Shute earns 3rd state medal, sends Burress out with win in his final match as Platte County coach

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Reggie Burress learned a long time ago that guarantees don’t exist in the sport of wrestling.

In a final season filled with expected and unanticipated adversity, Platte County’s legendary head coach didn’t have the luxury of enjoying a storybook farewell. However, he did help the Pirates make another notable transition in what undoubtedly becomes the end of an era but with plenty of reason to believe the success continues thanks to the foundation he helped set.

Platte County junior Jaxson Shute sent Burress out with one final win, earning a third straight 1-0 decision to finish third at 138 pounds in the Class 4 MSHSAA Wrestling Championships this past weekend at Mizzou Arena. He coached from a chair next to longtime assistant Joe King, overwhelmingly expected to become the Pirates’ next head coach.

Importantly, Platte County’s first postseason in Missouri’s largest classification resulted in a single state medal, the 31st straight year with at least one for the program.

“I definitely don’t regret anything. It’s been great,” Burress said while finally showing a few emotions after coaching his final match after 29 years at Platte County — the past 13 as head coach. “I think it’s starting to sink in a little bit more. I’ve been fortunate enough to coach great kids and have great families and great community support. It’s all been a blessing for me.”

Entering this season on the heels of a fourth-place finish and the 16 state trophy in program history last season in Class 3, Platte County envisioned a push for a state title.

Instead, Platte County ended up as the smallest public school in Class 4 when postseason assignments were announced. Injuries and absence kept eight returning state qualifiers from being in the lineup at the same time until last weekend when the Pirates finished an encouraging fourth in Class 4 District 4.

Platte County sent six total to state, but Shute — a two-time returning state finalist and 2025 champion at 120 pounds — suffered a loss in the quarterfinals, while senior Cole Johnson’s final tournament ended after 1 minute, 51 seconds after a being run into the exposed pushed-in seating off the mat. On-site medical staff determined the four-time state qualifier and returning Class 3 finalist at 215 showed signs of a potential head injury, forcing him to medically forfeit out of the bracket.

Outside of Shute, Platte County seniors Grant Fadler (150) — another four-time qualifier — and Cooper Hammontree (190) won a match each, while juniors Jack Johnson (165) and Chase Hulett (144) went 0-2. Of the group, only Hulett didn’t have prior state experience, and he finished third at districts after not wrestling as a freshman and sophomore due to torn ACLs suffered each of the past two years during football season.

Even Shute’s run to a state medal came with visible and unseen challenges from a shoulder injury that will require offseason surgery.

“To rebound back like that? Obviously, he’s going in for surgery on Friday and that shoulder was just kind of hanging there,” Burress said. “He had to adapt and wrestle a little differently and find a way.”

Shute (24-3) stayed on track to become the 13th four-time state medalist in Platte County’s decorated history after finishing as Class 3 runnerup at 106 pounds as a freshman before winning the 50th individual state championship in program history last season. The District 4 champion at 138, he advanced to the quarterfinals after pinning Seckman sophomore Jacob Vanderiet (36-15) in 1 minute, 4 seconds.

However, Shute gave up the first takedown in what ended up a 7-3 decision loss to Neosho junior Kelton Shaffer (37-11) in the quarterfinals that ended hopes of another state finals berth.

Shute came back to win his first wrestleback match on Friday by a 4-2 decision over Eureka senior Connor Stephans (40-9) and then three more Saturday to take a difficult route to third place. The clutch performances continued a trend going back to his state semifinal win over Farmington’s Aiden Hahn — the eventual Class 4 champion at 138 this season — in the 106 semifinals in 2024 and then consecutive dramatic decisions over DeSoto’s Brenton Drummond, Carl Junction’s Carter Fogelsong and Hannibal’s Austin Brown in the memorable run to last year’s state title.

“(Class 4) is definitely a better atmosphere,” Burress said. “You’re not going to have an easy match at all. I didn’t have an easy match all tournament. I lost to someone I probably shouldn’t have in the quarters, but I got mentally tough, fought back and took third.”

After the injury to Cole Johnson, Platte County faced difficult odds to end up with multiple state medals.

Fadler’s chances took a big hit with an 11-3 major decision loss to Nixa sophomore Peyton Chainey (36-16) in Friday’s opening round before rebounding to earn an important 10-4 decision over Ladue junior Darron Bell (33-6) in a unique rematch between the two in the first round of wrestlebacks. Fadler held a late lead against Bell in a Class 3 144 match last season but ended up pinned late and didn’t win a match in his third state tournament.

