STATE WRESTLING UPDATE

Second round wrestlebacks

The second round wrestlebacks were a little kinder to area wrestlers, as several kept their seasons alive but not all were so lucky.

Jesse Morris was the first area wrestlers in the wrestlebacks and he had the most drama in his match. He led 5-4 to start the third, only to get five straight points scored on him to start the third period and get behind 9-5. After he was awarded a stall point, Morris made the most of his new-found life with an escape and takedown as time expired to send the match into overtime.

In overtime Morris didn't waste any time, scoring a quick takedown for the 11-9 win.

Also moving on was West's Jake Logsdon with a dominating 15-0 win, as well as Justin Bruce of Lee's Summnit with a 9-1 major decision. Bruce's teammates, Steven Kingsolver and Dylan Case, each picked up wins as well to keep their seasons going, Kingsolver by pin and Case by a 5-1 decision.

Lee's Summit North didn't have as much success with Nathan Warman, Drake Duckworth and Brian Snyder all seeing their seasons come to an end. Warman and Duckworth were both in close matches before getting pinned.

Semifinal matches and third round wrestlebacks are set to get underway around 6 p.m. All wrestlers in semifinal matches are already all state, while winners of third round wrestleback matches earned all state status with a win.

Here are wrestlers in semifinal matches:

130 - Spencer Courier vs. Terrel Wilbourn (Francis Howell Central) - The two faced off earlier in the season with Wilbourn - who's undefeated and ranked No. 1 - picking up a 3-2 decision. This shold be another classic with Courier wanting to get to the finals with this being his senior season.
171 - Josh Howard vs. Andrew Early (Lafayette)- Early is second-ranked so all the pressure is on him. Howard already has upset sixth-ranked Derick Sanders in the first round and kept that momentum going into the quarters.
285 - Evan Boehm vs. Billy Everett (Blue Springs) - This should be a dandy, with the No. 2 and No. 3 ranked wrestlers at heavyweight, respectively. It's hard to say who has the upper hand going into this one, so it should be good. A win probably puts Boehm in the finals against Ray-Pec's Andrew Mueller. Hopefully, he won't look ahead.

Wrestlers in wrestlebacks:

Lee's Summit - Jesse Morris, Justin Bruce, Steven Kingsolver and Dylan Case
Lee's Summit West - Jake Logsdon

These are big matches for all wrestlers, including Bruce, Case and Logsdon who are all seniors. Nothing would be sweeter for them then to finish their careers as all-state wrestlers.

More on the way after the upcoming round!

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QUARTERFINAL UPDATE

The quarterfinals have just wrapped up here at Mizzou Arena.

Area wrestlers finished the quarterfinal round 3-6, with Lee's Summit's Spencer Courier and Josh Howard, along with West's Evan Boehm advancing to the semifinals.

Howard got up early on SLUH's Peter Everson with some takedowns and took a 9-5 lead and was able to hang on for a 9-7 decision.

Boehm squared off against Parkway South's Donnell Walker of Parkway South, the eighth-ranked wrestler at 285 and earned a pin in the second period. He took a 2-0 lead with a takedown in the first period and after an escape and another takedown in the second, got Walker on his back for the pin.

Wrestlers that dropped to the second-round wrestlebacks, which are currently taking place, were Drake Duckworth (145) of North, Jake Logsdon (152) of West, Justin Bruce (160) of Lee's Summit, Steven Kingsolver (189) of Lee's Summit, Brian Snyder (189) of North and Dylan Case (215) of Lee's Summit.

Duckworth had his hands full with fourth-ranked Espen Conley of SLUH and lost by a tech fall. Logsdon was forced to face top-ranked Brandon Wilbourn and after hanging tough in the first period, lost by fall in the second.

Bruce lost the biggest heartbreaker of the quarters for area wrestlers, losing 2-1 to third-ranked Andrew Buffa of Francis Howell Central. Down 2-0 in the third, Bruce was able to get an escape but never could get the go-ahead takedown.

Kingsolver and Snyder were both in tight matches in the second period before getting put on their backs and pinned, while Case got as close as 6-3 with a takedown in the third against fourth-ranked Andrew Lazalier of Holt before Lazalier clinched the match with another takedown for an 8-3 decision.

All six wrestlers, along with Lee's Summit's Jesse Morris and North's Nathan Warman, will be in action shortly to keep their seasons alive.

Check back soon to see how they did and who's moving on!

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Stephen Bubalo coming to you live from the state wrestling tournament in Columbia!

The quarterfinals and second round wrestlebacks just got started about a half hour ago.

The one early result I have in is Lee's Summit's Spencer Courier advanced to the semifinals with a first-round pin over Jacob Cyr of Waynesville, the fourth-ranked wrestler in the state.

Keep it here for more updates soon!