Park Hill was one of only two Missouri team competing in the Shawnee Mission North Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 26 in Shawnee, Kan.
The Trojans were third overall with 194 ½ points, coming in behind Maize (232 ½) and Washburn Rural (211). Both of those are ranked in the Kansas Wrestling Coaches Association poll with Maize checking at No. 3 in Class 5A and Washburn Rural is No. 2 in Class 6A.
Park Hill was without four starters: Kal Miller, Devin Winston, Blake Hopson and Tyson Moore.
The team finished with four champions —Ethen Miller, Trey Crawford, Trey Safford and Ashton Sharp — out of six finalists.
Ethen Miller (126) went 3-0, winning his quarterfinal and semifinal by pins and then winning by a 17-2 technical fall against Maize’s Cael Moses in the finals.
Crawford (132) had little trouble in his quarterfinals, winning 21-6 against Turner’s Byron Kirkwood. Crawford’s next two matches were one-point wins, getting a 1-0 decision against Class 6 No. 3-ranked Dallas Koelzer of Olathe South and then a 4-3 win against Class 5 No. 1-ranked Aidan Campbell of Maize in the finals.
Safford (138) posted a 6-5 win against No. 6-ranked Cayden Hughbanks of Maize in the finals. Prior to that, Safford posted a 21-5 win against Bobby Thomas of Olathe South and a win in 38 seconds against Hank Hagan of Lansing in the quarterfinals.
Sharp posted three wins to take the title at 220. Ranked No. 4 in Class 4, Sharp bested Greg Lamorie of St. Joseph Central’s by a pin in the semifinals. In the finals, Sharp won by a 15-9 decision against Olathe South’s Alec Younggren.
Ryker Smith (113) won his first three matches, but lost in the finals to Maize’s Junior Camacho, ranked No. 3, by a 5-0 decision. Smith beat Blue Valley Southwest’s Tanner Barrett in the quarterfinals (pin) and Gardner-Edgerton’s Collin Smith in the semifinals.
Simon Tesfamarian (285) went 2-1 for the Trojans. He beat No. 6-ranked Zach Vesper of Olathe South by a 3-1 decision in the quarterfinal. In the semifinals, Tesfamarian won 6-1 against Joseph Castle of Turner. In the finals, No. 4-ranked Jake Quiggle of Maize won by a 3-1 decision in overtime.
Four other Trojans were in the third-place match, going 1-3 in those matches.
Antonio Pacheco was the lone win in the third-place match for Park Hill, besting Riverside’s Austin Geeting by a pin in 2:33. Pacheco went 3-1, his lone setback a loss by a 4-2 decision to Bowan Murray of Washburn Rural.
Cael Keck (106) lost his final match by an 8-1 decision to Keton Patterson of Maize. Keck lost in the semifinals to Lansing’s Camden Maestas by a 3-1 decision, but won his next match by a 13-0 major decision against Jess Barrett of Blue Valley Southwest.
Grayston DiBlasi (145) went 4-2 and both losses came to Washburn Rural’s Austin Fager, ranked No. 2 in Class 6A. The final showdown came in the third-place match, while losing to him in the quarterfinals as well.
Chris Bizzle (220) was the other fourth-place finisher for Park Hill. After a quarterfinal loss to Turner’s Cameron Bates, ranked No. 2 in 195 in Class 5A, Bizzle won two matches in a row, decisions against Maize’s Brett Jesseph and Olathe South’s Jake Braden. In the third-place match, Bizzle lost by pin against Salvador Aleman of J.C. Harmon.