Still not sure if or when a full expected lineup might be available, Platte County continues to use the opportunity to grow the roster — fill the expected and unexpected holes to improve for this season and beyond.
Platte County junior Jack Johnson smiles while taking a forfeit in a dual with Kearney on Wednesday at Kearney High School.
Both teams were down multiple starters in Kearney’s 45-29 victory over Platte County in Wednesday’s nonconference dual at Kearney High School. The Pirates were without five expected starters, including four returning state qualifiers, in the loss and didn’t recover from a rough start in the matchup of traditional but currently former Class 3 District 4 rivals.
Platte County’s run to a second straight state title in football continued to have lingering effects with seniors Cole Johnson (215 pounds) and Quinn Lightle (285 pounds) still out with lingering injuries. In addition, junior Jaxson Shute (138 pounds) — a two-time state finalist and Class 3 state champion last season — has not wrestled since a shoulder injury suffered at KC Stampede prior to Christmas.
Those were somewhat expected absences, but sophomore Cade Crawford (113 pounds) and senior Gabe Wittel (120 pounds) were both out this week due to a bout of the flu.
Platte County went open at 113 with Crawford, a fifth-place state medalist as a freshman at 106, and lost the first five matches. Kearney went ahead 27-0 with victories from standout freshman Tyler Bell (pin at 106) and returning state qualifiers Brayden Robinson (120), Landon Westfall (126) and Phoenix Shelton (132).
Platte County freshman Caleb Winkler wrestles in the 120-pound match of a dual with Kearney on Wednesday at Kearney High School.
At 120, Platte County freshman Caleb Winkler hung strong and ended up with a 15-1 loss by major decision to Robinson at 120, while sophomore Ian Giese also avoided maximum points in an 18-0 loss to Shelton at 132. The Pirates then jumped on the board after freshman Kaiden Byng ground out a 14-7 decision over Oliver Lee at 138.
Down 27-3 at that point, Platte County won two of the next three matches, as well. Chase Hulett, a junior who missed each of the past two seasons due to a torn ACL, continued a strong debut with a first-period fall at 144, and senior Grant Fadler needed just 55 seconds to pin Logan Shaffer at 157. Fadler, junior Jack Johnson, sophomore Hank Marriott and senior Cooper Hammontree all recently returned after some time off following the football season.
Kearney picked up key wens at 150 and 165. Kendahl Davis scored a pin against Platte County freshman Brady McDaniel, making his varsity debut and the third for the Pirates to wrestle at that weight, and Kale Davis pinned Marriott to increase the Bulldogs’ lead to 39-15.
Jack Johnson took a forfeit at 175, and Hammontree used a pair of escapes to finish out a 2-1 decision victory in tiebreakers at 190. Regulation and the 1-minute sudden victory overtime period both ended with the score tied 1-1, and he held Kearney’s Cohen Dray down for 30 seconds in the first half of tiebreakers. The second escape and a scoreless finish to the final 25 seconds were enough in the matchup of returning state qualifiers.
Platte County freshman Kaiden Byng wrestles in the 138-pound match of a dual with Kearney on Wednesday at Kearney High School.
Platte County couldn’t win at that point, down 39-24, but freshman Phin McMain added a 22-3 technical fall at 215 pounds against Kearney’s Will Gaut, filling in for junior two-time state champion Carter Temple. The Bulldogs then finished with a pin at 285 from junior JD Romero.
McMain continued to show well as an undersized 215 filling in for Cole Johnson, a three-time state qualifier and runnerup at 215 last season who recently returned to practice. Jack Johnson qualified as a freshman and sophomore, despite missing most of last year with a shoulder injury, and Lightle beat Romero last year on the way to earning his first Class 3 state berth.
Cole Johnson and Lightle are the only two expected starters still yet to wrestle
Platte County welcomed back Fadler, Marriott, Jack Johnson and Hammontree the previous weekend in a trip to Carthage’s North vs. South Duals that provided an important glimpse to what lies ahead this postseason. The Pirates went 1-4 overall with Shute, Cole Johnson and Lightle all out and still easing in the other football players.
Platte County junior Chase Hulett wrestles in the 144-pound match of a dual with Kearney on Wednesday at Kearney High School.
The in came against Cartahge (64-14), while the losses were to Neosho (56-21), Nixa (47-27), Ozark (56-18) and Willard (37-35).
Carthage, Neosho, Nix and Ozark are all Class 4 teams with Platte County moving up to that level for the first time this season, while Willard actually drops back down. Platte County, Willard and Neosho were former Class 3 rivals, but Platte County became the smallest Class 4 team in this year’s assignments to create a much more difficult postseason path.
Crawford (113) and Hulett (144) both went 4-1 overall while Wittel (120), Jack Johnson (175) and Hammontree (190) all earned three wins apiece. Jack Johnson wrestled only three of the five matches and went 3-0, while Marriott posted a 2-2 record at 165 while sitting in the Ozark dual.
The Kearney dual then ended up being the lone tuneup for this past weekend’s Cheesehead Invitational in Kaukauna, Wisconsin.
Platte County finished 44th out of 46 teams in a tournament that brings top competition from multiple states. The Pirates were still without Crawford, Wittel, Shute, Cole Johnson and Lightle with Fadler (20th at 157) and Jack Johnson (15th at 175) accounting for the majority of 25 points.
Fadler went 4-3 overall but closed with back-to-back losses, while Jack Johnson went 2-5 overall but made the championship bracket (top 16 wrestlers).
