Let’s have some fun as we put the wraps on 2022.
The following are my picks for the top 10 local sports stories of the year. I’m sure you readers, many as passionate about local sports as I am, will have differing opinions about my list. Have at it! Post a comment on the Leader Facebook or Twitter pages. Like I said, this is an exercise in fun.
10. St. Pius X girls soccer finishes second in state in Class 1
In the 2021-2022 school year, head coach Aaron Portell guided the Lancers to the boys and girls state finals, with both teams finishing second. The girls ripped through the playoffs, outscoring their opponents 27-0 before beating Greenwood 3-1 in the semifinals. It was the Lancers’ fifth appearance in the final four.
In the state final, Whitfield’s Mia Devroaux scored a hat trick in the second half and the Warriors shut out St. Pius 3-0.
“We knew (Devroaux) had the potential to hurt us,” Portell said. “They played directly through her and if you handle her, you’re probably going to get a shot to win.”
9. Girls wrestling adds second class
Nationally burgeoning girls wrestling has grown in Missouri, too, with more than 1,000 girls competing. I can’t say coaches or the Missouri State High School Activities Association were surprised by the growth, even when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
Going into its fifth season of girls wrestling, MSHSAA had to add a second class because the one-class, four-district format couldn’t contain all the growth, not with 50 schools per district. That doesn’t mean expansion will continue to the point where a third class is needed anytime soon; that’s probably years in the future. A lot of teams, including most in our county, can’t consistently cover all 14 weight classes. Nor do they have enough girls to field teams on the lower levels. I’d say Northwest has developed the largest program, boys and girls, in the county.
Our county produced a girls state champion in each of the first four years. Jaycee Foeller never lost a match in her career at De Soto, winning three state titles. Last season, Fox senior Faith Spicer captured the 235-pound state championship. Seckman 2022 graduate Madison Conrad was the first (and is still the only) girl in the county to qualify for state four times.
8. Hillsboro and Seckman both take second in state wrestling
The Hillsboro and Seckman boys have climbed into Missouri’s wrestling elite, in the two largest classes in the state. Both teams have the talent to take that final step up to their first championships come late February in Columbia.
Hillsboro dominated Seckman in a dual meet to start the season. The Hawks have two past state champions (Evan Morris and Gavin Alexander) and at least three or four other wrestlers capable of making the top of the podium. Boys wrestling is historically Seckman’s strongest sport and a state title would crown a legacy of Jaguar success on the mat.
7. Festus baseball finishes second at state
Platte County won the Class 5 state championship with a 6-1 win over the Tigers in Ozark in June. Second place matched the highest previous state finish for the Tigers, who were Class 3A runners-up in 1990. It was the first appearance in the final four for Festus since it finished fourth in Class 3A in 2000.
In this year’s semifinals, Festus beat Willard 4-3 in a taut eight-inning battle. Mason Schirmer, a sophomore, pitched five and one-third innings, allowing three hits, three earned runs, three walks and fanning five. He also was two-for-three at the plate. Conner McDonald, a 2022 grad who hit a home run to beat Windsor in the district final, drew a two-out walk in the eighth inning with the bases loaded to drive in senior courtesy runner Tyler Phillips with the game-winning run.
Going into the state final, Festus had a 12-game winning streak that included a 12-2 rout of Lutheran South in the quarterfinals.
“We had an unbelievable season,” Festus head coach Jeff Montgomery said. “It was a gritty, competitive group whose goal was to win a state title and they got close. They really believed they were going to win a state title. (Platte County) pitchers attacked us hard in the strike zone and had a good pace. Their pitchers were quite different. The first lefty was a hard thrower and the second guy was more breaking balls and could throw everything for a strike.”
6. Jefferson College lands first men’s basketball recruit
Gabe Watkins of Herculaneum recently made an oral commitment to play for the revived men’s basketball program at Jefferson College. The senior all-conference guard leads the Blackcats with just under 21 points and four assists per game. The Vikings will take the floor for the first time in fall 2023 under head coach and Vashon grad Cornelius Walker.
5. Hillsboro wins district football championship
Four years in the making, the Hawks throttled Festus 55-6 to win the Class 4 District 1 title, before losing 55-34 to eventual state champion St. Mary’s in the state quarterfinals.
