McDonald County fifth, Carl Junction sixth at state wrestling championships

Feb. 26—McDonald County dominated the heavier weights, crowning two state champions and earning a fifth-place finish during the Class 3 state wrestling championships Saturday at Columbia's Mizzou Arena.

In winning their individual titles, the duo of Samuel Murphy, junior, at 215-lbs., and fellow junior Jayce Hitt, at 285 lbs., combined for 52 of McDonald County's 88 points and helped the Mustangs edge Carl Junction in the 47-team field.

Carl Junction finished sixth with 83 team points, while claiming two second-place finishers with junior Sam Melton at 120 lbs. and sophomore Tony Stewart at 165 lbs.

Mustangs

Murphy's path to victory for the Mustangs began with a 4-3 decision over Whitfield's Adrian Harrold (33-17). In the quarterfinals, Murphy (44-1) pinned Pacific's Blake McKay (27-9) at 4:41 to move to the semifinals. Murphy's final two matches were about as close they could get — 3-2 against Willard's Alex Nunez (27-12) to reach the finals; in the championship match, he bested Branson's Cade Grimm (41-4) in a 6-1 victory.

Hitt (26-0) began his journey through the 285-lb. bracket when he pinned Winnetonka's Zylen Robinson-Saddler (32-19) at 1:44 of their opening round match and followed it up with a pin of Parkway West's Nicholas Picaud (21-6) at :54 in their quarterfinal match. His semifinal match resulted in a 7-3 decision over Grandview's Derek Joiner (28-2) and set up a title match against DeSoto's Isaac Foeller (41-2). Hitt pinned Foeller at 1:42 of their title match to claim another Mustang first-place finish.

Other McDonald County wrestlers adding to the point total for the Mustangs included 138-pound senior Blaine Ortiz (43-7), who finished in third place. Ortiz opened with a pin against North Point's Leo Buchheit (43-14) at 3:25. He then scored a 17-7 major decision over Mario Nunez (32-22) of Belton before dropping a 3-0 decision in the semifinals to Whitfield's Alejandro Rallo (44-5). Ortiz earned a right to wrestle for third place via a 6-4 decision over Jefferson City's Braden Werdehausen (37-7) and went on to win his third-place match against Bolivar's Cooper Moore (32-6) in a 6-1 sudden victory.

Other McDonald County wrestlers who earned team points but did not place were senior Levi Smith (27-5) at 144-lbs, who gave the Mustangs four points via an opening round pin of Farmington's Trace Dunlap, (30-14), and freshman Robinson Yoshino (21-21), who beat Farmington's Oakley Johns (11-26) to add three points to McDonald County's total.

At 190 lbs., Malosi Sosef (29-14) won a 9-7 decision over Nicholas Green (29-19) of Hillsboro to add one point to the Mustangs' team score.

McDonald County freshman Eberson Perez (17-16) was the Mustang's other state qualifier, at 106 lbs., but was eliminated after his first two matches.

Bulldogs

Melton (43-6), the first of two runners-up for Carl Junction, pinned DeSoto's Thomas Bradley (25-14) at 2:44 of their opening round match at 120-lbs. and also pinned Warrenton's Joshua Kassing (37-9) at 1:22 to advance to the semifinals. Melton won a 7-5 decision over Whitfield's Yashua Amen (36-11) in the semifinals, but fell by a 7-0 decision to North Point's Kaden Purler (43-6) in the championship match.

Stewart (41-12) won a 7-3 decision over Festus' Peyton Shaver (38-12) and followed that up with a 9-1 major decision over Belton's Quinten Attebury (41-17). In their semifinal match Stewart outlasted Holt's Andrew Peppin (34-12) in a 3-1 decision to advance to the 165-lb. final. Stewart lost by pin at 2:16 of his championship match with Hillsboro's Griffin Ray (44-3).

Three other Carl Junction wrestlers also earned the right to stand on the podium Saturday.

Sophomore Carter Foglesong (41-6) at 106 lbs. finished fourth after opening the tournament with a pin of Vianney's Maximus Glueck (30-18) at :49. He then dropped a 3-2 match to Hannibal's Austin Brown (41-8), whom he would meet later in the third-place match. He earned the right to a rematch with Brown with pins at 1:24 over Warrensburg's Dayton Dunn (24-26) and Warrenton's Emanuel McCatauley (44-6) and a 9-5 decision over Farmington's Aiden Hahn (34-8). The third-place rematch between Fogelsong and Brown was another close one, but Brown again prevailed, this time in a 7-6 decision.

Senior Lukas Walker (46-3) also placed fourth for the Bulldogs at 113 lbs. He won by fall over Michael Wilson (19-13) of Grandview at 4:00. Walker then won a 9-7 decision over Hannibal's Reign Creech (35-7) before dropping a 13-0 major decision to Kearney's Ryder Shelton (42-3). Walker rebounded with a pin of DeSoto's Brenton Drummond (38-12), setting up a rematch with Creech for third place. This time, Creech prevailed in another close match with a 4-2 decision.

Senior Cayden Bolinger (31-15) finished sixth for the Bulldogs at 285 lbs. He started the tourney with a 13-2 major decision over Van Horn's Jeffery Morris (32-20) and a 3-2 win over McCluer's Al'mani Jimerson (31-5) before dropping a 1-0 decision to DeSoto's Foeller (41-2). He then lost to Capital City's Reyce Turner (42-11) by pin at :18, sending him to the fifth-place match, which he lost to Willard's Brady Griffin (43-5) by a narrow 3-0 margin.

At 190 lbs., senior Chance Benford (29-12) scored seven team points for Carl Junction with a first-round pin of Kearney's Jakweli Gist (22-9) and a win over Jefferson City's Cohen Davis (29-10). Junior Dexter Merrell (37-12) scored three points for the Bulldogs with a win by medical forfeit over Fort Zumwalt South's Koen Erikson (40-12) in their 157-lb. match.

Junior Max Matthews (30-22) at 126 lbs. and freshman Marcus Lopez-Durman (36-11) at 150 lbs. competed for the Bulldogs but were eliminated in straight matches.

Cardinals

Webb City's lone state qualifier, junior Colton Taylor (28-17) at 132 lbs. also was eliminated in his first two matches.

Hillsboro captured the Class 3 title with 179.5 points.