If Isaiah Seymour wrestled the final match of his career, Platte County’s selfless senior went out giving every bit of effort available until the final second.
Platte County senior Darrell Smith records a takedown in the 165-pound match of a dual with Truman on Thursday at Pirate Fieldhouse.
Seymour came away with a well-earned decision victory in the 150-pound match of Thursday’s regular season finale, which resulted in a 58-15 dual win over Truman. The deciding point came on a stalling call to break a tie late in the third period, and Seymour held down Caden Deeney for the remainder of the match. The Pirates took the lead back after three matches and never trailed again.
Receiving limited opportunities as Platte County filled spots in the middle weights throughout the season, Seymour might not make the Class 3 District 4 lineup made significant contributions to help the Pirates earn a second straight unbeaten Suburban Conference White Division title, which wrapped up with the dominant result against Truman.
“He’s going to do whatever he’s asked to do and do it to the best of his ability. That’s what we love about him,” Platte County coach Reggie Burress said.
Platte County went behind just once and dominated as expected while still not at full strength — an impossibility the entire season due to a combination of injuries, illness and limited availability due to the football team’s run to an undefeated Class 5 state title. The Pirates benefitted from four forfeits and only lost three matches.
Platte County sophomore Jaxson Shute locks up a cradle in the 120-pound match of a dual with Truman on Thursday at Pirate Fieldhouse.
Now, the focus shifts to the postseason with Platte County facing one of the toughest district fields in the state next weekend in Belton. The Pirates enter off of a fifth-place finish and just missing a team trophy in last year’s Class 3 MSHSAA Wrestling Championships but have a challenge just to earn enough spots to make the same type of push this year.
Platte County went into the season with six returning state qualifiers, but only five have wrestled so far this season with just four in the lineup against Truman.
“The goal is to get as many state qualifiers as we can, and after that, we’re going to step to our next goal — placing, getting as many qualifiers on the podium (at state as possible),” said Platte County senior Darrell Smith, a two-time state qualifier and fifth-place finisher in Class 3 at 165 pounds a year ago.
Platte County took control after Seymour’s win with senior Evan Maccuish, another of four two-time state qualifiers on the roster, collecting the 100th win of his career by forfeit at 157 pounds. That put the Pirates up 12-5, and Smith followed with a dominant 19-3 technical fall against Truman’s Gabriel Soliz.
Platte County junior Quinn Lightle wrestles in the 285-pound match of a dual with Truman on Thursday at Pirate Fieldhouse.
By the start of the next match, Platte County led 35-5 thanks to forfeits for senior Zach Olson (175) and juniors Cooper Hammontree (190) and two-time state qualifier Cole Johnson (215). The Pirates mathematically locked up the dual and the outright conference title when junior Quinn Lightle pinned Noah Talato in the 285 match.
Lightle recently missed a week with swelling in his abdomen.
“We’re glad to have him back,” Burress said. “When he’s out, it doesn’t just hurt Quinn. It also hurts Cole because he’s not practicing with him. We need those guys.”
Platte County freshman Cade Crawford continued the run with a pin in the first period at 106, locking up Cameron Pritchett in a cradle and recording the fall in just 42 seconds. Jaxson Shute, a sophomore and state runnerup at 106 as a freshman, added a 17-1 technical fall with all the points accrued in 1:27 against Tyler Lindle at 120, and freshman Hank Marriott added another pin at 126.
Truman’s Emilio Recarte recorded the first takedown against Marriott for an early 3-0 lead. Marriott reversed him to his back in the first period and then recorded the fall after a takedown in the second. The victory improved his record to 15-14.
Platte County freshman Hank Marriott wrestles in the 126-pound match of a dual with Truman on Thursday at Pirate Fieldhouse.
“Hank’s figuring out what he’s good at,” Burress said. “He found a way out of it, got back on top, and he was fine.”
Platte County junior Liam Franksen returned from a long stint out of the lineup with a wrist injury but dropped a 16-7 major decision in the dual’s final match. However, the Pirates were without junior Grant Fadler, the fourth two-time state qualifier on the roster who can now use the long layoff to rest up an injured ankle.
