Platte County doesn’t have a medalist but impresses in keep KC Stampede field

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Platte County took the lumps expected in back-to-back-back grueling, two-day weekend tournaments. Most recently, the Pirates didn’t have a top-six placer in the Kansas City Stampede at Bartel Hall Convention but finished 19th out of 44 teams, showing off the talent of a developing roster poised for more success down the road.

Divided into straight brackets, Platte County unseeded junior EmmaLyn Burnett scored an early upset to reach the 125-pound quarterfinals, and 11th-seeded junior Sarah Humburg (130 pounds) came back from an early loss to also come within one win of a medal, which went to the top six in each weight class. Haley Burge (115 pounds) and Hannah Mand (120) — unseeded seniors — missed by just two wins, as did 11th-seeded first-year sophomore Giada Cucchiara.

Seven of the 10 losses between that quartet came to placers.

Burnett put up one of the most impressive showings of her brief career. In the opening round, she took a 2-0 lead early in the second period against sixth-seeded Nicole Bond of Red Oak (Iowa) but eventually fell behind 5-2 after giving up four on penalties and technical violations.

Then came a dramatic finish.

Inside of a minute, Burnett twice turned Bond to her back, earning five points and going back in front 7-5. Bond tied it back up 7-7 with a reversal, but Burnett scored a winning escape with 29 seconds left.

Burnett then earned a pin early in the third period against Kearney’s Ella Herndon. The run on the front side then ended with a loss by fall to Nixa’s Abigail Weitzel, who went on to finish as the bracket runnerup. A 10-3 decision over Molly Metzger of Jackson —earned with a reversal and three sets of near-fall points in the third period — put Burnett on the brink of becoming the most recent medalist at the tournament only to lose the rematch with Bond, who won a 6-2 decision to avenge her earlier upset loss and go on to place fifth.

Humburg took a similar path from her spot as the No. 11 seed, opening with a pin in the 130 bracket before a loss by fall to sixth-seeded Allison Kraemer of Fort Osage. Humburg came back with pins of Smithville’s Saige Boone and Kearney’s Savannah McDowell before upsetting Belton’s eighth-seeded Jaden Williamson in dominant fashion and 8-1 decision that included six points in the third period.

The final match for Humburg ended up being a 4-0 loss to Blue Springs’ Mady Banker — a returning Missouri State Wrestling Championships qualifier. Banker went on to beat Kraemer in the fifth-place match.

Burge drew into a tough spot of the 115 bracket, opening with a third-period pin of Odessa’s Payton Coe before losing by fall in the first period to top-seeded Park Hill sophomore and eventual weight-class champion Angelina Vargas in the round of 16.

On the consolation side, Burge pinned 12th-seeded Miranda Riggs of Little Axe (Oklahoma) and then used a pair of near-fall situations in the third period to win a 5-2 decision over Alissa Perez of Klein (Texas). That led to a fourth straight matchup with a seeded wrestler, and No. 7 Shelby Lundstrom of Seckman took a 4-0 decision to end Burge’s tournament.

Mand drew into the round of 32 against No. 1 seed and eventual tournament champion Bella Williams of Edmond (Oklahoma). After a loss by fall, Mand came back with two wins by fall in the consolation bracket, the second while holding a 6-3 lead with more points pending in the closing seconds against Belton’s seventh-seeded Sydney Stifter.

The tournament ended for Mand with a loss to Winnetonka’s fourth-seeded Madison Leverknight — a returning state champion who ended up upset in the following round to miss a medal at this tournament.

Cucchiara continued her impressive debut season, evidenced by already earning a top-12 seed. Timberland’s sixth-seeded Ariana Finn pinned her in the first period of a round of 16 matchup, but Cucchiara came back with a 22-7 technical fall over Liberty North’s Chloe Taylor and a pin of Newton’s Josselynn Southern.

In the next match, Cucchiara could not make it past Jailynn Taylor of Paolo (Kansas) in a loss by fall. Taylor did not medal, while Finn ended up sixth.

In addition to the top-performing five, Platte County sophomore Alivia Juarez went 2-2 at 155 but lost in the opening round to seventh-seeded Jaymie Murry of Newton (Iowa) and then being drawn into a consolation pigtail match. Juarez came back with a pin and then a 9-1 major decision upset of eighth-seeded Nevaeh Finn of Timberland.

Isabelle Tali of Liberty pinned Juarez and didn’t medal, while Murry came back to place third.

Platte County scored 56 1/2 points and were the highest-ranked team without a medalist, coming in ahead of six teams with two placers and 11 with one.

Kearney 42, Platte County 40

The Pirates won 7 of 11 matches wrestled but couldn’t overcome three opens and four losses by fall.

Kearney maxed out the bonus points in what ended up an even 7-7 split of results in a nonconference dual Wednesday at Platte County High School. The difference ended up being Cucchiara earning a major decision at 135 for a solid four points in the opening match before the Pirates fell behind 12-4 after a forfeit and loss by fall and the deficit eventually hit 30-10.

Platte County would not lead again despite pins for Juarez (155), freshman Gabriella Ciccarelli (100), freshman Karrington Fridell (105), Mand (120), Burnett (125) and Humburg (130).

Council Bluffs Invitational

The previous weekend, Platte County went to Mid-America Center in Iowa without Cucchiara and Humburg, just half of a full lineup and placed 17th out of 32 teams. Fridell (105), Burge (115) and Mand (120) were the only Pirates to reach the Gold Bracket and place in the top eight.

Burge led the way after finishing second in her pool and despite losing in the opening round of the championship competition. She came back with a well-earned 4-0 decision over Naomi Mayfield of Gardner-Edgerton (Kansas) and a pin against Maddy Blow of Washburn Rural (Kansas). Her pool loss came to the eventual champion, and she lost twice in the championship bracket to Marin Smith of North Scott (Iowa) — both by fall including in the third-place match.

Fridell and Mand both ended up seventh.

At 105, Fridell also came in second in her pool then lost her first two matches in the Gold Bracket. However, she came back for an 8-3 decision over Avala Faber of North Scott. In a deep weight class, Mand went 4-1 in pool to make the Gold Bracket before a pair of losses put her in the seventh-place match. She came back to pin Rylee Stracke of Nebraska City (Nebraska) and close the tournament with a win.