Brower’s strength on and off the mat helps her return to podium

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Lilly Brower took a mostly unseen journey back to the podium in the Class 2 Missouri State Wrestling Championships. At times, she probably wondered if any path at all existed.

The uncertainty in the Platte County senior’s career made a third-place finish at 115 pounds quite rewarding — even if she just missed the ultimate goal.

Brower came back from a disappointing quarterfinal loss Friday at Mizzou Arena with a dominant stretch of four straight pins to become just the third medalist in program history. This followed a state runnerup finish at 110 pounds as a freshman at Excelsior Springs before she ended up away from the sport for the past two seasons.

“It means a lot to me,” said Brower, who finished with a 14-5 record after fully regaining her eligibility as a transfer in January. “I was super good; I had to put in a lot of work to get where I was because I fell off really bad. I was on a bad track. I’ve had the right coaches, right people around me to push me and support me enough for me to actually want to succeed.”

Platte County took a program-record five qualifiers into the two-day tournament during the first year of split classifications for the sport in Missouri. Outside of Brower, fellow seniors Haley Burge (110) and Hannah Mand (120), junior EmmaLyn Burnett (125) and sophomore Giada Cucchiara (135) made their state debuts, and three of them won a match to help the Pirates tie for 19th as a team with 30 points.

Brower and Burnett both opened with wins, while Burge and Mand won first-round wrestleback matches after both entered as No. 4 seeds out Class 2 District 4.

“We got two of those girls back; they got experience,” Platte County coach Reggie Burress said.

Prior to this season, Platte County’s only state medalists were KayLyn Munn (four, 2021 finalist and 2022 champion) and Sarina Bertram (two, 2021 state finalist).

Brower entered ranked No. 3 in Class 2 at 115 but as a No. 2 seed after a loss to Park Hill sophomore and No. 1-ranked defending state champion Angelina Vargas in the district final two weeks earlier. After a quick pin of Jackson senior Gracie Metzger (25-8) in the first round Friday, Brower ended up with a unique quarterfinal pairing against No. 2-ranked Francis Howell Central sophomore Kailey Benson (42-5), who took an early lead with a takedown in the first period.

However, Brower reversed Benson to her back late in the second period and nearly came up with a pin before allowing a reversal in the final second.

Benson trailed 5-4 entering the second period but led 7-6 going to the third period where Brower’s lack of matches appeared to come into play. She took the lead back with a quick reversal but ended up giving up two points on three stalling calls in what ended up a 12-8 decision loss where she appeared exhausted and out of energy in the closing moments.

After the loss and hopes of reaching the state final were dashed, Brower came back later in the day to pin Rockwood Summit junior Chaire Perks in just 24 seconds to advance to Saturday’s action. Her run continued with a pin of Lafayette (Wildwood) sophomore Hannah Henderson (33-8) in 58 seconds to reach the medal rounds then pinning Lindberg junior Audrey Scherer (37-9) — a two-time state runnerup — in 1:22 to advance to the third-place match.

Brower finished her tournament with a pin of Nixa junior Kelsey Watts in 1:30. That gave her wins over the other two semifinalists in the bracket, while Vargas went on to beat Benson 6-0 in the championship match.

“I had to talk to my coaches because I definitely would not have (come back) by myself,” said Brower, who lost twice this year to Vargas (8-4 in the district final) plus once to Benson and the other two marks on her ledger were retroactive forfeits from her first two matches due to a clerical error related to her eligibility. “I would have probably gave up and quit because I was so broken (after the quarterfinal loss). My coaches helped me through it, and they reminded me that I’ve gotten all this way and there’s no point to give up.”

As a freshman, Brower ran up a 22-1 record with an 11-2 major decision loss in the 110 final to Faith Cole of Lafayette (Wildwood) — the first and only four-time state champion in Missouri history until Park Hill South’s Maddie Kubicki and Fort Osage’s Haley Ward joined her this past weekend. Cole didn’t lose a match in her high school career.

Platte County committed to helping Brower regain and maintain eligibility for her senior season, eventually leading to her receiving a well-earned chance to compete at state again.

“We know her story; it’s a little different story that everybody doesn’t know,” Burress said. “Proud of her getting to this third-place match and winning it. Most people never thought she’d make it back to wrestling. We got her back in there, and together, we worked hard and with her willingness and our push got her back to where she needed to be.”

Brower further solidified a strong lower half of the deepest lineup in Platte County history.

To make room, Burge dropped to 110 and finally broke through in the postseason with an emotional consolation semifinal victory at District 4 to advance to state for the first time after close calls each of the previous two seasons.

With a fourth-place finish, Burge drew District 1 champion Sophia Miller (40-6) of Francis Howell North in the opening round. Miller won by fall late in the first period and went on to the semifinals and a fifth-place finish.

