had to take a different approach. You have to swivel your hips and turn him to his back. If you don’t get it, you’re stuck on your own back. It was beautiful. He is one of the best throwers I’ve ever coached.”
Senior Cannon Newhouse (38-5), the Lions’ other state qualifier, won his first state medal in three trips. After taking his first match 8-5, he lost 9-0 to eventual title-winner Kal Miller, a junior two-time state champion from Park Hill who finished the season 33-0. In the third-place match, Newhouse dropped a 3-1 decision to Marquette senior Aidan Rudman.
“Not only will he go down as one of our most decorated wrestlers, but he was the right leader at the right time for the Lion wrestling program during the pandemic,” Wilhelm said of Newhouse. “I thought Cannon threw everything he had at (Miller) and I couldn’t be more proud of our senior captain. He finished ahead of three kids who beat him this year.”
Fox senior Mason Petty pinned Francis Howell junior Judah Johnson in the first period of his first match at 285, then lost 5-2 to Liberty junior Jeremiah Cabuyaban in the quarterfinals. Petty (19-6), the only Warrior to qualify for state, fell out of medal contention in the wrestlebacks.