In my two-plus decades covering sports in St. Charles County, Wentzville Holt’s Dan Alexander, Francis Howell’s Ethan Kyle, Tim Kephart and Brandon Lococo and the Rallo brothers from St. Charles West thrilled with their talents.
This was my fourth year covering the Jefferson County wrestling scene, and I’ve already gotten to see my share of amazing courage and dedication from the coaches and athletes here. So as my wife and I drove to Columbia on Saturday morning for the 90th state championships at the Mizzou Arena, I was eager to watch the drama unfold.
Just the thought of three of “my” wrestlers striving to finish off undefeated seasons had me charged enough, but to get there, some equally impressive wrestlers stood in their way.
Star-crossed Eureka senior Jake McCollum was 35-1 by the time he reached the 195-pound Class 4 final on Saturday. McCollum finished fourth at the same weight last season and seemed to be on the road to his first state title.
Standing in McCollum’s way, though, was Staley senior Rocky Elam, who is the No. 1-ranked wrestler in the country at 195 pounds. Elam won the 182-pound state title in 2019 and was 31-0 going into the match against McCollum.
Elam has been getting his Rocky Mountain-high training this season at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. When he’s there, he takes his classes at Staley online.
“I’m pursuing my goal to be the best wrestler in the world,” Elam said after stopping McCollum with a 15-6 major decision for his second state title.
Elam has the pedigree to match the best wrestlers in the nation. His older brother, Zach, won two state titles and was in the finals three times while at Staley. Zach wrestles at heavyweight at the University of Missouri in Columbia. Rocky will join him this fall and wrestle at 197.
“Overall, I was pretty happy with my performance,” Elam said of his win over McCollum that produced several takedowns. “I’d liked to have gotten a fall or tech fall. I put on a lot of offense and didn’t give up any (offensive) points.”
Elam was the only wrestler I saw Saturday with his name on the back of his singlet. McCollum said he was impressed with Elam.
“He’s fast and he’s been training at the Olympic Center and you could tell it’s been working for him,” McCollum said. “I can’t wait to see what he does at Mizzou and maybe beyond.
“I wish I could have kept it closer, but if I could have wrestled more, I could have closed the gap. I’m going to miss wrestling in matches like that.”
Two state titles and three medals put an end to Elam’s career. He qualified for state as a freshman, but didn’t reach the podium.
“This is a testament to how far I’ve come,” he said. “I try to do it the old-school way with focus and tunnel vision. I keep a small group of people around me who are like-minded.”
Some of the prep athletes I cover leave lasting memories, and De Soto senior Landon Porter is one of those.
Porter paced the hallways at Mizzou Arena for hours leading up to his Class 3 championship match at 285 – his last shot at a state title. He’d placed second as a sophomore before slipping to fourth last year. I knew he was determined to let it all hang out in his high school finale.
When his championship match against Neosho senior Zane Persinger began at about 9 p.m., the Mizzou Arena was emptying out as fans, parents and wrestlers started heading home after three long days. I noticed immediately that Porter was going on the offensive until he scored first.
Turns out, that was his plan.
“I wasn’t going to leave it up to a coin flip,” he said. “I was very confident that if I scored first, I was going to win the match. I don’t know how much time was left in the first period when I scored, but as soon as it happened, I was confident I’d win a state title.”
And he did with a 7-4 decision. Afterward, the mustachioed Porter turned to the Dragons fans and flashed the No. 1 sign with both hands before lunging into the arms of head coach John Brown. It was De Soto’s first state champion since Dakota Smith won at 215 pounds in 2009.
“(Persinger) had a low center of gravity,” Porter said. “He was very confident because he was in the state finals last year at 220. He was a tough matchup physically to game-plan for.”
Porter stuck with the same move the whole tournament. Before the finals, he pinned two of his first three opponents in the first period.
“I used the old fat guy’s firemen’s carry all week,” he said with a chuckle.
After posing for a picture on the state podium, Porter lingered for a moment before being asked for interviews.
“I’m going to miss the nervousness,” he said. “Walking out of this tunnel. My coaches. My teammates. My family here whenever I wrestle. I can’t wait to get up there and hug my mama. I’m excited about that.”
Before he heads to McKendree University to wrestle next fall, Porter might join De Soto’s golf team this spring. He was a two-way first team all-conference selection on the school’s football team last fall.
“Why not? I play every now and then. It’s better than going home every day,” he said.
Athletes come and go. Some of their names are etched on school walls for the championships they’ve won. The legacy of Porter will resonate at
De Soto for years, if not decades.
“I’ve got a lot of Dragon pride. I bleed green. I love everything about it,” he said.