Burge (23-16) came back with a third period pin of Lindbergh senior Natalie Ford (21-18) in a first round wrestleback. Burge led 4-0 before turning Ford and scoring the fall in 3:25.

However, Burge then drew Liberty junior and District 4 runnerup Jaden Breeden (38-8) after her quarterfinal loss to eventual 110 champion Jessa Joiner of Lebanon (50-1). Jaden Breeden defeated Burge by fall in both the District 4 semifinals and the rematch — the second one ending the career of just the second four-year senior in Platte County history.

“My goodness, four years. Worked her butt off and now got to be a state qualifier and win a match down here,” Burress said of Burge, who joined her father Kevin Burge as a state qualifier at Platte County while older brother Hunter Burge would have done the same as a senior in 2021 if not for COVID-19 protocols that eliminated advancement for fourth-place district finishers for just one season. “I would have liked her to win a couple, but I’m so proud of her with everything she’s done for this program and herself.”

Mand advanced to state as a second-year senior who finished fourth at districts behind the top-three finishers from this past weekend at 120 — champion Allison Gonier of Park Hill, runner-up Julia Breeden of Liberty and third-place senior Madison Leverknight of Winnetonka.

Continuing a trend of tough matchups, Mand (29-12) opened with a loss to Jackson senior Mallorie Metzger (36-4), who reached the semifinals lost to Jaden Breeden and came back to place fourth behind Leverknight. Mand recovered to tough out a 6-4 decision victory over Francis Howell North senior Laramie Horstman (21-19), who took a 4-3 lead with a reversal midway through the third period.

Mand escaped 11 seconds later and almost immediately came up with the winning takedown. Her tournament ended later Friday with a loss by fall to Nixa freshman Mylee Harper (37-15).

“Wish we could have had (Mand) longer,” Burress said. “She came down here and won a match and performed well.”

Burnett entered as Platte County’s only district champion and just the third in program history after claiming the 125 title two weeks earlier. She advanced to the quarterfinals despite a scare from Francis Howell Central junior Katelyn Guth (26-20), who scored the last two takedowns of the match to tie the score at 7-7. Burnett already accrued a stalling call earlier in the third period but escaped with 9 seconds left and avoided a second that would have resulted in a tying penalty point to win an 8-7 decision.

Needing a win to advance to the semifinals and guarantee a medal, Burnett (27-11) went to the second period of her quarterfinal with Lafayette (Wildwood) junior Toby Goertz but gave up a takedown, went to her back and ended up pinned in 2:24.

That led to a rematch of the District 4 final with Staley sophomore Brianna Simpson, who avenged a prior loss with a 7-1 decision win. She led Burnett 2-1 late thanks to a second period takedown and took her down to her back for a late five points that created the separation.

Goertz went on to place fourth, while Simpson was eliminated one win shy of reaching the consolation medal rounds.

“EmmaLyn, obviously is getting really close to putting it all together,” Burress said.

Cucchiara (24-10) joined Platte County this season as a sophomore and immediately showed promise that eventually led to a third-place district finish after coming back late in the season from an ankle injury that cost her two weeks of competition. Her losses came int he first round to eventual state runnerup Annelise Obermark (44-8), a junior from Washington, and Francis Howell Central junior Sophie Johnson (23-18).

Obermark pinned Cucchiara in 55 seconds, and she trailed Johnson after giving up a takedown with 42 seconds left in the first period and went to her back twice in a 10-3 decision loss.

“Great for (Cucchiara) to be down here,” Burress said. “You could tell it hurt her to lose because she’s put a lot of time in, and she’s going to work hard to keep getting better.”

Platte County both enjoyed a breakthrough season thanks to three senior state participants plus junior Sarah Humburg, a second-year junior who just missed qualification at 130 and plans to graduate early making her an honorary member of the 2023 class, and displayed promise to continue the development of a relatively new program. The Pirates regularly fielded 11 in this year’s lineup and want the examples of Brower’s natural talent, Burge’s dedication and Mand and Humburg’s rapid adaptation to continue building the family atmosphere the wrestlers tout.

For Brower, Platte County gave her a place to once again have fun in the sport and be a part of a competitive and welcoming environment. She clearly enjoyed her final matches, displaying a broad smile and flexing both arms after her third-place win and thanking her coaches for pushing her back down the road to success.

“I’m actually having a lot of fun. I haven’t had this fun since I was 6 years old winning state or 12 winning state. I’m glad I’m back in it,” she said. “In Excelsior when I went to state, I didn’t really have much of a team; only one of my other girls went, so I had all these other girls (this year). I think it was so cool that they got to come with me and wrestle with me. They made me a part of their family. They wove me into their Platte County family.”