11 Area Grapplers Advance to State Finals

11 area wrestlers will compete in a state championship match Saturday night. Palmyra leads all teams with three finalists in Collin Arch, Ross Arch and Weston King. Collin follows in his brother’s footsteps by reaching the finals as a freshman while Ross will wrestle in his third state final. The wins also helped Palmyra reach 78 points at the conclusion of Day 2 to put them in fifth place, one spot removed from claiming a team trophy. Coach Josh Buatte says the focus is still on the individual.

Tolton’s Brant Whitaker and Teague Travis will also compete in their third state finals match. Brookfield’s Donavan Parn will be in his second.

Centralia sits in second place with 88 points but suffered a big blow when returning champion Trevor Bodine got taken down as time expired to lose 6-5 in his semifinal match. Senior Grafton Littrell advanced to the finals for the first time in his career. Three freshmen wrestled in the semis and Brayden Dubes was victorious. Littrell talked about how the seniors and freshmen have been able to piggyback off each other.

Macon’s Caden Phillips, Marceline’s Cullen Bruner and North Callaway’s Jadon Henry also reached the finals. No Class 2 teams have a finalist.

Marceline had an impressive showing in wrestlebacks with three wrestlers notching back-to-back wins to attain All-State status. Ryder Gooch described his mindset ahead of Medal Day on Saturday.

Mason Barnett and Hunter Nelson join him in vying for third place. The Tigers are in 10th as a team.

Also in wrestlebacks, the Mexico Bulldogs gained two first time All-Staters in seniors Brayan Juarez and Kevin Duong. Duong had words of praise for the people that helped him along the way.

Duong attains his first state medal in his fourth state tournament while Juarez gets his in his third attempt.