Platte County’s second signing ceremony of the school year featured another four football players, a Division I signees for rowing and band, and increased representation for those pursuing activities and fine arts at the next level.
In total, 12 seniors joined together with family, friends and coaches Wednesday at Pirate Fieldhouse to celebrate collegiate choices. Below is an outline of each of the honorees, presented in alphabetical order.
Mar’Ques Brown, Baker University, football
Brown started the majority of the past two seasons at defensive tackle as part of a deep and talented rotation up front. He enjoyed his best statistical season as a junior, recording 17 tackles (five for loss) with a sack. His senior year finished with 20 total tackles.
Platte County’s seniors started their careers mostly on the peripheral of the 2019 and 2020 runs to the Class 4 and Class 5 Show-Me Bowls resulting in back-to-back state runnerup finishes. They were part of 13 wins the past two seasons as schedule difficulty ratcheted up in wake of those historic seasons.
After losing the first two games of this past season to Class 4 powerhouses Kearney and Smithville by a combined 10 points, Platte County ended up with an uneven 5-6 record, failed to reach a district title game for the first time since 2014 and posted the program’s first losing record since 2013.
All five teams Platte County lost to this season — Smithville, Kearney, Grain Valley, Oak Park and Park Hill South — made district championships game appearances. Additionally, Raytown, which the Pirates beat 31-26 in Week 6 to start a 4-1 stretch that allowed them to reach .500, played Grain Valley in the Class 5 District 7 title game.
In addition to football, Brown wrestled at 285 pounds the past three years. He went 9-13 this past season, earning first team All-Suburban White Conference Division honors at that weight, and accrued a career record of 29-65.
Tyler Erickson, Highland (Kansas) Community College, Baseball
Erickson developed into one of the top relief pitchers for Platte County the past two seasons and played a key role in last year’s run to the Class 5 state championship. He recorded a team-high five saves as a junior, appearing in 13 games (20 1/3 innings) with a 1.72 ERA and 13 strikeouts to 12 walks.
Platte County went 27-8 last spring and completed a swift two-year rebuild following the cancelation of the 2020 season due to COVID-19. The Pirates slowly pieced out the eventual final lineup, winning 17 out of 19 in the closing stretch after going into 2021 with virtually no experience and enjoying a successful but disappointing season that ended in the Class 5 District 8 semifinals. Many of this year’s seniors saw their first varsity action last year while ending up with a share of the Suburban Conference Blue Division title, the program’s first playoff berth since 2017, the second state semifinals appearance and first state title since 2002.
Lacey Franksen, Missouri Western, Dance
Franksen participated in a diverse set of activities at Platte County, notably her involvement with the Treasures Dance Team. She also earned four letters in band and color guard and served as captain. The Platte County color guard finished third in Missouri’s state competition in 2022.
Additionally, Franksen twice served as a Thespian officer and currently is head of props for the theatre department. As a junior, she won the Commandee Award for KC Cappies, was nominated for a Blue Star and has participated in speech and debate in One-Act Play and Readers Theatre.
Brody Gates, Culver-Stockton, football
Gates overcame a pair of injuries this past season and started mostly at guard when healthy during Platte County’s season that ended in the Class 5 District 8 semifinals. He also started multiple games as a junior and ended up a key part of a deep rotation each of the past two years.
Platte County averaged 26.7 points per game and amassed 3,611 yards of total offense in 11 games. The Pirates’ other signees for football in the winter included defensive end Chandavian Bradley (Tennessee), running back Nate Walls (Washburn) and wide receiver Carter Salzman (Arkansas State).
Madison Hoyt, Kansas State, Rowing
A standout in volleyball, Hoyt found her next athletic pursuit in rowing, a sport known for recruiting and developing tall athletes into a very specialized sport.
Hoyt started at middle blocker this past season and helped Platte County to a 27-10 record, finishing with a third-place finish in the Class 4 Missouri State Volleyball Championships. The Pirates have finished third in state two of the past three seasons while bumping up in 2022 and falling in the Class 5 District 8 title game.
Platte County has won at least 25 matches four of the past five seasons.
