Trojans bring home eight medals, but finish second behind Blue Springs

There are teams who would be tickled to death to take a second place team trophy — or second place individual medal — home from the state wrestling championships. Then there is Park Hill. The Trojans are a program which has won five state titles in recent years with multiple individual champions leading the way. That’s possibly why their second place team finish this year doesn’t come with the enthusiasm as it might with other schools.

“I always say that I love the state tournament and I hate the state tournament,” Park Hill coach Bill Erneste said. “I love it because it gives kids the opportunities to achieve their dreams and goals. I hate the state tournament when they come up short.”


Finishing second with 144 team points to champion Blue Springs’ 164 points, Park Hill has plenty to be proud of, including the placement of eight out of their total 11 qualifiers in the top five of their respective weight brackets. The Trojans racked up team points early with 10 wrestlers winning in their opening round matches, giving Park Hill a lead early in the tournament, but were gradually passed by Blue Springs which had four finalists compete for titles.


“Overall, it was a decent weekend,” Erneste said. “I loved our team’s effort; we just need to continue to get better each year.” 

While sophomore John Erneste at 113 pounds and junior Russ Coleman at 132 won their first three matches, setting them up for state title bouts, other Trojan wrestlers who fell in quarter and semifinal matches battled back for strong finishes. They included third place finishes from KeShawn Hayes at 106 and Nolan Smith at 285, fourth place finishes from Hunter Roberts at 120 and Malik Colding at 160, and fifth place finishes from Colston DiBlasi at 126 and Connor Shene at 145. These finishes played a large part in the point accumulation that built up to their second place finish.


Park Hill was not able to bring home an individual champion as Erneste and Coleman fell in their respective matches. Erneste improved on his third place finish last year, while Coleman has been a runner-up the past two seasons, with a state title barely out of his reach once again.

“He takes second again,” Erneste said of Coleman. “The thing about Russ is, he’s a fighter. He’s the one kid I know, whose back is against the wall and comes out swinging. He’s going to work even harder and get even crazier in his training, because he knows he has one year left. It’s unacceptable in his mind, but he’s going to get better and win a state championship his senior year.”


“I’m very proud of John to get to the finals, it’s his first time there,” Erneste said of his son. “The progression keeps going, so we just need to work hard this summer, come back and swing again.”

For Park Hill who will return the core of their lineup next year, it will be about turning good to great and it will start from within by building their top wrestlers into what Erneste likes to call ‘guns’.

“All second place is, is a measuring stick. On our ride home, we’re already going to be thinking about next year. Blue Springs got it done, Park Hill didn’t,” Erneste said. “We had a few guns, we just didn’t have eight (like Blue Springs). We couldn’t match them gun to gun. Next year, we need to take some of our good wrestlers and make them guns. Then, we’ll be better.”