Twenty-eight wrestlers started the day with a chance to make the finals, with 14 advancing that far in the end.
PHOTOS: FRIDAY STATE WRESTLING
On Saturday, 46 total area wrestlers will compete for medal placement.
Here's a recap of Friday's state wrestling action from Columbia.
To say Todd Angel had a challenging path in pursuit of a state championship would be an understatement. But, he’s one win away from doing just that.
Angel, who placed sixth at state last year, pulled out a surprising 10-4 win over Francis Howell senior Jack Heese (38-5 overall) on Friday night in the Class 4 195 semifinals.
“It feels (freaking) amazing,” Angel said. “To be honest, I wasn’t even sure if I was going to do this. I was like, ‘I got a medal, blah, blah.’ But now, it’s right there in front of me.”
RESULTS: DAY 2 STATE WRESTLING
At a tournament in early January, Heese pinned Angel 29 seconds into the second round.
“I wrestled him before and I knew he was going to be a big, upper-body grinder,” Angel said. “He did surprise because I wasn’t expecting him to take shots like he did. But I wasn’t going to give up without a fight.”
Even had he gone through Heese, most figured Angel would face a tough finals matchup against Jefferson City’s Jalen Martin, who beat Angel 8-0 in districts last week and was state runner-up at 195 last year.
But, the 2016 Class 4 195 semifinals saw two upsets as Francis Howell Central’s Jackson Berck (46-5) defeated Martin 3-2 in an ultimate tiebreaker. With 2 seconds left on the clock and Berck trailing 2-1, he scored a sudden reversal after a restart to pull out the shocking victory over Martin.
“When I saw Jalen Martin got upset, I was like, ‘Oh (shoot), this is an open game. Anyone can take this now,” Angel said. “It’s my senior year. This is my last year wrestling and I’m just glad to get here and take it all the way (to the finals). I told myself, ‘No matter what, I’m not going home without giving everything I got.’ Here I am right now.”
Waynesville sophomore Sean Sax (44-3 overall) was pinned in the second round of his semifinals match against Seckman’s Cameron Fusco (40-6 overall). Sax, who placed sixth as a freshman, takes on Francis Howell Central’s Andrew Godier (38-11 overall) in the consolation semifinals.
“He’s a fighter who just fights through everything,” said Waynesville coach Lucas Smith of Sax. “Tomorrow, we’re looking for big things out of him. He’s just a sophomore, he’s going to improve and improve as we go along.”
Waynesville’s David Hawk (160) and Joplin’s Phillip Reitz (285) are still alive on the consolation side as well.
It was a banner day for the Willard Tigers in Class 3.
Two of Willard’s four semifinalists found their way to Saturday’s finals with Hunter Yeargan (195) and Niko Chavez (138) both picking up their third wins of the weekend.
Yeargan (53-0) pinned Republic’s Zack Dickens, extending his winning streak to 57 straight matches and setting up a rematch with No. 2 Jared Rennick from Washington.
This will be the third straight Saturday that Yeargan and Rennick have wrestled, with Yeargan winning both by decision to hand Rennick two of his three losses on the season.
“You can’t take this tournament lightly; anyone is capable of upsetting or beating you and you’ve got to take it one match at a time,” said Yeargan. “I’ve worked too hard to overlook someone and let them ruin it.”
Chavez prevailed in one of the most emotional matches of the day.
Grain Valley’s Wolfgang Klapper led Chavez 2-1 with 25 seconds left. But Klapper was hit with a stall for the third time in the match, resulting in another point for Chavez. Just before the third period expired Chavez landed what appeared to be a reversal or escape.
After the two officials conferred, Chavez was given an escape and a 3-2 win, sending him to the finals for the first time in his career.
“Coach gave me a full gameplan going in and knew that there would be a few stalling calls and I guess I was kind of hoping that would happen, but I was still wrestling my hardest, trying to get away,” said Chavez. “It’s tough, my legs we’re shaky and I was tired; I felt like I was trying to get away the entire time. He was holding on tight.
It’s a relief, this is what I’ve wanted my whole life. It sunk in as soon as won it because that’s where we’ve wanted to be all season; hopefully I can finish it tomorrow.”
