Park Hill qualifies nine for state, wins district; Park Hill South is runner-up, sends six

The Park Hill wrestling team is in solid position to defend its back to back state championships.

The Trojans claimed six individual first place finishes at the Class Four District Four wrestling tournament last weekend at Lee’s Summit High School, racked up 224.5 team points, and brought another district title home.

Overall, Park Hill qualified nine wrestlers for this weekend's state tournament at Mizzou Arena in Columbia. While Trojans head coach Bill Erneste said he's happy with a district title, he said his team has plenty of work left to do to win a third straight Class 4 state title.

"We are carefully excited about our district tournament," Erneste said. "We understand that the state tournament can’t be won at districts but it sure can be lost.  We feel in all reality that the district tournament is a very long seeding meeting and we like our seeds going into state.  Blue Springs and Francis Howell Central are definitely the front runners and we have to perform to catch either one of them."


While Park Hill's dominant district performance was no surprise, surprising was just one of the ways to describe Park Hill South’s second place finish with 134.5 team points coming from six state qualifying performances for the Panthers. South outperformed several traditionally successful programs including Rockhurst, Lee’s Summit, Lee’s Summit West, and Ray-Pec to add another chapter to a season that has taken the Panthers into somewhat unfamiliar territory as a team.

“This group of athletes has been team oriented all year,” Park Hill South coach Dan Dunkin said. “I think most coaches would agree that we're a good duel team. Collectively, it’s as good as this team has been.”

Park Hill’s John Erneste (103) and Michael Olsen (112), both freshmen, started off the championship rounds with first place trophies. Erneste is now 37-9 while Olsen is 38-8 on the year. Panthers Alex Fortuna and Bret Rounkles took fourth in those respective brackets. South’s Jimmy Carpenter (38-8) defeated Park Hill’s Paxton DiBlasi (17-14) in the 119 title match. Trojans Bricker Dixon (47-3), Russ Coleman (37-7), Preston Crous (47-2) qualified once again for the state meet with first place finishes in the 125, 130, and 145 weight classes while newcomer Derek Rens (10-1) took the title at 135. South’s Chase Gray (38-16) and Sam Eickhoff (31-5) were runners-up in the 171 and 215 weight classes while Nick Gillespie (21-16) placed fourth. Park Hill’s Nolan Smith took third at 285 to qualify (32-12). All in all, Park Hill and Park Hill South qualified 15 wrestlers (9 PH, 6 PHS).

After hard work and preparation all year, the three day test of individual skill and endurance known as the Missouri State Wrestling Championships will begin Thursday and conclude Saturday evening. The large brackets in each division mean initial seedings and placement are a factor in making it all the way to the final rounds. It could be argued Park Hill’s wrestlers hold more experience and higher rankings judging by the district results which will place them in better position to advance. South and their state qualifiers, on the other hand, will find themselves in some difficult situations if their wrestlers hope to advance.

“Who you run into matters,” Dunkin said. “Three of our wrestlers go against a one seed from another district in the first round, that's a tough first round draw. Two of our other wrestlers could possibly see the top ranked wrestler in the quarters. If our wrestles are going to do well, they're going to have to fight through tough bracket conditions.”

While overall record and rankings are an indication of a wrestler’s body of work throughout the season, those don’t necessarily matter at state because when it comes down to it, you have to win. Park Hill and Park Hill South have both taken their own unique paths through the regular season and will conclude it this weekend in Columbia, but one thing they have proven is their ability to get it done one way or another and both Dunkin and Park Hill coach Bill Erneste believe in their athletes ability to overcome adversity.

“Our wrestlers have been finding ways to win all year,” Dunkin said. “As a coach I don't like where we are in our brackets, but I'd never bet against our wrestlers.”

Park Hill’s nine experienced qualifiers will be an advantage for the defense of their state title, but Park Hill South’s young team is looking to improve on some unsatisfying results from last year and for another week add a first for their program. Six qualifiers are the most South has ever sent to State and if a handful of those are able to place, they’d be expanding their record book.