Michael Smith
The Joe Crouthers Invitational didn’t have any of the top 10 teams from Missouri in it, so that opened the door for any team to win the tournament.
Twelve teams competed Saturday at North Kansas City High School, but Riverside, a team from Iowa, won with 210 points. Blue Springs South was second at 182.5 points and Staley’s junior varsity team was third with 158.
The Jaguars had four wrestlers take first place in their respective weight classes and two others who finished in the top three.
Wrestler Interviews:
- Interview: Raytown’s David Ayala (113): Joe Crouthers Invitational
- Interview: Blue Springs South’s Cale Martin (106): Joe Crouthers Invitational
- Interview: Ruskin’s Jose Navarro (126): Joe Crouthers Invitational
- Interview: Staley’s Chase Anderson (120): Joe Crouthers Invitational
- Interview: Raytown South’s Norman Schneider (132): Joe Crouthers Invitational
- Interview: Blue Springs South’s Cy Wilmes (144): Joe Crouthers Invitational
- Interview: Truman’s Caden Deeney (138): Joe Crouthers Invitational
- Interview: Staley’s Julian Bravard (150): Joe Crouthers Invitational
- Interview: Ruskin’s Logan Taylor (165): Joe Crouthers Invitational
- Interview: North Kansas City’s Justin Patek (175): Joe Crouthers Invitational
Up-and-coming freshman Cy Wilmes (144 pounds) had an impressive showing. He had four pins and a win by a 15-0 tech fall to make it to the championship match against Riverside’s Jaxon Gordon. In that bout, he didn’t give up a single point as he earned a 10-0 major decision in the title bout to earn his first individual tournament championship of the season.
“You could tell that guy was bigger, so I just had to work on top and stay safe,” Wilmes said of his match with Gordon. “I was just trying to get points when I can.
“I used a lot of my armbars to get some tilts.”
Junior Cale Martin (106) had an equally strong showing as Wilmes. He had two pins by tech fall going into his title bout with Park Hill’s Ernesto Fuenmayor. He earned a pin in 1:09 to earn his spot atop the podium.
“I worked as hard I could,” Martin said. “I tried to get some pins, but I ended up getting techs. I wrestled pretty hard, and I had confidence going in. I wasn’t worried.”
Senior Dawson Hamme (215) had five pins in the tournament and a 2-1 win over North Kansas City’s Kobe Rhymes in the pool round, and Hemme won a rematch with Rhymes in the finals, 5-3 to take first place.
Senior Callen Smithpeter (285) was the other Jaguar to take home a gold medal. He pinned all four of his opponents, including a fall against Staley’s Noah Cooper in the finals in 4:33.
Logan Mainard (132) took second in his weight class and Caleb Hart (144) was third for South.
Below is a summary of the top finishers for Missouri wrestlers in the weight classes not already mentioned:
113: Raytown’s David Ayala finished 6-0 in thr tournament with four pins, a 4-2 decision and a 16-2 major decision. He ended his day with a pin of North Kansas City’s Chase Thurston in the championship match as he took first place.
“It was a tough match,” Ayala said of his bout with Thurston. “He was really strong with his hands. When I was on top, I got my cradles in and kept some pressure on (my opponents).”
120: Staley’s Chase Anderson won his first four matches, including a 2-1 decision against his teammate Ayden Krieger in the semifinals to set up a title bout with Riverside’s Kallen Oliver. In that match, he lost by pin in the first round as he finished in second….
