Cucchiara sisters’ 1st chance to wrestle together ends with pair of podium finishes

Giada and Mila Cucchiara waited an entire year for the moment then made the most of a first opportunity.

This past weekend, Platte County’s senior-sophomore sister combo not only wrestled for the first time but collected two of the Pirates’ three medals in the Jay Border Wars, a multi-state tournament with 25 teams. Giada competed for the first time since the Class 2 MSHSAA Wrestling Championships as a sophomore and placed fourth at 135 pounds. She missed all of last season due to a torn ACL.

Mila showed improvement in the best performance to this point in her career, finishing sixth at 140 pounds.

“That’s really nice. Sisters getting to enjoy that moment together when last year they were hoping they could enjoy that moment and it didn’t happen,” Platte County coach Reggie Burress said. “It was really nice for them to get out there together.”

Platte County senior Madeleine Stone added a third-place finish at 235 for the best medal of the two-day event in Jay, Oklahoma. The Pirates finished seventh in the final team standings with 114 points after putting seven total in the Gold Brackets with four more placing in the Silver Brackets out of 13 entrants.

One of two returning state qualifiers, Giada Cucchiara actually finished second in Pool A but still made the Gold Bracket. She lost her quarterfinal but recorded back-to-back pins to reach the third-place match and went 4-3 overall on the weekend.

Giada Cucchiara spent all of last season with Platte County’s team serving as a manager, unofficial coach and supporter of teammates, including Mila Cucchiara during a challenging but productive freshman season.

The development showed from the outset with Mila Cucchiara coming in second in a five-wrestler pool at 140 to reach the Gold Bracket. She also lost in the quarterfinals but received a medical forfeit to reach the medal rounds before dropping her final two matches.

Stone went 4-0 in Pool C at 235 with four straight first-period pins. She added a fifth in the quarterfinals of the Gold Bracket and led Paige Wainscott of Edmond North (Oklahoma) 2-0 going to the third period of the semifinal. Stone earned a pair of stalling points in the second period while holding Wainscott down for the full 2 minutes.

In the third period, Stone chose top but ended up reversed to her back and pinned with 44 seconds left in the match. Wainscott went on to finish first place, while Stone came back with two more pins to close out a third-place finish.

“I think we really wrestled well top to bottom,” Burress said. “Kids learned a lot and got better as it went.”

In addition to the medalists, Platte County junior Nicole Fernandez (190) also won her pool, while seniors Taylore Lavery (125) and Maddie Nichols (155) and freshman Ava Blankenship (145) were all second-place finishers. Those four went 0-2 in the Gold Bracket matches to finish outside of the top six.

Platte County freshman Harper Golden (105) came in third in her pool with losses to the eventual third- and fourth-place medalists. Golden came back and won the Silver Bracket title. The Pirates also ended up with three Silver third-place finishers Annabel Beeman (130) and Alivia Juarez (170) and sophomore Anna Wiesehan (120).

Battle of the Braids

On Tuesday, Platte County traveled to Fort Osage High School for a competition based on round robins with no team scores.

Wiesehan (120) and Stone (235) both went 2-0 with two pins in the A groups for their weight class. Beeman went 1-1 in 130A with a 13-10 decision victory on a takedown in the sudden victory portion of overtime against Oak Grove’s Addison Kelley.

Golden finished second in 105B, while Mila Cucchiara recorded a pair of pins in 140C. Alivia Juarez needed just over 2 minutes for her two falls in 170D.

Platte County 66, William Chrisman 12

The Pirates recorded wins in three of the five matches wrestled in Wednesday’s Suburban Conference White Division dual at Pirate Fieldhouse.

Both teams were open at 100, but Platte County overwhelmed with sheer numbers on what Burress believes will end up the deepest team in the program’s history. Wiesehan (120), Beeman (130) and Stone (235) all recorded falls for the Pirates, who have 13 weight classes filled early in the season with hopes of having all 14 at times this season.

“It’s good for them. You could hear (teammates) cheering away in those matches,” Burress said.

Wiesehan and Beeman, who were both one win away from qualifying for state last year as uniquely different first-year wrestlers, both showed patience in their wins. In both instances, the first takedown led a turn and pin.

After up-and-down success last year, Wiesehan and Beeman have both moved down weight classes and shown improvement early in their second seasons.

“It’s just one of those things where if you wrestle someone who weighs a lot more than you and now you’re wrestling people that weigh about what you do, that really helps a lot,” Burress said.

Following Beeman’s pin in 1:17, Platte County took three more forfeits and led 48-6. Nichols, a transfer into the program for her final season, fell behind 7-0 in the 155 match after William Chrisman’s Sadie Gropper took full advantage of the new high school scoring system with a three-point takedown and four near-fall points.

Nichols survived and went into the second period down 7-2 but gave up two more takedowns in the second. She built some momentum with a reversal and nearly turned Gropper to her back.

In the third period, Gropper led 13-5 and came up with another reversal and then a pin in 4:42.

Lavery went up against William Chrisman’s top individual at 125, and Da’Neya West recorded both takedowns and then a pin in 51 seconds. The result came in between the wins for Wiesehan and Beeman.

“Maddie’s getting better,” Burress said. “Taylor’s girl that she wrestled is real good, and we knew that would be a tough one.”

Stone capped the night with an efficient effort at 235. She took down Emilia Hill and quickly turned her to her back for a pin in 1:23.