Reenforced lineup helps Platte County hang close in dual with postseason rival

Platte County waited longer than anticipated to receive a more complete look at this year’s lineup.

Kearney held on late for a 38-31 victory in a competitive and spirited nonconference dual Thursday night at Pirate Fieldhouse. The Pirates hung close with senior Darrell Smith (165 pounds) and juniors Cole Johnson (215 pounds) and Quinn Lightle (275 pounds) making victorious but delayed season debuts, thanks to the football team’s run to the Class 5 state championship that concluded in early December.

Platte County coaches held out most of the players transitioning seasons until after the holiday break, and inclement weather forced the likely cancelation of a dual scheduled for Tuesday against Smithville. The Pirates filled all but one weight class against Kearney and won six of the 13 matches.

“Finally, everyone’s in the room, putting in the work,” Johnson said. “We all just came together. It was a lot of fun.”

Up until Thursday, Platte County went without half of the wrestlers with prior Class 3 MSHSAA Wrestling Championships experience. The group includes Smith and Johnson — a pair of two-time state qualifiers.

That made the matchup of geographic and Class 3 District 4 rivals even more intriguing than usual.

Kearney and Platte County finished back-to-back (fourth and fifth) near the top of the final Class 3 state standings a year ago, but neither team went into the dual at full strength. However, there were 10 total returning qualifiers split evenly between the two teams.

Platte County senior Evan Maccuish (157 pounds), Smith, Johnson and Lightle nearly maximized team points in three matches during the first half of the dual to give the Pirates a chance to win.

“They definitely gave us a shot,” Burress said. “It’s good to have those football guys back, just to give us more looks and practice partners. We need them.”

Starting at 150 pounds, Kearney took an early 6-0 lead when senior Blaine Turpin recorded a fall in just 50 seconds against freshman Taylor Doyle, receiving extra time as a starter while the lineup continues to sort out.

Platte County came right back with a pair of critical victories from Maccuish and Smith. Serving as a leader in a breakout start to his senior season, Maccuish continued to show patience and composure in a battle of state qualifiers with sophomore Kale Davis, who scored the opening takedown and eventually held a 12-7 lead in the second period.

Maccuish led 5-4 after the first period and added a reversal to start the second, but Davis took the big lead after an escape, takedown and four near-fall points. Just 30 seconds into the third period, Maccuish had scored his second takedown and recorded a pin on the edge of the mat.

Smith, who missed the start of his junior season due to injury but eventually made an inspired run to a fifth-place state medal at 165, looked his explosive self early in the matchup with sophomore Cohen Dray. Smith recorded the first two takedowns and led 10-1 near the end of the first period before predictable fatigue set in for much of the match.

Dray eventually trailed 16-5 but ended up pinned in 4:38. Smith finished the fall in his final chance and would have otherwise ended up with just five team points and a technical fall on points had Dray been able to survive the second stint on his back.

“(Smith) kept battling,” Burress said. “He could’ve just shut it down and just try to stall it out, but he didn’t. He fought and got the fall for us when he knew we needed it. He’s pretty dynamic when he needs to be.”

Down 12-6 after three matches, Kearney took the lead back with pins for senior Eli Helberg (175 pounds) and sophomore defending state champion Carter Temple in the 190-pound match against Platte County junior Cooper Hammontree, another football player and returning starter wrestling his first match of the season in the upper weights.

Johnson took the mat in the dual’s most pivotal moment against Kearney sophomore JD Romero in another matchup of returning state qualifiers.

A two-time qualifier moving up two weight classes to 215, Johnson never trailed after an early seven-point move. He did give up a takedown midway through the second but responded with a reversal and then a pair of two-point near-fall moves to increase the lead to 16-5.

In the third, Romero, who went 1-2 at state at 215 as a freshman, went to his back again and gave up the final four points in Johnson’s 20-5 victory by technical fall.

“(The first takedown) changed the complete momentum,” Johnson said. “I was quite surprise (by the score). I didn’t look at the clock as much as I normally do … yes, quite surprising. I like to keep it a little close but keep it a little exciting.”

Platte County led for the final time when Lightle, a two-year starter still seeking his first state berth, pinned junior Thaine Blumer in the second period. The Pirates were up 23-18 at that point but won only two more matches.

At 106, Platte County freshman Cade Crawford lost a 9-0 major decision to sophomore Brayden Robinson, and the final lead change came when Kearney freshman Oliver Lee pinned fellow freshman Lennon Fitzpatrick to put the Bulldogs up 28-23. The final match featuring returning state qualifiers also went to the Pirates when Jaxson Shute held on for a 4-2 victory over Phoenix Shelton in a familiar matchup between the sophomores.

Both wrestled at 106 a year ago, and Shute, who finished as a state runnerup as a freshman, remains unbeaten against Shelton in high school. Shute scored an early takedown for the majority of points in the 4-2 decision with the match’s final three points coming from an escape for each wrestler plus a penalty point awarded to Shelton in the third period after a second stalling call against Shute.

