MCHS Sees Four Wrestlers Head to State Championships
Led by sectional champion Blaine Ortiz, the McDonald County High School wrestling team will send four wrestlers to the Missouri Class 3 State Wrestling Championships set for March 12 at Cable Dahmer Arena in Independence.
Ortiz, a 113-pound sophomore, improved to 34-2 overall for the season with his three wins in the sectional tournament, including a third-period pin of Quentin Long of Lebanon.
He will be joined at state by teammates Levi Smith, Jayce Hitt and Samuel Murphy.
Smith, 132-pound sophomore, and Hitt, 285-pound freshman, guaranteed their state berths with semifinal wins only to settle for second place with losses in the finals. Murphy, a 220-pound freshman, had the toughest road to a qualifying finish, beating Jacob Fry of Neosho in the do-or-die third-place match.
“It has been a very challenging season with the changes to our post-season due to the pandemic,” said coach Josh Factor. “We are used to finishing the state tournament by the third week of February, so extending our season to the second week of March is tough enough on our athletes. To make matters worse, we add in a sectional qualifier to our already competitive district and go from advancing four qualifiers from each district per weight class to only three qualifiers out of each sectional per weight class to the state tournament. Despite the adversity our wrestlers faced, we managed to dig down and make it happen. It will be very interesting to see the outcome of our team’s performance at this year’s state tournament. I am not sure what we can expect in this year’s state tournament where all matches will take place in a single day. There will be a lot of emotions going into that day. We are just excited to have four wrestlers that will be representing our school in this opportunity.”
Ortiz had little trouble winning
his sectional title, winning all three of his matches by pin.
“Blaine Ortiz had a flawless tournament,” Factor said. “He managed to widen the gap by pinning Quentin Long after beating him by a 5-1 decision back in December. This was a great win because it also secured Blaine a first-round berth at this year’s state tournament under the new bracket format. Blaine’s only two losses on the season come from Class 4 opponents. We are excited to see where he will finish this year as he gets to experience his first high school state tournament.”
Smith won both of his first two matches by pin, including a semifinal win over Cole Patton of Lebanon to assure his trip to state. In the finals, Smith took an early 2-0 lead over Hayden Crane of Neosho, only to get pinned late in the first period.
“Levi had a solid day, despite a tough loss in his sectional finals match,” Factor said. “Perhaps, Levi’s most impressive win came in the semifinals where he pinned a returning state placer to punch his ticket to state. This was a match we had been preparing for all week
and it was nice to see Levi get the win. As for his finals match, this was the third time this season being matched up against Crane and all three times have ended with a loss by pin when Levi has been ahead in the match. Levi has had a great season so far and it’s great to see him finally get a chance to compete at the state tournament.”
Murphy dropped a 2-1 overtime decision to eventual champion Dalton Kanengeiter of Marshfield in the semifinals, forcing the freshman to win two matches in the consolation bracket or be eliminated.
In his first match in the consolation bracket, Murphy pinned Brennan Carey of Carl Junction early in the second round, setting up a duel for the final qualifying spot with Jacob Fry of Neosho, who claimed a 2-1 win over Murphy on Feb. 12 for the district title.
Neither wrestler could record a take-down in regulation, with the only points coming on escapes by both wrestlers. In the first 30-second overtime period, neither wrestler
scored. Fry won the toss to start the second overtime and chose down. The Neosho senior earned an escape point, forcing Murphy to do at least the same in the next period. Fry held tight for most of the 30 seconds before Murphy seemed about to escape, but Fry ran off the mat first but was called for stalling to tie the match.
Murphy, by scoring first during regulation, had the choice of starting position in the final overtime. He chose down and was able to escape to earn the win.
“Samuel showed a lot of heart at the sectional tournament,” Factor said. “Most freshmen struggle when it comes to competing in a weight class that is loaded with mature seniors who have either placed or qualified to the state tournament. After suffering a loss in a semifinals match-up against a returning state placer, Samuel could have easily had the attitude that he was ready for his season to be over, but that wasn’t the case. He went on in an ultimate tie-breaker overtime 3-2 decision win with an escape over a rival from Neosho.”
Hitt won his opening match by pin, then earned a trip to state with a 4-2 win in the semifinals over Eli Steffen of Marshfield. In the championship match, Dakota Davis improved to 57-1 with a 7-3 decision.
“Jayce has been on fire this postseason including winning a district championship as a freshman,” Factor said. “Jayce’s significant win had to be the 4-2 decision win over a senior and returning state qualifier in the semifinals. The kid had pinned Jayce both at the dual earlier in the season and at the Big 8 Conference Tournament back in January. Jayce getting to the state tournament as a freshman is almost unheard of in the 285-pound weight class. He just continues to improve every time he steps on the mat.”
Factor said he is looking forward to the state tournament, especially with four wrestlers competing in the championships.
“This should be a fun state tournament this year and I’m excited to see how our guys finish when it’s all said and done,” Factor said.
Also competing at sectionals for the Mustangs were Victor Lopez, 0-2, 106; Cross Spencer, 0-2, 138; and Alexis Molina-Cruz, 0-2, 160.