Platte County won three of the four contested matchups in Thursday’s 53-3 victory over Truman in Independence. The Pirates’ regular season finale went as expected with both teams open at four different regular classes.
Truman gave up six forfeits and faced an insurmountable 30-point deficit before the dual started even with Platte County minus senior Karrington Friddell. The Pirates moved standout freshman Ariel Humphreys up to 105 to fill that match, and she ended up with a first-period fall against Carmen Williams, who scored the opening takedown and led 5-2 at one point.
After a forfeit at 110, Platte County continued to roll with senior Charley Sims going to the second period before pinning Molly Saak in the 115-pound match, and senior Gabriella Ciccarelli needed 5 minutes, 26 seconds to notch a 17-0 technical fall at 120. The Pirates then took five straight forfeits with the two teams both open at 145, 170 and 190.
Truman’s lone win came from A’Nyla Davis with a 6-2 victory over Platte County senior Nicole Fernandez at 235. The Pirates’ dual win closed their conference record at 5-2 with the losses to Belton and Fort Osage — a year after those three teams split the White Division crown.
Platte County’s next competition will be in the Class 2 District 4 tournament this Friday and Saturday at home at Pirate Fieldhouse. The Pirates finished second overall last season in a breakthrough postseason performance but enter this year far from full strength after freshman Mattie Blankenship suffered a season-ending elbow injury in January. And likely three open weight classes.
With five seniors in the lineup, Platte County does feature a pair of returning state qualifiers in Sims and sophomore Ava Blankenship, who bumps down to 135 with her younger sister out. In addition, Friddell, Ciccarelli, Fernandez, senior Anna Wiesehan (130) and sophomore Harper Golden (110) have all had previous seasons finishing one win shy of advancing out of districts.
Sims and Ava Blankenship were both district runnersup for last season. Sims went on to place sixth in Class 2 at 115 pounds to give Platte County at least one medalist for a sixth straight season. She can become the fifth in program history to reach state at least twice, likely going into the tournament as No. 2 seed behind North Kansas City senior Anh Ngo.