Kyle Caldwell (170) and Christian Smart (182) both lost in semifinal matches, but along with Alex Garrett (120) will have a chance to earn Willard some valuable team points On Saturday.
The Tigers have never earned a team plaque in program history but enter Saturday in fourth place with 70 points. They trail Neosho (138.5), Platte County (130) and Belton (83). Fort Zumwalt South (72), Kearney (70) and Grain Valley (69) are all within striking distance.
“All year it’s been about the team and going out there and getting that pin should move us up there into the team plaque range,” said Yeargan. “Tomorrow if we come out and wrestle like we should we’ll have a really good shot at bringing one home.”
Neosho is sitting in first as a team after day two, which is a familiar spot for the Wildcats.
After winning five of the last six Class 3 team state championships, Neosho took another step towards No. 6 by sending four Wildcats to title matches.
Trenton Young (113), Johnathan Williams (126), Kyler Rea (152) and Adrian Hitchcock (220) all win semifinal matches.
Young pinned Fort Zumwalt North’s Shaun Beeman in the third period, Williams landed a crucial 11-5 decision against Platte County’s Trey Dockery, Rea won an 8-3 decision over Farmington’s William Seibert and Hitchcock’s 9-1 major decision got him past Farmington’s Jared Nickelson.
Dalton Kivett (106) and Gannon Millard (132) picked up victories in wrestlebacks to guarantee a medal on Saturday.
Neosho leads Platte County 138.5-130 entering Saturday. While Neosho has six wrestlers still alive, Platte County still has seven wrestlers in the medal round, four of which will wrestle for titles.
Two massive story lines remain for Neosho.
Kyler Rea enters Saturday with a perfect 55-0 record. In order to keep it that way he will have to beat undefeated Hunter Shelton from Oak Park. Shelton won a state championship at 152 in 2015.
Adrian Hitchcock will take on Webb City’s Brandon Musselman on Saturday. It will mark the fifth time this season the two have met.
Musselman is the No. 1 ranked wrestler in Missouri at 220.
After losing to Josh Franek in last Saturday’s district championship, Carthage’s Markkel Moore seemed like a longshot to find his way to a final.
But the Carthage junior did just that, scoring a 3-2 decision over Windsor’s Jacob Warren.
Warren, a two-loss sophomore entering the state tournament, had a pin in the first round and a major decision in the quarterfinals.
“The loss last weekend hurt, but I didn’t dwell on it,” said Brown. “There’s nothing I can do about it after the fact. I just let it go. I’m very excited to have this opportunity, especially after last year. I know he’s good, but I’m going to try to do whatever it takes to beat him out.”
The “him” Brown was referring to is Platte County’s Ethan Karsten. The 50-1 senior enters Saturday with a No. 12 national ranking after pinning Franek in the third period.
Reeds Spring’s Broden LeMaster has no shortage of confidence right now.
It’s not hard to see why.
LeMaster scored his third straight first-round pin fall at the 2016 Class 2 state tournament, and the 15th pin in his 16 matches this season, to secure a spot in Saturday’s 195-pound title match.
LeMaster said he “feels unbeatable right now.” After losing in the semifinals his first three seasons – include a 10-6 decision in 2015 and an 8-7 decision in 2014 – it’s the first trip to a state finals match for the Reeds Spring senior.
“People have told me it might be a little bit hard (to pin at state), I ignore them,” said LeMaster, who now stands at 25-0 this season. “I’ve just been going out there and wrestling my best. Kids can’t hang with me.
“(Saturday), I’m going to bring home a state championship for my family and my school.”
LeMaster needed just 50 seconds to pin Moberly freshman Chance Richards (30-17 overall) in Friday night’s semifinal round. In the afternoon’s quarterfinal round, he pinned Cameron senior Tyler Gerber (49-8 overall) in 45 seconds.
LeMaster, who faces Smithville junior and nationally ranked Jacob Boyd (49-1 overall) in Saturday’s 195 finals match, was calm and collective after his semifinals victory, showing little emotional besides a slight grin.
“I don’t want to be one of those kids that just rubs it in everyone’s face,” LeMaster said. “I like sportsmanship. I like when it’s shown to me. I’m not going to celebrate like that. I might tomorrow. I just want to be as sportsman-like as possible.”
LeMaster would be Reeds Spring’s first state champion since Zach Kearney won consecutive state titles in 2013 and 2014.
