Four Wrestle In State Tourney
The McDonald County High School wrestling team went .500 at the Missouri Class 3 State Wrestling Championships.
The McDonald County High School wrestling team went .500 at the Missouri Class 3 State Wrestling Championships held on March 12 at Cable Dahmer Arena in Independence.
The Mustangs were represented by four wrestlers at the state championships and two of those brought home a state medal.
“This year’s state tournament was a lot different than what we have experienced in the past, becoming a one-day tournament instead of three with the location being moved to Independence from Columbia,” said coach Josh Factor. “Despite all the changes and challenges our wrestlers faced this season, we had a great finish. We came into this season without a single returning state medalist or even a returning state qualifier, which is something we hadn’t experienced since 2011. Not only did we qualify four wrestlers to the state tournament, but we managed to bring home two medalists.”
Leading the way was sophomore Blaine Ortiz, who advanced to the championship match before dropping a 12-0 decision to Alexander Rallo, a sophomore from the state champion Whitfield Warriors.
Rallo took control of the match early, with a takedown and three back points for a 5-0 lead after the first period. He stretched the lead to 7-0 with a reversal in the second period before adding five more points in the third on a takedown and three back points.
Ortiz advanced to the championship match with a thrilling 4-3 win over Gavin Alexander of
Hillsboro, who won the 106-pound state championship last year.
Each wrestler had an escape and takedown, including Alexander’s takedown early in the third period to tie the match at 3-3. The Hillsboro sophomore elected to try to ride out the final minute and half on top in order to not give Ortiz the go-ahead escape point.
But after several restarts when the wrestlers had gone out-of-bounds, Alexander was called for his third caution of the match, giving Ortiz a penalty point for a 4-3 lead.
With only 20 seconds left in the match after the penalty point was assessed, Alexander elected to start from the neutral position in order to try for a tying takedown, giving Ortiz a 5-3 lead. The McDonald County sophomore held off Alexander’s furious attempts for a takedown to win the match and advance to the championship match.
After receiving a bye in the opening round, thanks to his sectional championship, Ortiz claimed a 5-2 win over Rylan Mansfield of Fort Osage in the quarterfinals.
Ortiz used a pair of first-period takedowns to take a 4-1 lead heading into the second period. Mansfield escaped to start the period for the only point in the second period.
Mansfield rode Ortiz for the first minute of the final period before cutting his opponent in hopes of a big throw to finish, but Ortiz held off all attempts for the win.
“Our top performance had to be Blaine Ortiz who wrestled a great state tournament,” Factor said. “Blaine had a solid win in the quarterfinals match before getting a big win in the semifinals match over Gavin Alexander, a returning state champion at 106 pounds. We knew that Blaine was going to have a tough match in the finals being matched up against Rallo, who had won last year’s state championship in Class 1 at 106 pounds. Rallo was a leg-riding machine as he showed in the finals match. Even though Blaine was not happy with the outcome of his finals match, our coaching staff could not have been more pleased with the effort he gave in this year’s season. Finishing as a state runner-up as a sophomore isn’t too shabby for his first trip to the state tournament. Blaine’s leadership and passion for the sport of wrestling is one of a kind.”
Ortiz finished his sophomore season with a 35-4 record.
Sam Murphy
“Our coaching staff is excited about our four state qualifiers and the representation they brought to this year’s state tournament. This is just the start of what the future holds for our wrestling program and maybe what helps us get more students to become part of this great sport.” Josh Factor MCHS Wrestling Coach
home the Mustangs’ other medal, taking fourth place after he dropped a 10-2 decision to Drayton Hutchteman of Bolivar in the third-place match at 220-pounds.
Hutchteman took command early in the match when he threw the McDonald County freshman to his back and held on for fivecount to take a 5-0 lead.
Hutchteman stretched the lead to 9-0 by the third period before Murphy took the Bolivar wrestler to the mat. Hutchteman was able to escape after being taken down to make the final score 10-2.
In his opening round match, Murphy recorded a pair of third-period takedowns to claim a 5-1 decision over Zach Olson of Kearney.
Neither wrestler scored in the first period before Murphy took a 1-0 lead with an escape to start the second. In the third, Olson matched Murphy’s escape but, over the final minute and a half of the period, Murphy took down the Kearney wrestler twice to win going away.
In the quarterfinals, Murphy received a final-second stalling point to key his 2-1 win over Isaac Foeller of DeSoto.
The match was completed without either wrestler scoring a takedown. Murphy scored an escape point in the second period, while Foeller got his to open the third.
But after receiving a warning for stalling earlier in the match, Foeller was called for the penalty point with about five seconds left in the match.
Murphy had pushed the DeSoto all around the mat for most of the match, earning the warning against Foeller early and eventually the stalling point to win.
In the semifinals, neither wrestler could score a takedown, but Keith Miley of Whitfield managed a third-period escape after riding Murphy the entire second period to claim a 1-0 win.
Murphy tried time-aftertime to take Miley to the mat after he fell behind, but could not get his undefeated opponent to the mat. Miley was warned for stalling with 22-seconds left but was able to finish the match without getting issued a penalty point for a second stalling call.
“Another great performance came from freshman Samuel Murphy,” Factor said. “Samuel had some great wins early on in the tournament. In the semifinals, he lost by a single point to the eventual state champion. As excited as we were about Murphy reaching the semifinals, it’s tough to see one point being the difference in him reaching the state finals match. Samuel showed a lot of what he has to offer to our high school wrestling program after a solid freshman performance in this year’s season.
Murphy finishes his first season at MCHS with a 38-8 record.
Levi Smith, after finishing second at 132-pounds at sectionals, lost both of his matches in his first trip to state.
In his opening match, Smith got the first takedown, but Smithville’s JT O’Rourke answered with a reversal and then got the first of his several back points during the match on the way to a 17-10 win to knock Smith in the consolation bracket.
In the consolation bracket, Smith was trailing 3-1 in the first period when he was pinned by Camden Pye of Rockwood Summit.
The McDonald County sophomore finished the season with a 26-8 record.
Jayce Hitt lost his opening match when the 285-pound freshman was pinned by Jack Roweton of Bolivar.
Hitt’s attempt for a takedown in the first period came up short and allowed Roweton to counter and take Hitt to his back for the pin.
Hitt faced Clayton Barber in the first round of the consolation bracket where he dropped a 1-0 decision and was eliminated.
The match’s only point came when Barber earned an escape point in the second period.
Hitt finished his freshman campaign with a 19-10 record.
“Our other two state qualifiers, sophomore Levi Smith and freshman Jayce Hitt, both gained valuable experience after competing in their first state tournament,” Factor said. “Our coaching staff is excited about our four state qualifiers and the representation they brought to this year’s state tournament. This is just the start of what the future holds for our wrestling program and maybe what helps us get more students to become part of this great sport.”