Knights and Dragons win district titles, send nine to state

DE SOTO — The Farmington Knights had little trouble in claiming another district championship. Capturing five first-place wins, three seconds, and one fourth, the Knights as a team amassed 231 points, which was 87 points ahead of the nearest contender Rockwood Summit at 144.  Washington was third at 131.5, and North County placed ninth at 60.5

Farmington’s first winner of the Class 3, District 1, two-day tournament was Todd Brackett at 112 pounds. Brackett defeated Gerald Fields of De Soto with a fall at 3:27 in their championship match.

Bradley Wisdom (125) pinned Desmond Howard of Cape Central in only 1:49 for his first-place finish. It was his longest match of the tournament. Wisdom pinned his previous three opponents in 40 seconds, 54 seconds and 1:40, and he will take a 46-3 record to the State Meet this Thursday.

Josh Kelleher (135) beat the second period buzzer by six seconds in pinning Dan Hanify (28-3) of Washington to claim first place. Kelleher, now 36-1, won by two pins and a major decision in his first three matches.

Branden McDowell (140) won by a fall with  just four seconds left before Josh Newbury (46-3) of De Soto would have been saved by the bell in the second period. McDowell with four pins for his first-place finish in the meet is now 25-14.

Jon Gurule (171) won three matches by fall and one by default to claim first place in his weight class with a record of 41-8. His fall of Darren Manning with just 13 seconds left in the championship match was the first loss by the senior from Sumner (46-1).

Paden Sparks (130) placed second by winning two matches by falls and the semi-final match by a five-point decision before falling to Tyler Knickmeyer (36-3) of Washington. Connor Kellogg (145) won two falls and lost by a 13-4 major decision in the championship match to Justin Lawrence (41-3) of Pacific.

Justin Heberlie (189) lost a 10-6 decision to an undefeated Tim Waltenberger (42-0) of Windsor in the championship match. Heberlie won his first two matches by fall and the semis by major decision. 

Les Thilking (275) lost his semi-final match to first-place finisher Trey Grovenor (49-3) of Cape Central, but won by a fall (his second in the meet) in the final wrestlebacks to qualify for state. Thilking lost by a fall to Robert Todd (45-5) of Pacific in the third place match to finish with a 29-11 record.

Dakota Napoli (103) lost in the final wrestleback round by a two-point decision after going 1-1 in his first two matches. Brian Harman (119), Stanton Ketcherside (152) and Greg Bonnell (160) were all 2-2 on the day finishing in the last wrestleback round. Ethan Hedrick (215) lost both of his two matches.

North County — 60.5

The North County Raiders will be sending three wrestlers to the State Meet this Thursday with two first-place finishes and one third in the District Meet.

Cody Compton (152) improved his record to 47-1 with three falls in his first three matches, and a default by David Lindsey (24-15) of Webster Groves in the championship match. Compton never wrestled past the first round with falls in 38 seconds, 1:01 and 1:27.

Tayler Decker (160) followed his teammate’s example with an 8-6 decision over Zach Wilson (36-7) of Cape Central in his weight’s championship match. Decker recorded falls in both of his first two matches for a record of 40-4.

Having lost by a 3-2 decision in the semi-finals, Seth Revelle (119) won his next two matches to finish third with a 6-0 win over D. Scott Hanify of Washington. Revelle’s record is 30-15.

Brock Harrison (112) was 2-2 for the meet, losing by fall in the last wrestleback round. Kasey Turner (145), Chris Haarman (171) and Eric Erchien (189) were all 1-2 in the meet.

CLASS 1

STE. GENEVIEVE — The Ste. Genevieve Dragons made the best of their new Class 2 classification this year as they bested a field of 13 teams to take first-place in the Class 2, District 1 Meet. The Dragons placed nine wrestlers in the top four of their respective weight classes with three first-place finishes for a total of 189 points.

Owensville came in second at 157, and St. Clair was third with four first-place medals at 154. Central qualified four wrestlers for state to take eighth place with 72.5 points.

Jesse Martinelli (103), John Vogt (171) and Jake Gegg (215)  won their respective weight classes for Ste. Genevieve. Martinelli’s record is now 35-16, Vogt is 48-2, and Gegg is 41-10.

Kevin Leclere (125) won Ste. Genevieve’s only second place. Jordan Ritter (130), Derrick Grieshaber (135) and Daniel Baker (152) all placed third, and Gabe Bader (112) and Zach Fallert (140) finished in fourth.

Central — 72.5

The Central Rebels qualified five wrestlers for the State Meet this weekend, starting on Thursday with one second, two thirds and two fourths in the District Meet.

Tyler Friend (215) worked his way to the championship match before losing by a fall to Jake Gegg of Ste. Genevieve for a second-place finish for the Rebels. Friend is 25-15 for the season so far.

Richard House (103) won his third-place match by an 8-5 decision, and Mike King (125) won his with a fall at 2:05. House is now 27-17, and King is 35-13.

Justin Parker (130) and Jarred Stewart (145) will both be going to State by virtue of their fourth-place finishes.