Thom Hanrahan
Special to the Citizen
In Missouri high school wresting, Liberty remains king of the hill for a while longer.
When the state’s two top-ranked teams clashed on Thursday, Jan. 9, No. 2 Park Hill just couldn’t get past a deep Blue Jays lineup in a 54-15 loss at the Liberty Fieldhouse.
“We came here to see these guys,” Park Hill coach Jacob Beck said. “They’re the best team in the state and we wanted to see where we were matching up with them.
“For the second semester, we are looking to see some of the toughest teams we can see and I think we matched up well in some spots and there’s obviously still work to do.”
The Trojans found themselves behind right out of the gate.
The draw had the two teams starting with the 220-pound weight class and Park Hill had that spot open to hand Liberty a forfeit and a 6-0 lead before any action got underway.
When the Blue Jays Nick Biesenmeyer pinned Trojans junior Logan Lassiter seconds before time expired in the second period of their 285-pound bout, Liberty had a 12-0 lead and didn’t look back.
Park Hill junior Cael Keck came right back at 106 to earn a win by fall over Liberty’s Mason Younghans and cut the lead in half, but it was a short-lived celebration.
At 113, Liberty sophomore Easton Hilton earned a 7-1 decision over Trojans sophomore Ryker Smith.
Then, at 120, two of Missouri’s best were set to face each other in the first of several matchups of ranked opponents.
Park Hill sophomore Ryker Smith was no match for Blue Jays senior Jeremiah Reno, who kept his high school record perfect with a win by fall at the 5 minute, 32 second mark.
Liberty rattled off two more wins for a 30-6 lead before Park Hill could get back on the scoreboard.
At 138, the Trojans got a decision when senior Trey Crawford bested Kage Lenger 7-5 in another of the dual’s marquee matchups.
Crawford held the lead for much of the match but an early third-period Lenger escape knotted the contest at 5-5.
Knowing his team needed points, Crawford found an opening for a late takedown and held on for the win.
It was the first of three straight decisions that went the Trojans’ way and pulled Park Hill within striking distance at 30-15.
Unfortunately for Beck’s squad, the points from sophomore Kal Miller (5-1 over Logan Rathgen) and junior Grayson DiBlasi (2-0 over Jacob Lynn) were the last they scored on the night.
“It’s exciting wrestling,” Beck said. “We need to be more offensive and we kind of got it taken to us in spots, but there are going to be some close matches no matter what.
“I think we are better than we showed today than we showed in some spots and I think they are better. “
Park Hill likely would have made a better showing, but a number of key pieces were missing from the lineup.
The Trojans went without state runners-up Ethan Miller and Ashton Sharp and Liberty was absent defending state champion Greyden Penner.