Fernandez medals for 3rd straight year at KC Stampede

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The anticipated matchup for Jake Fernandez didn’t materialize — not in the finals, not anywhere in the loaded Kansas City Stampede bracket.

Platte County’s standout senior and McDonald County senior Samuel Murphy were on opposite sides as the top two seeds in the two-day tournament, but both were knocked off in the 215-pound semifinals against out-of-state competition. Fernandez came back to finish fourth, while Murphy injury defaulted to sixth with a shoulder injury Saturday at Bartle Hall.

That means the potential third career meeting and rubber match between the past two Missouri Class 3 state champions at 220 pounds (Fernandez in 2022) and 215 pounds (Murphy in 2023) would have to occur in February’s MSHSAA Wrestling Championships.

Fernandez ended up with the better Stampede medal, and the only top-eight finish for Platte County, which totaled 59 points and placed 41st out of 73 varsity teams from states throughout the Midwest plus Wisconsin, Alabama, Texas, Georgia, Colorado and Louisiana. The straight bracket resulted in eight place-winners with those suffering two losses early moving into a “hard-luck” bracket to wrestle out additional matches.

Fernandez, freshman Jaxson Shute (106) and sophomore Quinn Lightle were Platte County’s only three to finish out wrestling in the consolation side of the championship bracket. The latter two reached the round of 12 and came up one win shy of earning a medal.

Seeded No. 2 behind Murphy, Fernandez opened with a major decision and then back-to-back pins to reach the quarterfinals and start a series of four straight grueling matches.

Fernandez, a three-time state qualifier and two-time medalist (third, 2023), prevailed in the first over Fort Osage senior Gavin Gallman in dramatic fashion. Scoreless after the first period, Gallman scored a reversal and then a takedown late to build a 4-3 lead, a margin hurt only by a penalty point. Fernandez then gave him an escape to start the third.

In the final 1 minute, 40 seconds, Fernandez came up with a tying takedown, gave up a a reversal, escaped and grabbed the winning takedown of an 8-7 decision with just 6 seconds left on the clock.

Fernandez advanced to the semifinals to guarantee a medal but couldn’t punch a ticket to the finals. Buford (Georgia) senior Aaron Riner won a 3-2 decision in tiebreakers, earning a go-ahead escape in the first 30-second period and then holding Fernandez down for the final 30 seconds. Fernandez missed two different chances to finish a takedown and avoided one himself in a mostly defensive matchup between the two.

The trend continued for Fernandez in wrestleback semifinals with a 1-0 decision over Mill Valley (Kansas) junior Christopher Wash with the lone point coming on a second period escape. Fernandez then lost 3-2 in tiebreakers to Thompson (Oklahoma) senior Avery Clark in the third-place match. The two exchanged escapes in regulation and went scoreless in the 1-minute sudden-victory overtime period.

Fernandez escaped in the first tiebreaker period, and Clark secured a 3-2 decision victory on a reversal with only 11 seconds left. This marked Fernandez’s second straight fourth-place finish at Stampede in addition to an eighth-place medal at 182 as a sophomore.

So far this season, Fernandez’s 12-3 record includes three losses to out-of-state opponents in overtime tiebreakers over the past two weekends in big multi-state tournaments. He has gone 1-1 in two previous matchups with Murphy, winning a 2022 Class 3 state bout on the way to a state title and losing last year’s meeting at Stampede in overtime.

Platte County received encouraging finishes from Shute and Lightle in the championship side in the most notable performances of young careers.

A Class 3 state-ranked freshman, Shute (13-3) came into the season with an accomplished youth career and shined on a big stage. After a loss to Staley sophomore Gunner Dahms in the second round, Shute won four straight consolation matches — three by fall — to reach the edge of the medal rounds. However, his tournament ended with a 4-1 loss to Park Hill sophomore Mason Brayfield, the Class 4 state-ranked top seed who went on to place fourth.

Lightle (9-5) went in unseeded but advanced to the quarterfinals with injury default win in Friday’s opening round and then a 4-3 decision over Whitfield senior Adrian Harrold, who missed a Class 3 state medal at 215 last season by one match after a consolation loss to Fernandez.

