State wrestling: Pleasant Hill wins Class 2 title; Class 3 is Friday, Class 4 Saturday

Led by overall team champion Pleasant Hill, three Kansas City-area high school wrestling teams scored Top 10 finishes at the Missouri Class 2 state championships Thursday at Cable Dahmer Arena in Independence.

Pleasant Hill ran away with the title at 137 points. Monett and Seneca tied for second. Odessa posted 87.5 points for sixth and Excelsior Springs was close behind in seventh with 79.

In individual Class 2 placement matches, some highlights included:

• 113 pounds: Sam Ewing (Pleasant Hill) 46-1 won by major decision, 11-0, over Caleb Husch (Cameron)
• 120: Lane Snyder (Pleasant Hill, 45-3) took third with an 11-3 major decision vs. Aidan Gerber (Eldon)
• 126: Landen Davis (Excelsior Springs, 29-3) fell 6-2 in the championship to finish second to Keith Ransom (Mexico)
• 132: Garrett Lyons (Pleasant Hill, 16-0) finished second with a technical fall loss in the final to Brock Woodcock (St. Clair); Shon Badder (Odessa, 42-8) took fourth
• 145: Ayden Dolt (Excelsior Springs, 42-1) pinned Cameron Simcox (St. Clair) in 1:49 for the state title; third was Brayden Bush (Pleasant Hill, 45-7), who beat Brayden Talley (Harrisonville) in sudden victory
• 152: Ryan Volland (Pleasant Hill, 41-5) took second after a 6-2 loss to Elias Barrientos (Monett) in the final; Carson Smith (Oak Grove, 23-12) placed fourth with a 5-1 loss to Nikolai Careaga (Helias Catholic) in the third-place match
• 160: In the first-place match, Gavin Gross (Odessa, 45-2) beat Damon Ashworth (Excelsior Springs, 39-3) 4-2 in sudden victory
• 170: In the first-place match, Bryce Palmer (Odessa, 38-5) outpointed Gabriel Commons (Seneca) 5-2
• 195: Jake Evinger (Odessa, 42-4) placed third with a 4:32 pin of Keiren Watkins (Maryville)
• And at 285: Caleb Groff (Oak Grove, 31-3) finished second overall win a 4-2 title-match loss to Camren Hedgpeth (Cameron)

The Class 1 finals were Wednesday. Taking home Class 1 state titles from the greater KC area were:

• 106 pounds: Lucas Barry (St. Michael the Archangel, 41-1) by 4-1 decision over Cody Strope (Fatima)
• 145: Tyler Leonard (Lawson, 29-0) by tech fall over Joshua Bieser (Valle Catholic) in 5:19
• 160: Cole Ritter (Adrian, 40-0) by 5-0 decision over Tanner Leonard (Lawson, 27-2)

Third-place area finishers in Class 1 competition included:

• 113: Daylen Greene (Holden, 43-5) by 2-1 decision over Lane Kimbley (North Callaway)
• 126: Andrew Stanfield (St. Michael the Archangel, 40-1) by 6-3 decision over Brayden Stevens (Palmyra)

Mid-Buchanan, Centralia and Brookfield topped the team finish for Class 1. Lawson was fifth, St. Michael eighth.

The state championships continued Friday with Class 3 action and were to conclude Saturday with Class 4.

This story was originally published March 12, 2021 at 9:33 AM.