Francis Howell Central Aiming For State Wrestling Title

After winning the Missouri Class 4, District 2 wrestling championship last weekend at McCluer North High School, the Francis Howell Central Spartans are clearly one of the favorites to win a state championship this week in Columbia, MO.

The 81st MSHSAA State Wrestling Championships begins Today, Thursday, and concludes on Saturday, at Mizzou Arena in Columbia.

Howell Central demolished the field at Districts with 214.5 points. The Spartans qualified 10 wrestlers for the state tournament. Fort Zumwalt West was a distant second place with 139.5 points, while Francis Howell North beat out CBC by one point to place third with 96 points.

“I thought we wrestled really well at Districts,” Howell Central head coach Steve Cross said. “We were really happy with qualifying 10 guys for the state tournament this weekend.”

Senior Ben Henson took second place in Districts at 119 pounds, losing to Antoine White of Hazelwood West. Henson is 35-4 this season. At 135 pounds, sophomore John Wood took third place and is 29-2 this season.

Senior Terrell Wilbourn, ranked No. 2 in the state at 140 pounds by missouriwrestling.com, got one step closer to his third consecutive state championship when he recorded a fall at 2:28 to defeat Eric Bowman of Ritenour. Wilbourn has previously won state championships at the 130 and 112-pound weight classes. Wilbourn is 24-1.

“Terrell wrestled really well,” Cross said. “He’s getting better every day and he’s got one goal and that’s a state title.”

Howell Central senior Justin Dickey (29-3) grabbed a 3-2 decision against Patrick Whitener of McCluer North to capture third place at 145 pounds. Dickey is ranked No. 3 in the state. At 152 pounds, senior Andy King (32-7) finished second, losing the district title to DuShawn Frasier of Hazelwood Central.

Senior Luke Knoche (27-7) placed third overall at 160 pounds with an 11-5 decision over Conner Linehan of McCluer North. Senior Matt Greene (35-4) won the 171-pound championship in stunning fashion with a 20-4 technical fall over Patrick Masterson of CBC. Greene is No. 4 in the state rankings at 171 pounds.

“Matt didn’t have to wrestle until the finals because in the semis, he won by default over Beale of Ritneour because of an injury,” Cross said. “But overall, I thought he wrestled really well in the finals.”

In the 189-pound district final, Howell Central senior Wyatt Miller (15-2) recorded a 5-2 decision over Thomas Nestor of CBC.

“Wyatt became eligible at the semester and has been wrestling really well since then,” Cross said. “We’re really expecting big things out of him at state this weekend.”

DeSmet’s Jacob Matyiko won the 215-pound tournament with a fall at 1:30 over junior Cole Anderson (15-6) of Francis Howell Central. The quickest championship match of the tournament went to senior Brian Paur (29-6) at 285 pounds, as he won by fall at 1:59 over David Smith of Parkway North.

“Brian’s really been coming on strong here at the end of the season,” Cross said. “I’m thinking that he’s really going to be doing well down there in Columbia this weekend.”

Fort Zumwalt East Set For State
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The host  Lions placed second overall at the Class 3, District 2 Tournament last weeknd. Coach Wade Horn said his team exceeded expectations.

“We went into the tournament primarily wanting to get as many wrestlers to state as possible,” Horn said. “And we placed well as a team. So, we did better than we thought we would do.”

The Lions’ upperclassmen provided their team with the spark it needed. Senior Connor Vortherms (189) won a District championship. Seniors Tyler Femmer (171), Landon Reading (160) and Dakota Ivanhoff (135) placed second and senior Andrew Moore placed third. Juniors John Marshall (119) and Jared Moresi (125) both placed third.

Reading is 37-2 this season. Vortherms is 28-5 this season, Femmer is 18-8, Ivanhoff is 26-6 and Moore is 24-9.