Platte County reverses result from dual loss a year earlier against Oak Park

Caden Hulett doesn’t dwell on the past but also knows his own history.

Platte County’s season-opener Wednesday at Pirate Fieldhouse offered Hulett the first chance to make his senior season positively different. He used the opportunity to avenge a loss from last season, rolling to a major decision victory over Oak Park’s Jake Calder in the 120-pound match of a dual. The Pirates also reversed the result of last year’s loss in this series.

Despite being minus a pair of returning state qualifiers, Platte County dominated start to finish in a 61-17 victory.

“I think we were very prepared mentally after last year, that we weren’t going to just walk over them. We had to come out and compete,” Platte County coach Reggie Burress said.

A year earlier, Oak Park sprung some upsets against a youthful and inexperienced lineup.

This time around, Platte County accepted four forfeits and gave away two then only lost one of the eight contested matches. Hulett’s rematch with Falder came at a potentially critical juncture after Pirates senior Quinn Lightle (285) and star freshman Jaxson Shute (106) opened with second-period pins.

With Oak Park open at 113, Platte County sophomore Gabriel Wittel accepted a forfeit to make the lead 18-0.

Falder came out on top in last year’s matchup to help spring Oak Park’s upset, but in the rematch between frequent offseason practice partners, Hulett scored an early takedown and then racked up five near-fall points in the first period. Falder ended up with a reversal to start the second but did not score again and lost 10-2.

“I have actually drilled with this guy a lot over the summer, so we kind of know each other,” Hulett said. “That’s why it was tight but eventually came out on top — got to what I wanted to work on. It was a good kind of revenge match, I guess. … I know who I am; I know he is, and I know what I’m supposed to go out and do and that’s what I did today.”

“(Hulett) dominated that match,” Burress added. “He stayed with his game plan, didn’t go out of his game plan which made a big difference. Heck, I thought he was gonna pin him a couple of times so that was a great win to start the season out.”

Platte County then accepted forfeits at 126 and 132 for sophomores Liam Franksen and Grant Fadler to essentially end the dual.

Oak Park trailed 34-0 at that point and still had a forfeit to give Pirates senior and 2022 state champion Jake Fernandez at 215. The Northmen were unable to take advantage of the absences of junior Darrell Smith (165, knee) and sophomore Cole Johnson (175, leg) — two of six returning state qualifiers expected to be in the lineup this year.

Both suffered offseason injuries and could be out until the 2024 portion of the schedule.

Oak Park’s lone win came at 138 with Anthony Cherco’s 18-1 technical fall over sophomore Jackson Woolsey. The Pirates quickly rebounded when freshman Jack Johnson shot in off the whistle for a quick takedown in the 144 match then scored a fall in 1 minute for an impressive career debut that pushed the lead out to 40-5.

“There was no nerves there, and that’s great to get the shot and get the fall to get his season going in the right direction, too,” Burress said.

From there, Platte County returning state qualifiers Evan Maccuish and Shane Leary only continued the momentum.

Maccuish needed until the closing seconds to score the winning escape in a 1-0 victory after holding Oak Park’s Adrian Aguirre down for the entire 2 minutes of the second period in the 150 match. Leary recorded a takedown in the first period of the 157 match, also recorded a 2-minute rideout in the second period and reveresed Elijah Redmond to his back and recorded a pin in 5:12.

With Smith and Cole Johnson both out, Platte County senior Kevin Taylor slotted into the 165 match and dominated Cameron Broeker start to finish. Taylor led 7-0 when Broeker ended up turned to his back and pinned 50 seconds into the second period.

Taylor received a lot of varsity looks as a junior and showed the benefits of experience in making the initial starting lineup for a second year in a row.

“We have depth in a couple different areas,” Burress said. “That was a great win (for Taylor). The experience always pays off. If you practice hard and compete against your teammates, you’ll be ready when you have an opportunity.”

Platte County did not have a 175 to fill Johnson’s spot, and sophomore Cooper Hammontree missed making weight by .02 of a pound at 190 to give Oak Park the final 12 points. Fernandez took the final forfeit to close out the scoring.

Unlike a year ago, Platte County boasts a lot of returning experience even without being at full strength and with a pair of freshmen in the lineup — a number that could have been three if not for a torn ACL Chase Hulett suffered in football that will cost him his entire wrestling season. The Pirates have big goals and will expect big contributions from Fernandez, a three-time qualifier for the Class 3 MSHSAA Wrestling Championships and two-time medalist (third, 2023)), and Caden Hulett, who has yet to medal in three trips to state that have concluded otherwise highly successful seasons.

“A lot of wins but not any state medals to show for it, and that’s really disappointing to me with all the work I’ve put in,” Hulett said. “I know what I necessarily have put in the work to go out and get. I don’t deserve anything, but it’s all mentality and going out and taking what I want. That’s the mentality I’ve got to come with this season.”

Council Bluffs Wrestling Classic

Fernandez (215), Shute (106) and Maccuish (150) all medaled over the weekend in one of the region’s toughest two-day tournaments, held Friday and Saturday at Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Platte County finished 23rd out of 43 teams with six wrestlers who advanced out of pools to the championship bracket. Fernandez led the way, going unbeaten in four matches Friday and then advancing to the semifinals at 215. His first five wins were by pin before winning a 7-2 decision over Pierce Cunningham of St. Thomas Aquinas (Kansas).

Fernandez’s lone loss came by 6-3 decision to Dreshaun Ross, a nationally ranked sophomore and defending state champion from Fort Dodge (Iowa). Fernandez came back to win the third-place match in tiebreakers — a 5-4 decision over Tony Palmer of South Sioux City (Iowa).

Ross went on to win the 215 title.

Like Fernandez, Shute also lost only once, but the freshman’s run in his tournament debut ended in difficult fashion in the 106 quarterfinals. The official gave a defensive pin to Mathysin Marco of Lincoln East (Nebraska). Marco led 3-1 at the time of the fall and went on to place third.

Shute recovered with three straight consolation wins, one by fall, to finish fifth.

Maccuish finished second in his 150 pool at 3-1 and then lost his bracket opener. He went 3-1 on the consolation side, grinding out decision wins of 7-5 and 4-2 before a third loss sent him to the seventh-place match, which he won 4-3 over Atticus Dick of Blair (Nebraska).

In addition to the three medalists, Caden Hulett (113), Leary (157) and Jack Johnson (144) also reached the championship bracket but missed the medal matches.

Caden Hulett lost his final pool match to eventual tournament runnerup Dru Ayala of Fort Dodge (Kansas) then drew eventual champion Kieran Meink of Millard South (Nebraska) in the opening round of the championship bracket. He then entered the consolation side and went 3-1 with a loss in the consolation second round led to the ninth-place showing.

In the ninth-place match, Caden Hulett recorded the only takedown in a 3-2 decision victory over Jaymeson VanderVelde of CB Abraham Lincoln (Iowa).

After finishing second in pool, Leary dropped his first two matches in the championship bracket but won his final two to place 13th. Jack Johnson went 3-1 in pool but lost all four of his bracket matches, the final won by forfeit after suffering an injury.

Lightle won the consolation championship at 285, while Wittel ended up third in the silver bracket at 113.