Generally, Reggie Burress brings honesty to his directions and assessments.
Platte County freshman Cole Johnson scrambles with his opponent during the 175-pound match of a rivalry dual with Smithville on Tuesday at Pirate Fieldhouse.
Platte County’s veteran coach acknowledged the resolve Draiden Chilcoat showed in the 144-pound match of Tuesday’s dual with rival Smithville but also made sure to point out how the Pirates senior ended up in a predicament. Chilcoat’s reversal from his back into a pin of Nate Lawhon with 10 seconds left in the second period.
In a pivotal moment of the matchup, Chilcoat’s six team points kept Platte County in control on the way to a 45-21 victory.
“I do tell kids to get off their back, and he got the fall,” Burress said. “I told him later, ‘Give yourself a little bit of a chance. Don’t throw yourself on your back.’ Because sometimes you don’t make it off your back, so give yourself a chance and then go to that later, but hey, it worked tonight.”
Platte County never trailed, and Chilcoat capped a run of a four straight wins that pushed the advantage to 30-12.
Smithville multi-time state medalist Alex Hutchcraft followed with a pin at 150 against Pirates senior Peyton Nickell, who reclaimed a spot in the lineup after finishing in front of senior teammate David Olson in last weekend’s Dick Burns Mat Classic in Bonner Springs, Kansas. Olson is now out with a knee injury, as well.
Platte County sophomore Darrell Smith celebrates his pin the 157-pound match of a dual with Smithville on Tuesday at Pirate Fieldhouse.
Platte County then won three of the final four matches to open up an impressive margin of victory after losing last year’s matchup between the two teams. This followed a December win over rival Kearney and now two encouraging results against Class 3 District 4 foes for a fairly inexperienced team with only two returning state qualifiers. The Pirates are now 3-1 in duals, having won three straight since a one-point loss to Oak Park in the season-opener.
“I’d say we’re getting a lot of productivity out of our younger kids, and we have to have that,” Burress said. “We’ve got kids that are working hard, and I think they have the same goals we have. I think this is a great result for this team. To beat Kearney and Smithville is really good for the motivation.”
At 157, Platte County sophomore Darrell Smith ended up a bit outside of his comfort zone. Smithville freshman Haze Middleton spent much of the first minute keeping Smith away from his typically fast-paced offense in the neutral position.
Smith eventually ended up going into a scramble and put Middleton straight to his back, then made the most of an advantageous opportunity in the top position to earn the pin in 1:02.
Platte County freshman Quinn Lightle works for a pin in the 190-pound match of a dual with Smithville on Tuesday at Pirate Fieldhouse.
“When I got him on his back, I just wanted to make sure I stick him so I can get the pin. That’s all really; that’s all I really wanted,” said Smith, who put Platte County up 36-18.
A 13-6 decision for Smithville at 165 actually put the dual victory out of reach with the Warriors needing pins in the final three matches to send the matchup to tiebreakers.
Platte County’s “big boy” freshmen closed out the dual in style. First, Cole Johnson pushed the Pirates’ advantage to 39-21 with a gritty 2-1 decision over Smithville’s Austin Clevenger at 175. Quinn Lightle followed at 190 and bounced back from an 0-2 showing in last weekend’s tournament to pin Aiden Robeson in 1:44.
For the second straight dual, Platte County ended up with four freshmen recording individual victories.
“I like what I’m seeing; they being dogs out there. They’re doing their jobs,” Smith said.
The dual started in a solid spot for Platte County with junior defending state champion Jake Fernandez taking the mat at 215. He needed just 1:23 to pin Xander Brown and put the Pirates up 6-0.
Platte County junior Jake Fernandez attempts to pin his opponent during the 215-pound match of a dual with Smithville on Tuesday at Pirate Fieldhouse.
Smithville followed with tight decision victories for Clayton Carr at 285 over sophomore Kameron Doyle, continuing to split time at that weight class with senior Mar’Ques Brown, and freshman Tristan Waters over junior Caden Hulett at 113 sandwiched around a forfeit for Platte County freshman Gabriel Wittel at 106. Waters currently ranks fourth in the Class 3 Missouriwrestling.com rankings, while Hulett — a two-time state qualifier — sits fifth.
Waters recorded the opening takedown and then came up with a late reversal to earn the win in what could be a preview of an important district matchup.
“I think Caden’s going to make an adjustment and have a chance to beat that kid,” Burress said. “Really, we got the takedown we needed but then gave up a reversal. Can’t do that.”
Smithville freshman Cannon Hutchcraft overcame an early 5-0 deficit and pinned senior Alex Escabi-Fullmer at 120 to tie the score at 12-12.
An official in Tuesday’s dual raises the hand of Platte County junior Jackson Woolsey after his win at 132 pounds against Smithville.
Platte County’s big run of four straight victories started with freshman Grant Fadler turning in an impressive 3-0 decision over Warriors junior Trent Hallett, a sixth-place state medalist in Class 3 a year ago at 113. Fadler secured a timely takedown near the end of the first period for the first two points, held Hallett down for all of the second period and then added an escape in the third for the match’s only other scoring.
Then came another spot start for junior Jackson Woolsey at 132.
Less than a week after making his debut and earning an important decision win in a dual victory over Blue Springs, Woolsey again ended up in the lineup with 138-pound sophomore Evan Maccuish out with an elbow injury. Woolsey threw Smithville’s Dawson Ballard to his back late in the first period and recorded the fall at 1:59 — just beating the buzzer that could have extended the match.
“Jackson, again, gets another big win, puts a kid on his back and puts him away and that’s huge with Maccuish out,” Burress said. “We’ve had kids step up when we need them to step up these last few weeks.”
Platte County junior Shane Leary attempts to shake free of his opponent during the 138-pound match of a dual with Smithville on Tuesday at Pirate Fieldhouse.
With Maccuish out, Burress bumped junior Shane Leary up to 138. He scored another important victory for Platte County with an 8-5 decision in a match that went back and forth with Lyndon Russell, who led 3-2 and 4-3 and went into the third period tied 5-5.
Chilcoat then gave up the opening takedown to Lawhon in what ended up an exciting 144 match. Smithville’s coaches were insisting he had a pin in the second period just moments before Chilcoat pulled a literal 180-degree change in the match and received a big reaction from the Pirates’ bench and crowd after taking the win. The Warriors could have closed within 24-18 but instead went behind by 18 points.
Smithville appeared to be considering a move for Hutchcraft to try and find a way to win the dual but ultimately kept his star at 150. The Warriors were minus returning state medalist Riley Brown, as well, upping the difficulty of the potential comeback for that part of the lineup.
“(A win at 144) would have tightened it up, but I don’t think they had anyone that would make it possible,” said Burress, who saw his team win 10 of 14 matches overall and 8 of the final 10.