Without bonus points, Platte County remained down 28-26 and couldn’t swing the outcome despite strong showings in featured bouts.

“This is exactly what we want,” Johnson said. “We want to come out here, wrestle our best. You’re right; it’s not the outcome we wanted, but we’ve just got to get back in the room and keep working.”

Kearney mathematically sealed the dual with back-to-back technical falls for sophomore Landon Westfall (132) and junior Caden Underwood (138).

In the losses, Platte County freshman Ian Giese (132) wrestled varsity for the first time and avoided a pin in four different stints on his back to save team points, while Woolsey scored a tying takedown before giving up the next 15 points in an 18-3 loss. The Pirates needed a win in at least one of those to make the final match decisive.

“Those (little) things could benefit us at some point,” Burress said.

Platte County junior Grant Fadler, another two-time state qualifier and the only football player to wrestle prior to the holiday break, closed the night with a 17-2 technical fall in the 144 match. The Pirates didn’t have anyone to weigh in at 126, while Kearney senior three-time state finalist and two-time state champion Ryder Shelton sat out, leading to a double forfeit and no team points.

In addition to the football transition, Platte County continues to deal with significant injuries, at least one of which was long known to be season-ending. The Pirates’ options were limited freshman Hank Marriott (126), junior Liam Franksen (132) and sophomore Jack Johnson.

Platte County went into the season with sophomore Chase Hulett set to miss a second straight season — both due to a torn left ACL suffered during football. Jack Johnson’s status for the rest of the season remains to be determined after he went 0-2 at state in the 144-pound bracket last year as a freshman.

Maccuish has wrestled at 150 this season, and Johnson likely could slot in at 175, but the current availability allowed more opportunities for Giese, Doyle and senior Zach Olson (175), among others.

“I can’t complain the way they’re competing through the injuries,” Burress said. “Great efforts by a lot of people.”

Dick Burns Mat Classic

Platte County finished second out of nine teams in Saturday’s tournament in Bonner Springs, Kansas, behind individual titles for Shute (120), Maccuish (157) and Lightle (285). The Pirates totaled 182 1/2 points with eight medalists.

There were only two Missouri teams in the field, and Paola (Kansas) won the team title with 256 points.

Maccuish won the first tournament of his career with a tidy run through the 157 bracket. H opened with a pin in 55 seconds, advanced to the finals with a 16-1 technical fall against Paola’s Brody Latto and then captured the title with a 10-2 major decision against Bonner Springs junior Lane Vogel.

At 285, Lightle remained undefeated in four matches this season and became another first-time tournament champion. He secured a pin in the first round but won decisions in the semifinals and finals. After topping Gardner-Edgerton (Kansas) sophomore Landon Sweat 8-4, Lightle came p with a 4-1 decision over Shawnee Mission Northwest (Kansas) junior Steven Brown with a takedown in the 1-minute sudden-victory overtime period of the championship bout.

Shute ended up wrestling four matches in a five-man round robin at 120. He won all by technical fall with none lasting past the second period and the longest going just 3:17.

Platte County put six total in the finals with Crawford (106), Fadler (144) and Smith (165) all placing second, while Cole Johnson finished third at 215 and Hammmontree fourth at 190.

Continuing a strong start to a freshman season, Crawford’s only loss came to Paola freshman Sawyer Blue, ranked No. 4 in the Kansas Wrestling Coaches Association’s most recent Class 4A rankings. Blue pinned him in the first period.

Paola’s Hagen Blanck, also ranked No. 4 in Class 4A, pinned Fadler in the second period of the 144 final after a reversal. Fadler used a 4-0 decision over Gardner-Edgerton sophomore Kase Hammers in the semifinals to reach the championship bout.

Smith scored the initial takedown in the 165 final against Shawnee Mission Northwest junior Traimyre Woodruff, who led 9-4 after the first period. He scored the only takedown of the second and pinned Smith in 2:57.

Cole Johnson won three straight after losing in the first round of the 215 bracket to Lee’s Summit North junior Barrett Lawless, who went on to win the tournament. A pair of pins put Johnson in the third-place match, which he won in a 7-4 decision over Ottawa (Kansas) senior Seth Ferguson.

In the closing seconds, Johnson erased a 4-1 deficit with a reversal and four near-fall points to beat Ferguson, who entered the tournament undefeated and with the top seed but lost to Lawless in the semifinals.

Hammontree also lost to the eventual Dick Burns champion at 190. Gardner-Edgerton senior Ty Hammers pinned him in 1:03 before he reached the third-place match with two pins.

Paola’s Maxwell Worden pinned Hammontree in 0:37 to reach the podium.

Marriott returned to the lineup for the first time since the Council Bluffs Classic in mid-December but finished seventh at 126 pounds. Giese (132), Woolsey (138) and senior Isaiah Seymour (150) all placed fifth.

Another member of the football team transitioning back, Seymour also made his season debut as a potential first-year starter in that part of the lineup.