Platte County finally sees home action with lone loss in 4 duals critical to conference race

The math overwhelmingly favored Platte County in the first dual of Thursday’s home opener, but the Pirates knew the difficult task in the second.

A dominant 50-24 victory over Blue Springs didn’t carry nearly as much weight as a 49-30 loss to Fort Osage in the nightcap Thursday night at Pirate Fieldhouse. The Indians stayed in the Suburban Conference White Division race with the triumph.

A year ago, Fort Osage topped Platte County to finish in a three-way tie atop the standings. Now, Platte County needs a win against Belton in a couple of weeks to likely recreate the same shared conference title.

“I was really hoping that we could get a win tonight. We sadly didn’t, but after seeing them at the Kearney duals last Friday, we were hoping that we would do a lot better than we had in previous years,” said Platte County senior Karrington Friddell, who recorded a pin in the 105-pound match against Fort Osage’s Lexi Newman after the final result had already been decided. “I think we really pulled it off tonight. Although we didn’t get that win, we won our heart.”

Platte County received five forfeits and 30 points in the opener, putting Blue Springs into a big hole before the dual started. Both teams were open at 190, while the Wildcats took six points from an open at 170.

Essentially down 24 to start, Blue Springs’ hopes took a big hit in the opener with Platte County freshman Ariel Humphreys surviving an incredibly physical matchup between state qualifying contenders in Class 2 District 4 at 100 pounds. She scored a seven-point move early against Aubrey Schaefer and held on for an 11-5 decision.

“That was a big match that we needed to get tonight. Ariel set the tone,” Burress said.

“She’s amazing. She’s a best and can throw a headlock like no other so she’s definitely a good add on (to the lineup),” Friddell added.

Platte County ultimately won the first six matches with half of those uncontested. The run included open for Friddell and sophomore Harper Golden in the next two matches after Humphreys, and senior Charley Sims added 20-3 technical fall over Kiley Digusto at 115 before another forfeit for senior Gabriella Ciccarelli at 120. The Pirates were up 26-0 at that point with an encouraging result at 125 only adding to the dominance.

Blue Springs’ Peytyn Conard took a 10-1 lead in the first period, but Platte County first-year sophomore Katelyn Newberry avoided the fall and reached the second. She chose neutral and put Conard to her back with a takedown, coming up with a pin in 3 minutes, 37 seconds.

“Fight off your back, get back to your feet and give yourself a chance,” Burress said. “You’re going to see the progression. This time next year, you’ll see a whole different Katelyn wrestling.”

Platte County’s final three wins were all max points as well with forfeits for freshman Mattie Blankenship (135) and Nicole Fernandez (235) and a first-period pin for Ava Blankenship at 140. The momentum didn’t hold for the Pirates, who fielded the deepest team in program history a year ago with this season’s limited returns including a pair of state qualifiers — Sims (sixth place at 115 as a junior) and Ava Blankenship.

With one of the top lineups in the state, Fort Osage fell behind early in a matchup of the top two teams in last year’s Class 2 District 4 standings but were overwhelming in a large chunk of the middle section of the dual while benefitting from forfeits at 170 and 190.

Golden and Sims recorded pins for Platte County in the 110 and 115 matches before a forfeit for Ciccarelli put the Pirates up 18-0. They wouldn’t score again until Humphreys and Friddell closed with back-to-back falls after the lineup turned back over.

Fort Osage, which came back late to win last year’s Class 2 District 4 title, officially locked up the win with the back-to-back forfeits before sophomore Hali Windes ground out a 1-0 decision over Fernandez at 235.

Platte County entered off of dominant White Division victories over Raytown (60-18) and Ruskin (66-12) in their home opener the night before. There were only five matches against Raytown with Sims (115), Ava Blankenship (140) and Fernandez (235) recording pins.

Against Ruskin, Platte County did more work with Humphreys (100), Friddell (105), Golden (110), Sims (115), Ciccarelli (120) and Fernandez (235) all winning matches by fall. The Eagles won just one of the seven head-to-head matchups.

Platte County quickly bounced back from the loss to Fort Osage and won the Blue Valley West Tournament on Friday in Overland Park, Kansas. The Pirates finished with six champions and nine total in the top three out of 12 entrants in another in a collection of strong tournament showings that have seemingly built confidence for a lineup with five newcomers, including a pair of impact freshmen.

Recently, Platte County also won the Diamond State Invitational, but the successes haven’t been the only part of bringing the team together.

“Being there for each other during the losses, those are really helpful for our team, and I think that’s definitely brought us closer together,” Friddell said.

Platte County rolled up 214 1/2 points to finish atop the standings in a 15-team field. Spring Hill came in second at 135 1/2. The Pirates were 6-1 in championship matches with Humphreys (100), Sims (115), Ciccarelli (120), Mattie Blankenship (135), Ava Blankenship (140) and Fernandez (235) all winning the double-elimination straight brackets.

Golden came in second at 110, while Friddell (105) and Newberry came back from early losses to place third.

Friddell dropped a quarterfinal then won four straight — all by fall — Newberry’s defeat happened in the opening round before also recording four straight pins. Friddell avenged her loss to Blue Valley Northwest’s Olivia Barlows in the third-place match.