Assistant coaches R.J. McCravy and Kevin Herron appeared through the smoke machine wearing shiny golden jackets, with matching bowties and shoes as they led senior Kai Orine onto the floor of the Mizzou Arena in Columbia on Saturday for the Class 4 state championship at 126 pounds.
I kept waiting for “Staying Alive” by the Bee Gees to be played as Orine paced back and forth in the last match of his illustrious high school career. Waiting in the wings to meet Orine after he dusted off Park Hill sophomore Ethen Miller in an 8-0 major decision was head coach Ryan Moyer, the ringleader of the group.
I asked Moyer, who wore the same attire, if the costumes were rentals.
“We’re just having some fun. The kids get amped up, so we try to relax them,” said Moyer, who often lets his assistant coaches sit in the matside chairs at the state meet. “We always come up with goofy things so they keep enjoying this sport.
“They’ve been in Kai’s corner every year. I trust my coaching staff with anyone I put out there. I’m not in all of the corners. I trust them to make any call I would.”
Orine’s third state title at Seckman almost seemed like a forgone conclusion. He’s friends with Miller off the mat, and even travels to tournaments with him. But nothing was getting in the way of Orine joining former Jaguar Brock Wingbermuehle as three-time state champions.
Orine scored a single-leg takedown and escape against Miller in the first period to take a 3-0 lead. Orine struck for another takedown in the second period, but in the third the match had to be stopped to tend to a bloody scuff next to his left eye.
Last year, when Orine’s state final match at 120 against CBC’s Vincent Zerban had to be stopped several times because of Orine’s gushing bloody nose, Orine nervously watched as the five minutes given for a medical timeout ticked down.
“Last year was a spontaneous match where a lot of things happened,” Orine said of his 8-7 decision over Zerban. “This year, I felt in control the entire time. I felt dominant in this match. I was a little more methodical this time. I knew it was Miller’s first time in the state finals, so his nerves were through the roof. You don’t notice it, but it’s a big deal.”
As I was speaking with Orine after his title, I asked him when his face was injured.
“Is my eye swollen?” he asked. “I have no clue when it happened. It happened this weekend sometime. Last year was brutal. Those stoppages were the most stressful part of the match.”
Moyer couldn’t mask his pride when he talked about what Orine has meant to his program, which brought eight boys and two girls to the three-day state tournament.
“It’s how he’s wrestled all year. He controlled all six minutes,” Moyer said. “He went hard and took it to him. Kai scored his points and did what he needed to do to win.
“It stinks he’s leaving. He’s done so much for this program. We hate to see him go but he’s going to have a great college career.”
Orine signed to wrestle at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. He’s taking the three state titles and a career prep record of 196-11 with him.
On a day where only three Jefferson County wrestlers made the finals (Northwest junior Chase Stegall and De Soto sophomore Jaycee Foeller were the others), Orine was the shining star everyone was focused on.
“I’ve been thinking about college the past couple of months,” Orine said. “It’s the next chapter in my career.”
After winning his first two state matches by fall and technical fall, Orine faced Holt junior Carter Smith in Friday night’s semifinals. The semifinals are the matches that test the souls of a wrestler. Being a part of the march of champions is so close. Smith was fifth in Class 4 at 120 last season, so he was on a state winning streak. Orine emerged with a 7-2 decision.
You would think someone who just spent the better part of every waking hour the previous three days working toward a career-ending achievement would take Sunday off. Not Orine. He was a referee at a little league tournament.
“Our whole team gives back,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what you do here, you want to give back to your hometown club.”
Like his coaches, Orine knows a little bit about showmanship. I’ve watched him blow kisses to Jaguar fans in the stands after winning his last two state titles.
“It will be exciting to see what they come up with next year,” Orine said of the coaching staff.
As long as there is a Seckman High, Orine’s name will be painted on the wall of champions. He considered that for a second.
“Hopefully one day I can bring my kids to the school and see my name on the wall.”
Foeller doesn’t disappoint
I’ll be honest. I’ve been waiting for months to write that De Soto sophomore Jaycee Foeller is the first girls wrestling state champion from the county.
But for a moment, in Foeller’s championship match on Saturday against Lafayette sophomore Josette Partney at 167 pounds, Foeller was on her back and at risk of being pinned. As the whole town of De Soto and myself held our collective breaths, Foeller escaped the pin and beat Partney by fall for the fourth time this year.
Ladies and gentlemen: Jaycee Foeller is the first female wrestler from the county to win a state title.
That’s something we can all be proud of. Good job.