At 6-foot, Hoyt led Platte County in blocks with 104, including a team-high 12 solo, and ranked fifth in kills (127) with a .281 hit percentage that ranked second only to junior Tatianna Murray for the Pirates. She played sparingly as a junior with 27 kills and 11 blocks before becoming a key cog as a senior.
In addition, Hoyt competes in track and field, mostly in triple jump and high jump.
Joseph Ibarra, Maple Woods (Missouri) Community College, Soccer
A four-year letterwinner, Ibarra was one of the final holdovers from the best season in Platte County history when the Pirates finished as state runnerup in Class 3. He appeared in the state title game as a reserve,
Ibarra served as a key backup midfielder as a sophomore and then started the majority of the past two seasons. This year, he transitioned to defender. He earned second team All-Class 3 District 8 and All-Suburban Conference White Division honors as a junior and made the second team All-Suburban Conference Blue Division as a senior.
Platte County went 17-5 this past all and went unbeaten in White Division play (8-0) to take the conference championship before losing in the Class 3 District 8 semifinals on a penalty kick in golden goal overtime for host Pembroke Hill.
Hannah Mand, Park University, Track and Field
A relay specialist in recent seasons, Mand ran the opening leg on Platte County’s 4×200 team that qualified for the Class 5 Missouri State Track and Field Championships by virtue of a fourth-place finish in Class 5 Sectional 4. This marked the Pirates first-ever relay to qualify for state in Class 5. She also ran on the sectional-qualifying 4×100 team that a year earlier set a school record while advancing to state in Class 4.
Mand earned all-conference honors for Platte County as a junior on the 4×100, 4×200 and 4×400 plus the 200. This year, she is running on all three relays and notably as the anchor on a strong 4×100.
In addition, Mand served as a pinch-runner in softball for the 2020 and 2021 seasons when Platte County placed third in state in Class 3 twice. She also earned all-conference honors in wrestling as a junior and senior before placing fourth at 125 pounds in Class 2 District 4 this winter to advance to the Missouri State Wrestling Championships.
Mand went 1-2 at state.
Peyton Nickell, Graceland, Wrestling
Nickell received spot duty as a junior before starting and finishing his senior season as a starter at 150 pounds. He went 2-2 in the Class 3 District 4 tournament and missed a berth in the Missouri State Wrestling Championships by just one match.
In football, Nickell played as a reserve linebacker each of the past two seasons and recorded three tackles both as a junior and a senior for the Pirates.
Braden Parker, Ottawa, Football
Parker also played a key role in the offensive rotation the past two seasons. As a junior, he opened as a starting left guard and eventually finished the year as the starting center on a team that lost in the Class 5 District 8 title game to Fort Osage.
Shifting back out to guard this past season, Parker also saw time at tackle in certain instances.
Brooklyn Saale, Missouri Western, Dance
A four-year letterwinner and captain as a senior for the Treasures Dance Team, Saale was part of two hip-hop routine state championships plus a fourth-place in pom. The Treasures also had a fourth-place hip-hop finish and a third-place overall showing in state competitions.
Saale was academic all-state and also placed first in her solo at Dance Out Nationals where the Treasures finished 12th.
Dom Spears, Central Missouri, Football
A wide receiver with an intriguing blend of inexperience and athleticism, Spears flashed signs of his potential this past season as a regular starter on the outside for senior quarterback Dylan Zimmerman. Spears ranked third on the team with 27 receptions but second in yards with 502. He also caught four touchdown passes.
Spears only played the last two seasons and received a brief look for an injury-ravaged unit as a junior but managed only two catches for 10 yards. He earned a much-larger role as a senior, turning in career-highs of five receptions in a Week 3 win over North Kansas City and 98 yards in a Week 8 win over Belton. He caught a touchdown in each of those games.
Abigail Wittel, Kansas State, Band
Wittel earned first chair All-District honors all four years for playing the bassoon, a double reed woodwind instrument. She has been a part of numerous award-winning groups and ensembles for the Pirates’ accomplished fine arts program and is a member of the Tri-M Music Honors Society.
In addition, Wittel has competed in archery and Future Business Leaders of America, named three-time most outstanding member in the latter. She placed second at FBLA state as a junior in Electronic Career Portfolio in addition to a district title in Business Ethics.