Elsewhere on the Class 2 winner’s side, Bolivar’s Luke Moffett (106), Buffalo’s Ethan Smith and Monett’s Ian Meyer (182) all lost their respective semifinal matches.
The sophomore Moffett (31-9 overall) lost a major decision 11-2 to Smithville freshman Blake Ackerman (42-10 overall) in the Class 2 106 semifinals. Moffett faces Savannah junior Jake Huffman (51-5 overall) in the consolation semifinals Saturday, with the winner advancing to a 3rd place match later in the day – against either Smith or Monett’s Joel Barrientos (36-2 overall) – and the loser battling for 5th place.
Smith (46-5 overall) took a MD loss as well, falling 14-1 to Marshall sophomore Dalton Landreth (44-3 overall). Meyer (44-8 overall) lost 7-1 to Smithville senior and defending state champ Luke Sachs in the 182 semifinals.
Meyer faces Cameron junior Caleb Shanks in Saturday’s consolation semifinals. Monett junior Onis Howard (132, 39-13 overall), lost in the quarterfinals but won two matches on the consolation side Friday to remain in medal contention.
After losing 4-3 in the quarterfinals, Buffalo freshman Floyd Miller (49-2 overall) won a pair of matches on the consolation side of the 152 bracket to stay alive. Teammate and sophomore Shane Sisco (45-9 overall) will also wrestle in the consolation semifinals Saturday in the 285 division.
Nearly a third of Seneca’s state-qualifying wrestlers will be battling in championship matches on Saturday.
Seneca, which had a Class 1-high 13 wrestlers qualify for this year’s state tournament, had four individuals win their semifinal matches Friday: Max Roark (106), Dalton Hembree (120), Jesse Rhoades (138) and Trey Smith (145).
“That’s part of their goal right there, to get into the state finals, and they did what they had to do,” said Seneca coach Jeff Sill. “They battled some adversity, went after it and wrestled really tough.”
Rhoades’ match against Maryville’s Kaleb Popplewell, a state runner-up last year, was the most compelling of the four. The Seneca side pleaded for a stalling call on Popplewell at the end of regulation.
After an even sudden victory period, the match went to its first 30-second tiebreaker where Rhoades rode out Popplewell for the duration – despite the clock perhaps starting a few seconds late. In the following 30-second tiebreaker, Rhoades scored a reversal to win the match.
“We knew it was going to be a tough battle,” Sill said. “(Rhoades’ opponent) changes his style up a little bit but Jesse kept his head up and wrestled a really good match, overcame some controversial calls. I though Rhoades’ wrestled a really good match.”
Hembree, who pinned his way to victory in his first two state matches, continued his stellar freshman season by posting a major decision victory, 10-0, over Lawson junior Tyler Hachman (38-3 overall) in the 120 semifinals. Hembree (52-2 overall) takes on Marceline junior Dylan Wheeler (49-1 overall) in Saturday’s finals.
Max Roark is the younger brother of three-time state champion Will Roark. After a pair of pin fall victories, Max Roark defeated Rock Port senior Ty Jones (52-4 overall) 8-2 in the semifinals.
Max Roark’s finals opponent on Saturday is Whitfield freshman Wade Raeman (37-14 overall).
“(Max) is a lot more loose,” Sill said. “He’s at ease. Will was real determined, not that Max isn’t, but Will was more no non-sense. Max keeps the whole team loose and that’s what we need sometimes.”
Trey Smith defended his No. 1 ranking in the Class 1 145-pound division by delivering a major decision win, 10-2, over Central junior Carter Kinkead (41-13 overall) in Friday’s semifinals. Smith faces a familiar foe on Saturday in Blair Oaks’ Frankie Falotico (44-0 overall), who defeated Smith in a district finals match last weekend.
Last season, Falotico also beat Rhoades in the district finals but lost the rematch with a state championship on the line.
Seneca enters Saturday second in the team standings with 129 points, trailing first-place Whitfield by 4.5. Seneca will also have Dayton Fields (113) and Cole Hatfield (132) wrestling on the consolation side Saturday.
“If the kids do what they need to do on the mat, that’s going to take care of the team aspect,” Sill said. “They just need to keep wrestling tough.”
