Eight Panther wrestlers advance to sectionals
Eight members of the PHS boys wrestling team qualified for sectionals during Saturday’s Class 1, District 3 tournament in Palmyra.
A refereee watches closely as Palmyra’s Collin Arch tries to pin his North Callaway opponent during the 132-pound semifinal match of the district tournament Saturday,
With only the top four in each weight class moving on, Palmyra’s Kaden Crane, Brayden Stevens, Collin Arch, Luke Triplett, Hayes Miller, Nolyn Richards, Xzavier Battaglio and Grayson Stevens all continue as state hopefuls.
Crane, Arch, Triplett and Brayden Stevens all won their respective weight classes.
As a team, the Panthers took third place with 134 points finishing behind only Centralia (194) and North Callaway (148) and ahead of Hallsville (108.5), Missouri Military Academy (89), Father Tolton Regional Catholic (48), Christian (32) and Trinity Catholic (eight).
Crane (106) won first place by fall at 1:59 over Weston Ward of Centralia.
After receiving a first-round bye, he won his semifinal match by fall at 1:54 over Cashton Holloway of North Callaway.
Brayden Stevens (126) won first place with a 9-2 decision over Zane Dubes of Centralia.
After receiving a first-round bye, Stevens won his semifinal match by fall at 0:41 over Jonathan Pimenteo of Trinity Catholic.
Arch (132) took first place with a 9-2 decision over Gavynn Carpenter of Hallsville.
Palmyra’s Hayes Miller uses his head in trying to pin his opponent from Christian High School during a district semifinal match for the 160-pound weight class.
After receiving a first-round bye, Arch won his semifinal match by fall at 1:30 over Riley Humphrey of North Callaway.
Triplett (220) won his first- place by fall at 3:59 over Sam Lynn of Centralia.
After receiving a first-round bye, Triplett won his semifinal match by injury default at 0:03 over Ryan Tan of Christian.
Miller (160) took second place when he lost his title match by an 11-8 decision to Eli Henry of North Callaway.
After receiving a first-round bye, Miller won his semifinal match by fall at 2:45 over Daniel Thoenen of Christian.
Richards (195) took second place when he lost the title match by fall at 3:01 to Hunter Phillips of Centralia.
After receiving a first-round bye, Richards won his semifinal match by fall at 1:13 over Caleb Rorhbach of North Callaway.
Palmyra’s Nolyn Richards draws the referee’s attention while trying to pin his opponent from North Callaway during a district semifinal match for the 195-pound weight class.
Battaglio (285) took third place by fall at 3:25 over Matt Elgart of Christian.
After receiving a first-round bye, Battaglio lost in the semifinals by fall at 3:29 to Seth Hasekamp of Centralia before receiving a bye in the second-round of wrestlebacks.
Grayson Stevens (138) went 2-2 and finished fourth after losing the third-place match by fall at 2:01 to Stone Martin of Hallsville.
Stevens won his quarterfinal match by fall at 1:06 over William Cash of MMA and lost in the semifinals by fall at 0:28 to Kyden Wilkerson of Centralia, before receiving a bye in the second round of wrestlebacks.
Palmyra will host sectional competition Saturday, Feb. 27.
The top three in each weight class will advance to the Class 1 state tournament which will be held Wednesday, March 10, at Cable Dahmer Arena in Independence.
