How Hickman boys wrestling claimed bragging rights — and a reprieve — at the Battle for the Belt

Hickman wrestling coach Dan Pieper knew what the assignment was at the Battle for the Belt on Tuesday evening at Hickman High.

There were citywide bragging rights on the line. The Kewpies, as well as Battle and Rock Bridge, understand the importance of winning the belt.

"Tonight's always fun for the kids, especially the seniors because they're going out a winner in their own city," Pieper said.

But the triangular also brought the chance for Hickman to take a breath. The reprieve was significant for setting the Kewpies up for the rest of January.

There was still a belt to win, however, and Hickman boys wrestling retained its hardware in the Battle for the Belt. The Kewpies won the belt for the fourth-straight year, while the Battle girls wrestling team won it for a second consecutive season.

"We'd like to see the girls get it back, too," Pieper said. "We need to get some more girls out. It really comes down to numbers."

Winning the boys belt was a reminder of how talented the Kewpies are, from their stars and state champions to their younger depth pieces. Those depth pieces were tested Tuesday.

"We got a nice team," Pieper said. "We got some tough tournaments coming up and some tough duals coming up."

One of the examples of testing Hickman's younger talent included pitting freshman Ayden Hanft up against Rock Bridge senior star and Missouri signee Carter McCallister.

Pieper wanted to give a younger wrestler a chance against a talented wrestler, while also keeping in mind what it would mean for McCallister to go out a winner in his hometown dual. McCallister defeated Hanft, but Pieper was complimentary of how the freshman wrestled.

"We saw a lot of out Ayden," Pieper said. "Normally, we wouldn't do that."

This also kept in mind how Hickman just made it through a stacked month of December where the Kewpies squared off against some of the best teams and wrestlers in the state.

It was a valuable experience, but that amount of work took a toll on the team.

"We wrestled five top-15 schools just recently, and the No. 1 school in the state," Pieper said. "We got a little banged up."

Pieper said the Kewpies needed time to heal, mentally and physically, to get back on the right track to success.

Getting healthy was a key result of not just the Battle for the Belt, as there were a handful of open spots between Battle, Hickman and Rock Bridge, but of this week in general. Pieper noted some of his team will travel to Marshall this weekend for the Marshall Tournament, while some of his wrestlers will remain home.

"It's kind of our little break right now," he said.

This break comes at the right time.

Hickman is a talented team, beyond just the Benter brothers Hank and Hayden. The two won individual state wrestling titles at the Class 4 championships last season.

The Kewpies also boast freshman Andrew Weisner, who earned a first-place finish in the 106-pound weight class at the Lee's Summit Christmas Invitational. Hank Benter was named Most Outstanding Wrestler at the invitational, as Hickman had second, third and fifth-place finishers to go along with its two first-place finishers.

Overall, the Kewpies placed fifth out of 25 teams at the invitational. However, in a dual loss against Helias, the Kewpies had a few open spots due to illness. A break gives Hickman some time to remedy itself before getting back to fully challenging itself. That challenge comes later this month.

Hickman will welcome 24 of the top teams in the state to Columbia for the Hickman Varsity Tournament on January 20 and 21.

"It'll be a lot of fun to see where we're at," Pieper said.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: How Hickman boys wrestling claimed bragging rights — and a reprieve