In a repeat of his finishes as a freshman and sophomore, Fadler (31-12) went 1-2 at state this season, bowing out with a loss to Hickman junior Shane Oswald in Friday’s final round. Fadler did record a takedown after falling behind 12-2 but gambled from the neutral position early in the third period with Oswald taking advantage to record a pin in 3:13.

“He’s a hard worker and always found a way at districts to get it done, even this year when it was a deep bracket,” Burress said of Fadler. “I just appreciate all his hard work and leadership.”

A three-year contributor, Hammontree achieved the same results at state as a junior at 190 and at the same weight this season in his final tournament. He earned a 12-6 decision over Jackson senior Jordan Sostillio (28-11) in the first round, but Hickman junior Beau Waldron (40-4) — the eventual state runnerup pinned him in just 19 seconds in the quarterfinals.

Hammontree (28-11), who made a strong late season push and placed third at District 4, ended up throw to his back twice in a second round wrestleback match with Kickapoo freshman Owen Benson, who pinned him early in the second period.

“I’ll take that any time,” Burress said of Hammontree developing into a two-time state qualifier who won a match in both trips. “At the beginning of the year, he was having some results that were not what he wanted. He started listening and focusing in and good things happened.”

Shortly before Hammontree finished off his victory over Sostillio, Cole Johnson suffered the injury that forced a premature and anguishing end to an accomplished career. He went a combined 1-4 in trips to state at 175 as a freshman and sophomore but broke through last season to reach the state final in Class 3 at 215 pounds before a loss to St. Pius X’s Jackson Rotterman.

Cole Johnson started this season later than most, first out of action after helping lead Platte County to a second straight state championship in football but remaining out longer than the normal transition period between sports due to a shoulder injury. He debuted in January but then missed multiple weeks due to a concussion suffered in the Blue Valley West Dual Tournament when Lee’s Summit North senior Barrett Lawless dropped him on his head into an exposed area of gym floor off the mat.

Able to return last week, Cole Johnson (6-3) finished second in District 4 and held hopes of another push for a state medal. His opening round match sat scoreless late in the first period when Nixa junior Weston Weldon (33-10) drove him hard off the mat and into the pushed-in floor seats at Mizzou Arena.

Cole Johnson hit back first with his head appearing to make contact with the unforgiving structure. During a lengthy stoppage, he couldn’t pass testing from medical personnel, who ordered the match stopped. He shook hands with Weldon and walked off the mat for the final time, clearly emotional knowing that he would then medically forfeit out of the tournament.

“That was rough,” Burress said. “I pretty much knew that was it. His story wasn’t supposed to end that way, but the good thing is he can go write another story in his life. He’s gonna go to school and get his engineering degree and write his own story after this.”

Having already lost in the first round at 165, Jack Johnson (28-11) — Cole’s younger brother — saw his tournament end a short while later after an 11-7 loss to CBC junior Mason Todd (33-17), who built a six-point lead with four near-fall points late in the second period. Jack Johnson scored a takedown and came close to a turn in the third but ended up allowing an escape with 31 seconds left for the final scoring in the match.

Jack Johnson went 0-2 at state as a freshman at 144 then nearly medaled at 165 last season despite going into Class 3 District 4 with just one match — a forfeit taken in a dual to achieve a weigh in while recovering from a shoulder injury. He finished third then went 2-2 at state before undergoing surgery in the offseason.

A No. 1 seed last weekend at Class 4 District 4, Jack Johnson finished fourth and then lost to Neosho junior and eventual fourth-place medalist Lincoln Howard (45-6) in the opening round of the 165 bracket.

“At Class 3, kids still wrestle and play football, play baseball and do multiple things,” Burress said. “At Class 4, these are mostly wrestlers year-round. That’s not Jack because he’s a competitor in everything he does.”

In the cap of an inspiring comeback story, Hulett nearly earned a win in the first round of wrestle backs at 144. He lost his opener to Fort Zumwalt North junior and eventual fourth-place medalist Patrick Provost (41-10), who recorded a pin in 47 seconds.

Hulett (31-12) led Lafayette (Wildwood) junior Matthew Wilson (32-18) 6-5 in the next match thanks to a pair of takedowns in the second period. Wilson escaped with 1:11 left in regulation time to close within one and then recorded a takedown and the pin in the closing seconds.

“Chase had a good tournament. Just getting him down here and getting experience, hopefully, next year, he can keep building,” Burress said.