On the consolation side after a quarterfinal loss by 7-3 decision, Lightle advanced with a 3-2 victory in ultimate tiebreaker over Steven Brown of St. Thomas Aquinas (Kansas) JV. The winning moment came on a reversal in the 30-second period with the wrestlers tied 2-2.

Lightle’s match to qualify for the medal rounds came against Liberty junior Trenton Bindel, who won by fall and went on to finish fourth.

In addition to the three championship side finishers, Platte County senior Caden Hulett, a three-time state qualifier, came back to reach the title match of a hard luck bracket, going 4-3 overall.

Hulett dropped to the championship consolation bracket with a 4-3 second-round decision loss to Whitfield sophomore Jackson Bassett, who currently ranks No. 2 in Class 3 at 120. No. 5 in Class 3 at 120, Hulett then went 1-1 in consolation matchups to drop into one of three hard luck brackets. He won twice before facing off with Kearney junior Ryder Shelton — a two-time Class 3 state champion and frequent opponent over the past two seasons currently ranked No. 3 at 126.

Shelton led 2-1 going to the third period when he locked up a cradle and scored the fall at 3:11 to claim the bracket title.

Platte County senior Shane Leary (fourth, 157) and junior Evan Maccuish (third, 150) also reached the hard luck place matches. The Pirates now take a lengthy break until the start of 2024 after grueling back-to-back weekend tournaments. They have yet to be at full strength with returning state qualifiers in junior Darrell Smith (165) and sophomore Cole Johnson (175) yet to wrestle this season and senior Kevin Taylor (165 or 175) missing Stampede and Wednesday’s dual with Kearney due to illness.

Smith (knee) and Johnson (leg) suffered injuries prior to the season but are expected back in January.

Kearney 42, Platte County 27

Trying to make up for two open weights, Platte County made a couple of moves in an effort to overcome an early deficit Wednesday night in a dual between rivals at Kearney High School.

Only one of two potential ranked matchups materialized due to the shuffles, which did not produce enough points to overcome Kearney’s early advantage. Kearney’s lead never went below 12 after scoring the first 18 team points, and the Pirates only closed the gap late thanks to a dramatic 8-7 decision for Maccuish over Kendall Davis at 150 and Leary’s second-period pin of Aiden Arellano at 157 in the finale.

Kearney led 12-0 before the first match started thanks to forfeits at 165 and 175, and senior Jak Gist, ranked No. 3 in Class 3, added a pin at 190.

Fernandez’s pin at 215 pulled Platte County within 18-6, but the team’s alternated wins at the next three weights. Kearney came up with an important six points at 285 when freshman JD Romero took Lightle to his back and recorded a fall in the second period.

At 106, Shute (No. 5 at 106) and Kearney freshman Phoenix Shelton (No. 4 at 106) matched up for the first time in high school. Shute came up with the initial takedown, added a point on clasping and then another on an escape. The two second period points ended up being the last of the match in a 4-0 decision with Phoenix Shelton nearly being turned on multiple occasions and unable to get out off bottom for the entire 2 minutes of the third period.

Kearney quickly restored the 18-point lead on Landon Westfall’s 4-0 win at 113 over Platte County sophomore Gabe Wittel. The Pirates then made their first move, bumping Hulett to 126. Ryder Shelton secured a pin at 120, but Hulett ended up with a 2-0 decision in sudden-victory overtime after the match went scoreless in regulation. Hulett nearly turned Caden Underwood on multiple occasions in the second period but needed a takedown to win and avoid tiebreakers.

After sophomore Liam Franksen moved up a weight to take a forfeit at 132, Platte County still trailed 33-18. The Pirates continued the chain of bumps with sophomore returning state qualifier Grant Fadler going to 138 but losing a 3-0 decision to Blaine Turpin that essentially sealed the result for the Bulldogs.

Platte County avoided a larger margin when Maccuish came back from a 7-5 deficit late in the third period. After being taken down to his back early in the third period, he pulled within one on an escape and then scored the winning takedown as time expired. Kearney’s coaches protested the call, but the officials determined time was left on the clock and confirmed the two points awarded.