Seniors Alex Medina, Jaxin Patterson and Austin Romaine each earned all-state honors and have set the tone for the football program for years to come.
Hillsboro, also champion of the Mississippi Area Football Conference Red Division for the second year in a row, finished with a 10-2 record. The Hawks’ only other loss was to another St. Louis city team that ultimately won a state championship – undefeated Cardinal Ritter in Class 3.
4. Jacob Meyers pulls off a distance sweep at state
The 2022 Festus grad had the best two days I’ve ever seen at a state track and field meet, and I covered Isaiah Martin (Hillsboro) and Anna Heacock (Jefferson) winning multiple state titles as dominant hurdlers. Meyers won three individual events (the 800-, 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs) and ran on the first-place 4x800 relay team. Meyers, who had helped lead the Tigers to their record eighth consecutive state cross country championship the previous November, is the first Festus athlete to take home four first-place medals in one state meet.
For two days in Jefferson City in late May, Meyers was invincible. On the first day, after the relay win, he took the 3,200 in 9:13.19. Then he outran local rival Josh Allison of Hillsboro in the 1,600 (4:16.09 to 4:18.64) on the second day and won the 800 with a blazing finish.
“I was getting kind of dead and (Willard’s Thomas Shuster) held on until the last 200, and that’s when I made my final move,” Meyers said. “It was all arms and pure strength and I gave everything. Crossing the finish line felt great. For the 800, if you’ve got that pure strength and stride, you have an automatic advantage.”
3. Hillsboro unseats Festus as state cross country champions
The Hawks halted more than a decade of Tiger dominance in the sport, beating them head-to-head in the Jefferson County Activities Association race, the Class 4 District 1 meet and at state (Class 4). It’s the first state team championship in any sport for Hillsboro.
Leading the way was Allison, who captured the individual state title a year after finishing sixth, four spots and 17 seconds behind Meyers. Jonah Allison, Josh’s twin brother, Jimmy Mann and Gavin Vaughn were the other seniors on the history-making team.
“I’m so proud of our guys,” said head coach Thomas Gordon, who completed his 14th season at the helm by finally outdoing his fellow mentor and friendly rival, Festus head coach Bryant Wright. “They worked so hard this year. They deserve this. They put in the time and effort after track season and they earned everything.”
2. Jefferson wins state volleyball title
The talented Blue Jays won their first state team championship across all sports with the Class 2 volleyball title, on the same day (Nov. 5) the Hillsboro boys cross country team did the same thing.
Jefferson knocked off 15-time state champion Hermann in the final, but the Blue Jays really earned their crown with a grueling five-set win over Saxony Lutheran in the quarterfinals.
This month, four of Jefferson’s top players each signed to play college volleyball: seniors Kirstyn Loyd (Missouri Southern State University in Joplin), Emma Breier (Pittsburg State University in Kansas), Paige Siebert (Missouri Valley College, Marshall) and Ava Roth (University of Arkansas, Fayetteville).
“They have been such great role models,” Blue Jay head coach Tara Fish said. “They have learned so much about working hard, getting better, eliminating mistakes. They knew Hermann was good, but we were good, too.”
1. Cole Ruble scorches the gridiron, wins state wrestling title
Considering who deserves the No. 1 spot, the only person who came to mind was Ruble, the Seckman senior quarterback who led the St. Louis area, by wide margins, in rushing yards (2,524) and touchdowns (46, 13 more than the No. 2 player). He will continue his career close to home at Southeast Missouri State.
I recently made a big stink in this space about Ruble’s omission from the Class 6 all-state football team. But it’s time to look forward as this remarkable athlete excels this winter in his “other sport,” wrestling. Last year he pinned Davion King of Carthage in 50 seconds to win the 160-pound state title in Class 4. I relish the opportunity to watch him pursue a second straight championship, maybe with his all-state snub as extra motivation. Good luck to the best all-around athlete in Seckman history.
That’s it. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did putting it together. The new year holds more promise for our athletes as the conference schedules for boys and girls basketball kick into high gear. Meanwhile, the state tournaments for boys and girls wrestling will be here before you know it.
Honorable mention: Northwest junior Alex Drexler was selected the Class 4 boys soccer goalie of the year; Herculaneum boys cross country has won a Class 3 team trophy in five of last six years, including winning state in 2021; Arhmad Branch first team all state football, top basketball player.