The area had two state champions at the Boys Class 1 wrestling tournament that concluded Saturday night in Columbia. Cole Gripka of Maysville and Caden Phillips of Macon capped undefeated seasons with their state titles.
Gripka beat Keith Miley of Whitfield 8-2 in the 220 pound championship match. Phillips won a 5-3 sudden victory decision over Weston King of Palmyra at heavyweight.
Area wrestlers finishing second at the Class 1 state tournament were Ross Critten of Gallatin at 120 pounds, Donavan Parn of Brookfield at 132, Drayton Harris of Gallatin at 160, Cullen Bruner of Marceline at 170, and Trent Strong of Maysville at 195 pounds.
Harris, Bruner, and Strong all had close scores in the finals. Harris lost 6-5 at Brant Whitaker of Tolton Catholic, who finished unbeaten on the season. Bruner lost 4-2 in the finals to Tyler Ross of Lawson, who also went undefeated on the year. Strong lost 2-0 to Dorian Walters of Lathrop.
Checking other state medalists from this area, Hunter McAtee of Trenton at 106 pounds and Wyatt Segar of Polo at 145, both were third. Jaden Obongo of Brookfield (at 126), Rodell Sperry of Gallatin (at 152), and Elijah Harper of Hamilton (195) were fourth.
Andon Allen of Gallatin (113), Mason Barnett of Marceline (145), Hunter Nelson of Marceline (160), Mark Trump of Trenton (182), and Caleb Johnson of Trenton (220) all finished fifth.
Gavin Shoush of Albany (106), Ryder Gooch from Marceline (126), and Kaleb Jestes of Maysville (132) were sixth.
Whitfield won the Boys Class 1 Tournament for the fourth year in a row, and the seventh time in the past nine years. Whitfield has nine state wrestling championships since 2008.
Whitfielld had 172 points, with Centralia’s 111 a distant second. Lathrop was third, Lawson fourth, Gallatin sixth (79.5), Trenton 11th (54), Maysville 12th (53), and Marceline 13th (52.5 points).
The Trenton High School wrestlers had three medalists in the tournament for Head Coach Charlie Bacon:
Cameron had four medalists, Kirksville three, and Chillicothe one in the Boys Class 2 state wrestling championships. For Cameron, Coleman Oxford was fourth (120 pounds), Caleb Husch fifth (106), Brecken Gates fifth (132), and Camren Hedgpeth sixth (195).
All of Kirksville’s medalists were sixth place — Donovan Gaines (126), Jaden Ballinger (152), and Tristan Gillespie (182).
Chillicothe’s Sheldon Rader was sixth (106 pounds).
Monett won the Class 2 state crown at 149.5 points, just ahead of Odessa’s 142. Cameron tied for 10th place with 60 points.
Neosho captured the Class 3 title with 163.5 points. Liberty cruised to the Class 4 title with 241 points.
Cameron had three medalists and Polo one at the GIRLS state wrestling championships at Mizzou Arena, which included schools of all sizes in just one class.
Cameron’s Hollie Hedgpeth was second at 187 pounds, falling 2-0 in the finals to Samantha Mumm of Plattsburg.
Also from Cameron, Celest Greer was third at 103 pounds and Christina Herring sixth at 120 pounds.
Polo’s Abigail Boling was third at 152 pounds.
Harrisonville claimed the state title with 76 points, just ahead of runner-up Wildwood Lafayette at 73.5. Holt was third with 69.5, followed by Cameron, Plattsburg, and St. Charles, all tying for fourth place with 60 points.