Fadler’s absence created a bit of intrigue to the early proceedings.
Starting at 138, Platte County took a 3-0 lead after a gutsy decision victory for junior Jackson Woolsey, who trailed 3-0 in the first, 4-2 in the second and 11-5 in the third. Truman’s Kylan Bolin recorded a takedown and four near-fall points to open up the last advantage but couldn’t record the pin.
Woolsey fought off his back and recorded an escape then added his second takedown of the match to close within 11-9. He gave Bolin an escape and then tied the score on another three-point takedown late in regulation then recorded a 15-12 decision with another takedown in the 1-minute sudden-victory overtime period.
Platte County junior Jackson Woolsey records the winning takedown in overtime of the 138-pound match in a dual with Truman on Thursday at Pirate Fieldhouse.
“Battles back and keeps fighting. That’s what I like,” Burress said. “He found a way to get back into the match and get to overtime.”
With Fadler out, Platte County freshman Gabe Mitchell stepped into the lineup at 144 and lost by technical fall. Truman led 5-3 at that point with Seymour coming to the mat. He gave up the first takedown but chose the neutral position to start the second period and tied the score at 3-3 with a takedown.
From there, Seymour held Deeney down for the remainder of that period and all of the third. He picked up back-to-back stall warnings late in the match with Seymour working for but unable to turn him to his back. However, Deeney didn’t show enough effort to improve his position while stuck on bottom, leading to the penalty point on the second call that gave Seymour a 4-3 decision victory.
A part of the football team, Seymour has seen action between 150 and 165 to help fill spots while Maccuish and Smith have been up and down at different weights. Additional opportunities have also opened up with sophomore Jack Johnson yet to wrestle this season due a to a broken collarbone suffered during football season but undiagnosed until after the state title game in early December.
Platte County freshman Cade Crawford wrestles in the 106-pound match of a dual with Truman on Thursday at Pirate Fieldhouse.
“If he doesn’t get in the postseason lineup, Seymour’s done a great job of getitng a lot of matches and wrestling as hard as he can in every one,” Burress said.
Maccuish and Smith expect to slot back at 150 and 157 for the postseason, and Seymour could be a part of a wrestleoff for the 165 spot.
Of the football players in the lineup, only Fadler saw action before the holiday break with Smith, Hammontree, Johnson and Lightle all at under 30 matches. Fadler leads the group with 36, while Hammontree has 27.
In reality, Platte County never had a shot at a full lineup with sophomore Chase Hulett missing a second straight season — both due to a torn left ACL suffered in football. The Pirates have been able to deepen the roster with Seymour, Olson (175), senior Brock Myers (157), junior Peter Tremain (215), sophomores Justice Martin (165) and Waylon Moppin (144) and freshmen Lennon Fitzpatrick (113), Ian Giese (132), Max Shuey (190) and Taylor Doyle (150) among those to see time in the varsity lineup to make up for various absences.
Of that group, only Olson has a lock on a spot in the postseason lineup.
Platte County freshman Lennon Fitzpatrick wrestles in the 113-pound match of a dual with Truman on Thursday at Pirate Fieldhouse.
“Our guys are getting into good shape, and I think they’re going to do just fine,” Burress said.
Class 3 District 4 contains four of the top five teams according to Missouri Wrestling’s limited rankings this season. That includes newcomers St. Pius X and St. Michael the Archangel plus Kearney and Platte County.
St. Pius X moves up from Class 1 after a 2024 state title and owns the top spot in the rankings, while St. Michael finished as runnerup in Class 2 last season. Both were pushed up due to the private school success multiplier, which also puts traditional power Whitfield in Class 3.
A year ago, Kearney won the Class 3 District 4 team title with Helias second and Platte County in third. Helias, fifth-place Capital City and Warrensburg all shifted to District 3, while William Chrisman moved up to Class 4. In addition to St. Pius X and St. Michael, Marshall and Northeast were the newcomers to the District 4 field this year.
“It’s going to be really hard,” Smith said. “We’re going to be in practice, getting ready, amping it up a little more, pushing the pace a little more than we used to do. We’re just going to motivate each other.”
