Park Hill Wrestlers bring home second straight state championship

After racking up 172.5 points in the first two days of the Missouri State Wrestling Championships in Columbia, Missouri last weekend, the Park Hill Trojans were well on their way to winning their second consecutive state title, but for eight of the ten wrestlers who qualified for the tournament, Saturday was about accomplishing goals they had set 365 days ago when they left Mizzou Arena with the 2009 Class 4 first place trophy. By day’s end, Park Hill had accumulated 202.5 team points, five state champions, two runners-up, and a third-place medal winner.

With seven wrestlers in the title match later in the evening, Preston Crouse (140) was able to secure third place with his victory over Lindbergh’s Michael Slyman by a score of 2-0. The win was the start of a successful day for Park Hill and coach Bill Erneste who says Crouse is a die-hard wrestler.

“Preston looks at wrestling like its fun, like its playing ball when you’re a little kid,” Erneste said. “I’ve never seen the guy sad or upset about anything. He realizes wrestling is a part of his life, but that it’s not his life.”

The championship matches for the Trojans began with a strong performance from John Eblen (189), who suffered a souring 1-0 lose in last year’s title match. Eblen left no doubt this time with a convincing 8-1 decision over Jared Johnson of Jefferson City.

“He thought about it every single day and all of his training and everything he did during the year was gearing for this,” Erneste said. “He had to wait 365 days to make up for that performance. He is truly a state champion.”

“It motivated me to be the best I could be,” said Eblen, who will be wrestling at the University of Missouri next year. “I wanted to show I could make a statement not just by a little bit, but by far.”

At 215, Haden Bock wasn’t able to overcome an early deficit in his title match as he took home a second consecutive second-place finish after falling to Holt’s Andrew Lazalier 11-4. Despite the loss, Bock has only good things to look forward to in the future.

“That’s one of the neat things about Haden, he’s going to West Point,” Erneste said. “Maybe he’s looking at being an All-American in college; he has bigger and better things down the road. The number one thing about Haden Bock is he’s always going to be successful.

The Trojans started a streak of three consecutive state title victories at the 112, 119, and 125 weight classes when Bricker Dixon won his first state title after finishing second the two previous years when he defeated Francis Howell’s Sean O’Leary 11-2. The junior won every match in the tournament by eight points or more.

“It was a workmanlike performance and I know he’s feeling pretty good about it, but I know on the way home he’s thinking about next year already,” Erneste said.

Skylar Wood (119) competed in one of the tournament’s most competitive matches as he went to four overtimes against Francis Howell Central’s John Wood before preventing an escape by holding on at the end of the fourth period to clinch the 2-1 victory.

“He’s got a heart the size of Texas,” Erneste said of Wood. “I knew the longer that match went it was going to come down to his heart and when that happens I’ll take him over anybody.”

The 130-pound title match featured three-time state champion Alan Waters attempting to add a fourth state title to his name against Seckman’s Denny Kleinschrodt. It didn’t take long as Waters pinned his opponent after an impressive 1:04 had passed in the first period. Waters is now only one of 19 wrestlers to win four state titles in the history of Missouri high school wrestling.

Freshman Russ Coleman (130) was given a loud ovation as he came into the title match as an underdog against defending champion Terrel Wilbourn of Francis Howell Central. Although competitive early, Coleman fell behind before eventually losing 14-6.

“He didn’t care and he expected to win,” Erneste said of Coleman’s odds. “If you saw the disappointment on his face, he came to Columbia to be a state champion.

Kaleb Friedley (145) won a state title two years ago, but the Trojans didn’t place first as a team. Then, last year he placed third while the Trojans won first. So Friedley was hoping to be on the right side of both titles as he won a tough match against Holt’s Greg Amos 1-0 for his second state title.

“It was kind of bittersweet,” Friedley said of his previous state tournaments. “It’s the best of both worlds now.”

Thus, concluded a dominate Park Hill wrestling season as they displaying near-perfection on their way to their second consecutive state title, fifth in eight years, with six individual champions.

“It’s special, every state championship team has something unique about it,” Erneste said. “I don’t think we’ve ever scored over 165 points in a state championship before.