The Centralia Panthers won the Class 1, District 3 wrestling tournament at Lafayette County High School in Higginsville, outscoring second-place Brookfield by 28 points and third place Marceline by 50 1/2 points.
Richmond was fourth, Trenton fifth, and Gallatin sixth, followed by Penney, South Harrison, a tie between Lafayette County and Palmyra, with Lexington, St. Paul Lutheran, Polo, Missouri Military Academy, and Carrollton making up the basement of the team standings.
Centralia, Brookfield, and Marceline each qualified seven wrestlers for the Class 1 state tournament at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Richmond, Trenton, and Gallatin each qualified six.
Penney advanced four wrestlers to state, including 220 pound district champion Fisher Nixdorf. South Harrison will send three and Polo one wrestler to Columbia.
Trenton High School wrestlers qualifying for state were Sam Gibson as district champion at 195 pounds; with Hunter McAtee (138) and Caleb Johnson (220) falling in district title tests for second-place finishes. Kaden Owen (160) finished in third place, with Mason Rongey (126) and Coleman Griffin (152) each fourth place in their weight class.
Gallatin Bulldogs advancing to state were Rodell Sperry second place at 160; Gabe Parker second at heavyweight; Andon Allen (152), Jagger Gray (170), and Logan Bottcher (182) all third place; and Draygan Schweizer fourth place at 195.
Brookfield had three district champions among its seven state qualifiers. The champions are Peyton Parn at 113, Gambal Staddie at 126, and Jaden Obongo at 170 pounds.
Marceline had two district champions among its seven state qualifiers. The champions are Drew Griffin at 106 and Hunter Nelson at 182 pounds.
District champion Centralia had five first-place finishers among its seven state qualifiers.
Centralia had 189 team points, second-place Brookfield 161, third place Marceline 138.5, fourth place Richmond 137, fifth place Trenton 126, and sixth-place Gallatin 112 points.
Trenton head coach Charlie Bacon told KTTN that the district championships were one “of the hardest tournament he can remember” in his years of coaching. He believes there were “five of the top six teams in the state” in District 3.
The boys Class 1 state wrestling tournament will be held Thursday, February 17th through Saturday, February 19th at Mizzou Arena in Columbia.
The Pleasant Hill Roosters ran away with a district championship in Class 2 at the Saturday tournament hosted by Excelsior Springs High School.
Cameron finished in second place and Chillicothe seventh. Chillicothe state qualifiers were Brody Carins second at 170 pounds, Brock Miller second at 182 pounds, and Bryce Dominique fourth at 138 pounds.
Pleasant Hill accumulated 258.5 points. Second place Cameron had 172.5, and third place Odessa 122 points.
Photo credit – Trenton High School Wrestling / Facebook / Trenton, MO
