MSHSAA state wrestling championship begins today
Mar. 9—The MSHSAA state wrestling championship has arrived.
The weeklong event begins Tuesday at Cable Dahmer Arena in Independence, with the girls tournament kicking off this morning. The boys tournaments will take place in the coming days, with Class 1 teams competing on Wednesday, Class 2 teams on Thursday, Class 3 teams on Friday and Class 4 teams on Saturday.
The same time schedule will be used for each day. General admission gates will open at 8:30 a.m. before first-round matches begin at 9:30 a.m. Wrestling rounds will run continuously throughout the day. Third- and fifth-place matches are slated to begin at approximately 4:45 p.m. with finals matches to follow at 6:30.
The venue of the state wrestling tournament has been moved to Cable Dahmer Arena because of complications created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Masks or face coverings will be required at all times for tournament staff, arena staff, coaches, wrestlers, school personnel and spectators while inside the arena. The only exceptions are wrestlers and officials who are actively participating in live matches or engaged in physical exertion in the designated warm-up area.
Attendance restrictions will also be enforced in the event's effort to comply with the local/county health department and venue use requirements. All participating schools have received access to eight digital tickets per qualifier as well as one complimentary ticket for a school administrator. Schools had all control of the allocations of the tickets through a presale period that ended on Feb. 25 for the girls tournament and March 4 for the boys tournaments.
Five area schools will be represented in the girls state tournament today. Cassville has four qualifiers in Annie Moore (112-pound weight class), Kailey Artherton (122), Hailey Roark (132) and Faith James (137), while Diamond has one qualifier in Josey Crisp (112), Monett one qualifier in Abigail Jastal (107), Nevada one qualifier in Claire Pritchett (235) and Seneca one qualifier in Isabella Renfro (174).
Moore, Jastal and Renfro are top-seeded wrestlers in their respective brackets.
On Wednesday, Diamond will have three wrestlers competing in the Class 1 boys tournament. Landon Clement (182) enters as a 1-seed, while Ty Douglas (195) and Tyler May (220) have a 3- and 2-seed, respectively.
Seneca will have eight wrestlers competing in the Class 2 tournament on Thursday. Brady Roark (106), Kendon Pollard (126) and Zane Cotten (195) are each top-seeded wrestlers in their brackets. Other qualifiers for the Indians include Brayden Thiel (120), Andrew Manley (132), Clayton Swadley (145), Gabriel Commons (170) and Dane Napier (182).
Top-seeded wrestlers Elias Barrientos (152), Ethan Umfleet (182) and Harrison Merriman (285) headline the group of state qualifiers for Monett, which will have six wrestlers competing in the Class 2 tournament in total.
Nevada has a pair of state qualifiers in brothers Kynndrick Brooks (106) and Braylin Brooks (113), and Cassville has one qualifier in Zach Coenen (220).
Neosho, seeking a 10th team state championship in 12 seasons, has eight qualified for Friday's Class 3 tournament. Four of the Wildcats' qualifiers are top seeds: three-time state champion Cayden Auch (160), defending state champion Jeremiah Larson (195), Raymond Hembree (106) and Hayden Crane (132).
Carl Junction and Webb City both have a pair of state qualifiers, with top-seeded Jesse Cassatt (182) and Lukas Walker (106) competing for the Bulldogs and Roger Carranco (182) and Jacob Ott (195) competing for the Cardinals.
McDonald County has four qualifiers heading into the Class 3 tournament, including top-seeded Blaine Ortiz (113), Levi Smith (132), Sam Murphy (220) and Jayce Hitt (285).
Class 4 Joplin will be represented by Sam Melton (106) and Josiah Vaughn (132) on the final day of the event on Saturday. Carthage will also be in the mix with six qualifiers in top-seeded Davion King (145), top-seeded Luke Gall (182), Bradyn Tate (113), Pagan Sappington (132), Eli Sneed (138) and Braxdon Tate (152).