After the losses for Fadler and Hammontree on Friday night, Platte County sent only Shute into Saturday’s action, but he still needed one more win just to guarantee a spot on the podium.

Shute came up with three straight by way of an escape with Hickman junior Brady McMurtry (34-9), Ozark sophomore Colton Wilson (33-4) and Fort Osage senior Antonio Martinez (49-7) all avoiding the opportunity to wrestle Shute on the mat for the most part.

“I just gotta be gritty with it, just gotta not give up,” Shute said of the consecutive 1-0 decisions Saturday afternoon.

The match with McMurtry went scoreless into the third, and Shute chose bottom and escaped after just 6 seconds for what ended up the winning point. That guaranteed a medal.

Wilson took the same strategy but granted an escape to start the third and then couldn’t score.

In the third-place match, Shute earned a second straight 1-0 win over Martinez, repeating the scenario from last weekend’s District 4 championship match. Martinez chose bottom in the second and could not escape a strong ride from Shute.

Martinez granted Shute an escape to start the third period with neither wrestler scoring again. Shute picked up a stall warning in each of the final three one-point wins but never picked up a penalty point despite some nervy moments.

Not lost in the circumstances, Shute knew the significance and unspoken stakes of the third-place match.

“Last match, I was like if I lose this I’m going to feel real bad so I just kind of held on and won,” Shute said.

Let the record show, Shute’s victory over Martinez came with Burress in Platte County’s coaching corner for the final time. The first time in the chair likely came at the Park Hill Duals in the 1997 season. He went on to coach 48 of the 51 state champions in program history — the first Tyler Fadler, father of Grant Fadler — and another 104 individual medalists.

Platte County went into this season with intentionally and deservedly high expectations, but Burress never shied away from the increasingly difficult circumstances.

Assigned to Class 4 for the first time, Platte County then saw nearly half of the expected lineup out until late December due to the late end for football season. Cole Johnson and fellow senior Quinn Lightle (ankle) then missed extended periods due to injury, while Shute suffered a torn labrum during the KC Stampede in the match after an initial loss to Martinez that set the stage for their district and state matchups.

Despite the lack of high school matches entering the season, Hulett became an essential fixture in the lineup, while Fadler’s leadership helped change the direction of a turbulent season after a dual loss to Fort Osage in January.

“Man, with the adversity we faced this year, I’m really happy to get one guy to place (at state), especially moving up to Class 4,” Burress said. “Losing Cole there early in the tournament when I thought he had a chance to make some noise on the backside, yeah, I couldn’t be more proud of the effort these kids have given all year, especially with as many different lineups as we’ve had this year.”

With the lineup finally at full strength, Platte County’s returning state qualifiers keyed the strong district showing. Liberty finished first in those team standings and went on to win a seventh straight Class 4 state title, while St. Pius X went from District 4 runnerup to third place in its first season at the Class 4 level after winning state titles in Class 2 (2024) and Class 3 (2025) in the previous two seasons.

Lightle (285) and sophomore Hank Marriott (157) were among Platte County’s returning state qualifiers who also played football and didn’t up finishing top four at districts. Neither did sophomore Cade Crawford, a fifth-place state medalist in Class 3 at 106 as a freshman, after missing a repeat berth by just one win.

The initial expectations might have been higher, but Platte County became one of just three known programs to have a state medalist in all four classes since the state expanded from three for the 2002-2003 season. St. Pius X also joined the list Saturday with Grain Valley being the lone team to accomplish the feat prior to this season.

Burress oversaw all of the progressions from small-school powerhouse to a state of belonging at the state’s highest levels.

Platte County might not stay at the Class 4 level next season, but a return seems inevitable. For now, the program can start a new age minus the only constant from three decades of sustained excellence.

As the official raised Shute’s hand, Platte County’s sizable crowed at Mizzou Arena stood and applauded with a group of current and former wrestlers plus team managers holding up small signs spelling out, “Thank you Reggie.” He modestly gave a wave and walked back to the tunnel for the final time — no regrets.

“Twenty-nine years coaching here, I’ve got to see a lot of things,” Burress said. “I just appreciate all the chances I’ve had here. I try to stay humble and not put the spotlight on me, you know that, over the years. It’s about the kids, and I’d like for it to continue to be about the kids. But you know, I appreciate the fans giving me a goodbye and making it very special for me.

“We all had to start somewhere and build our own success, and it’ll happen. I look for great things from everyone next year with the coaching staff that’ll be there, and I’ll be their No. 1 fan.”