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By Chris Parker & Zach Mason
The area will have two representatives in the Class 4 state championship bouts on opposite ends of the weight spectrum in Nixa’s Peyton Moore at 106 pounds and Carthage’s Kale Schrader at 220 pounds.
Moore used a 5-2 decision over Blue Springs’ Cayden Dotson to earn his spot in the final and make Nixa history in the process.
“It means a lot to be the first ever to Nixa freshman to get the the finals. I couldn’t do it without my (training) partner,” Moore said.
Moore opened the tournament with a tech fall of Marquette’s Zach Watkins and beat Park Hills’ Cael Keck by an 8-5 decision to get into the semifinal round. Now he will face a fellow freshman in Liberty’s Easton Hilton (45-4) in Saturday’s state title bout.
Schrader was in familiar territory but on a different mat. He made it to the state finals last year, but that trip was made in Class 1 with Seneca. He transferred to Carthage over the summer and has blossomed as a wrestler earning a national ranking in the 220-pound weight class.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE CLASS 4 SEMIFINALS
The Carthage junior found his berth in the state championship match and perfect record in serious jeopardy against Eureka senior Matt Gentry in the semifinals. The first period ended up 0-0 with both wrestlers scoring an escape in the second and third periods to make the score 1-1. Late in the third period Gentry almost got to Schrader for what would have been a match-winning takedown, but the wrestlers went out-of-bounds to force an overtime. After the first overtime period it was still tied at 1-1. Schrader held Gentry down in the ensuing 30-second overtime before scoring an escape on his turn on the bottom to win the match and advance to the 220-pound final.
“Right after second overtime, he (Gentry) threw in legs, I shaked him over the top and got one. That was the most key move of the match,” Schrader said.
Schrader moved to 53-0 on the year. He will face Park Hills junior Ashton Sharp (17-2) in the title match on Saturday.
Dalen Moore and Brener Ocana gave Carthage two more semifinalists, but both would fall short of earning a berth in the title bout. Moore lost by tech fall and Ocana lost by pin.
Waynesville’s Gaven Sax fell just short of the 145-pound final after losing 3-2 to CBC’s Kyle Prewitt in the semifinals.
