KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The challenging start to the season definitively paid dividends for Charley Sims in one of the most competitive tournaments in the Midwest.
Platte County senior Charley Sims wrestles in a 115-pound match during the KC Stampede Tournament on Thursday at Hale Arena in Kansas City, Missouri.
Platte County’s star senior rolled together four straight dominant victories and eventually placed second at 115 pounds in the KC Stampede at Hale Arena. She guaranteed a medal with a quarterfinal win Thursday evening and then punched her ticket to the finals Friday morning with a pin of Hillsboro freshman Elaine Hoth.
North Kansas City senior Anh Ngo won the championship bout with a 7-1 decision over Sims, who had placed fourth (Jay Border Wars) and eighth (Council Bluffs Classic) in the first two tournaments of the season.
“I’m just glad I had a good first day and a good semifinal, and I didn’t get pinned or anything,” Sims said. “I just have to keep improving.”
Sims’ run to the final led Platte County, which finished with 57 points in a tie for 35th out 67 teams in the final standings. The Pirates struggled in the opening rounds of the double-elimination tournament, and freshmen Ariel Humphreys (100) and Mattie Blankenship (135) both battled back to the round of 12 and missed the medal stand by just one win each.
Platte County freshman Mattie Blankenship wrestles in a 135-pound match during the KC Stampede Tournament on Thursday at Hale Arena in Kansas City, Missouri.
Sims became Platte County’s first Stampede finalist since KayLyn Munn in 2021.
Entering with the No. 4 seed, Sims opened with a bye and then recorded pins in her first two matches against Yukon (Oklahoma) senior Abbigail O’Kelly and Gardner-Edgerton (Kansas) junior Sage Peterson. A 9-1 major decision over Westmoore (Oklahoma) junior Mikalea Pinley pushed Sims into the semifinals and ensured she could finish no worse than eighth.
Sims and Hoth were tied 4-4 after the second period of the semifinal matchup.
Hoth entered unseeded as a freshman but pinned eighth-seeded Northwest (Cedar Hill) senior Cherry Hassler in the quarterfinals. Sims opened the third period with an escape and then took Hoth down and quickly turned her to her back and scored the fall at 4 minutes, 36 seconds.
Sims and Ngo faced off for the first time since the 2024 Class 2 District 4 tournament. Ngo won that matchup to advance to state, while ending Sims’ sophomore season.
Platte County freshman Ariel Humphreys prepares for a 100-pound match during the KC Stampede Tournament on Thursday at Hale Arena in Kansas City, Missouri.
Both wrestlers medaled at the Class 2 MSHSAA Wrestling Championships last season — Ngo fourth at 110, Sims sixth at 115. In this meeting, Ngo scored the first takedown after just 11 seconds and added a second in late in the second period to open an early 6-0 lead.
Despite the outcome, Sims received a beneficial look at a potential postseason opponent.
“Getting a feel of what’s going to happen and what to expect as we get to districts and state, what I need to improve,” Sims said.
Platte County filled 11 weight classes, but only Sims won an opening match. Mattie Blankenship and sophomore Ava Blankenship (140), the Pirates’ only other returning state qualifier, both held early leads in their second-round matches after byes but ended up pinned in the second period.
Mattie Blankenship came back with three straight pins and then led McDonald County junior Anjelika Alarcon early in the sixth consolation round. Alarcon eventually ended up with the pin in the second period.
The two losses for Mattie Blankenship came to the fifth- and seventh-place medalists.
Platte County sophomore Harper Golden wrestles in a 110-pound match during the KC Stampede Tournament on Thursday at Hale Arena in Kansas City, Missouri.
Humphreys nearly medaled for a second straight week despite a loss in the second round of the 100 bracket. Sand Springs (Oklahoma) sophomore Hannah Stephenson — the No. 5 seed — pinned her in 29 seconds.
Dropped to the backside of the bracket, Humphreys recorded two pins and then a 19-10 major decision over Lebanon senior Lacey Malonson and then a 4-3 decision over Garden City (Kansas) freshman Liyanna Bencomo to move within sight of a medal.
Randall (Oklahoma) freshman Lillian McHam pinned Humphreys early in the second period and went on to beat Stephenson in the 100 third-place match.
Without no pool preliminaries, wrestlers with two early losses were moved to “hard luck” brackets to increase matches available.
Platte County sophomore Harper Golden won her final three matches after an 0-2 start to finish first in the 110A consolation, while senior Nicole Fernandez (235) was a runnerup. The Pirates also saw seniors Karrington Friddell (105) and Gabriella Ciccarelli (120) and sophomore Katelyn Newberry (125) take third in hard luck brackets, while Ava Blankenship was fourth at 140.
In particular, Newberry — a first-year wrestler — avenged a prior loss to Kearney freshman Madison Van Meter from the first dual of the season. The rematch ended with Newberry scoring the decisive takedown in a 10-7 decision during the 1-minute sudden victory period of overtime.
“You go 0-2, and you’re a little defeated,” Sims said. “But a lot of the girls bounced back and had really great matches that were fun to watch and fun to see the improvement from practice and the tournaments and now here.”
